They will be among more than 330 graduands who will graduate in person, mainly in humanities and health science disciplines, from the university in a ceremony at the Dunedin Town Hall at 3pm today.
Mr Chirenda previously worked in rural Zimbabwe at Chinhoyi, about 120km north of the capital Harare, as a high school teacher. His wife, Dzivi, was a primary school teacher.
After coming to New Zealand about seven years ago, with son Itai and daughter Mufaro, seeking a better life, they eventually discovered their home university had not provided the required confirmation of their academic records, so they were unable to teach in New Zealand.
Mr and Mrs Chirenda found work in Invercargill but decided to retrain, studying for Otago bachelor of community and social work degrees, mainly by distance education.
They continued to work full-time, Mr Chirenda on dairy farms, at the freezing works and for the IHC, and Mrs Chirenda also for the IHC. Despite the demands of living in a new country, they completed their four-year degrees last year.
They now work at the Roxburgh Children's Health Camp.
Son Itai (22), who lives in Dunedin, is in the third year of studies for the same Otago degree.
"The excitement is building up," Stan Chirenda said yesterday about today's graduation.
Completing their Otago qualifications after much hard work had also brought "some relief and a sense of security".
One of the biggest challenges while working and studying full-time had been "balancing" competing demands and, in particular, ensuring their children's needs were fully met.
Mrs Chirenda said they had supported each other with their studies, "consoled each other when things were not that good", and grown stronger as a couple.
New Zealand was a welcome change from the political instability and economic insecurity of Zimbabwe, which made it hard for even working professionals to properly provide for their children's education, they said.
