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Hope In the Shadows

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Sometimes, some stories linger in my mind, refusing to let go. Today, one such story has been with me and the lessons it carries are deep. I have always said, mentorship is not just about giving; it is a journey of learning aswell. We absorb wisdom, not to pile it, but to share it for the betterment of our society. I have always believed that the knowledge we gain should be a weapon for transforming lives and changing the narrative around us. During one of our ministry events at one University, my husband and I met a young girl. She was at the time, a third-year student. The event lasted all night till dawn and by 3 AM, exhaustion weighed heavily on my legs and knees. I decided to step away, to rest a little in the car while the event wrapped up. My husband was with me when one girl approached us. I will call her Hope. A little detour, I name these girls in my stories not just as a label but based on what I believe they embody. In her, I saw resilience, a quiet strength waiting to bloo...
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...AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE

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  In 2024, I met a girl who at a single glance, captured my attention. There was something about her; an unspoken radiance, a silent strength. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but I knew she was special. Now, if you know me, meeting and connecting with young girls or young women is nothing new. But this girl, who for the sake of this piece I will call Nia, was different. From our first encounter, she struck me as joyful, bubbly and remarkably intelligent. She had an energy that was both refreshing and contagious. Above all, she was beautiful not just in appearance but in the way she carried herself, in the spark of life that danced in her eyes. We exchanged a few words that day, a brief conversation that left an impression. As time passed, our interactions became a little more friendly; just a few polite greetings here and there over WhatsApp. At that point, she was just an acquaintance, nothing more. Then one night, around 11 PM, my phone rang. I sleepily reached for it, barel...
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MEET THE FOUNDER

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THE MOTHER AT GIRLFRIENDS IN FAITH Many have  failed to figure out who I am. Now Let's talk about me, shall we? 😆 To many, I am a mystery; unpredictable, as they like to say. To those who know me well, I am fun to be around, even talkative. But truth be told, I don’t entirely see myself through their eyes. I have always thought of myself as calm, composed, and maybe even a little shy. Introverted, if you will. One thing has always been clear, though: I know my creative power. I’ve always been the one to dream up ideas effortlessly. Ideas of change, growth, and transformation. Stagnation? I can’t stand it. Failure? I refuse to befriend it. I thrive on building something out of nothing, on shaping what seems out of place into something extraordinary. Those who know me best will tell you this: I am an advisor of transformation. And that’s where Girlfriends in Faith comes in. This is more than just my brainchild; it’s my dream turned reality. Once, someone asked me about my calling. M...
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Reflections on My Mentorship Journey:

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  Shaping Lives, One Lemonade at a Time I can’t quite remember the moment I consciously decided to become a mentor. It wasn’t a sudden epiphany or a loud declaration. Instead, it feels as though I woke up one day and realized I had been shaped, molded, perhaps even born, for this role. Somewhere along the way, I embraced the saying: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade . Life, in its unpredictable generosity, has handed me enough lemons to make lemonade for generations. Looking back, I see that those toughest times were not just trials but lessons. Without them, what tangible wisdom could I offer to others navigating their challenges? I’ve found my calling in guiding young people; a fragile yet resilient people. For me, working with them goes beyond mere profession. It’s a purpose; a mission! Beginning the Journey with Girls My mentorship journey began with girls. Their stories found their way to my heart and my desk, demanding solutions to challenges that seemed overwhelming....
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Land of a Thousand Hills: Easy on the Eye

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In 2023 I connected with Rwanda’s capital city. One that sprawls across numerous hills, ridges and valleys.   Before I travelled to Kigali, I learnt that Rwanda was a land blessed with creativity in Arts and one rich in culture. Walking in the streets of Kigali, I saw that the city has clearly expressed an effort to connect people through Arts and Culture. After learning that Kigali was a hub of creativity, I promised myself I was not flying back to Malawi without a visit to one of the Arts Centers in the city. Since establishing an Arts Center is one of my dreams, I made it a point to visit one center even amidst my busy schedule. Inema Arts Center is a small but an amazing creative hub that spurs creativity for personal, social and economic growth. The center is simply pretty as a picture! It was amazing to learn that the center works with orphans offering them an opportunity to discover and use their artistic talent and mentors in art as a skill, a talent, an occupation ...
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INTRODUCING MZATI WA AFRICA   I am sure most of us have heard the saying that young people are tomorrow's leaders! Growing up there was even a song we used to sing, with a chorus that proudly emphasized that  we are the leaders of tomorrow . For me, I kept the thought that someday the older folks are going to hand over leadership roles to us when we reach their age. I had thought that in order for one to be a leader one needed to be older, at least maybe 40 years of age. Today the narrative has changed. We know and believe that young people are the leaders now! They are the  idea generators. They are the innovators. They possess creativity, the energy that is enough to transform nations and the world. Being the largest demographic on the globe today, young people need platforms for creativity, innovation, and growth.   Despite being the game changers , young people everywhere including in Malawi, often face challenges in transitioning from education to work. ...
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Arts For Social and Economic Impact

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  THE CREATIVITY THAT IS ARTS While the Arts have and continue to play an import ant role globally, in curriculums of most Developing Countries in Africa, Arts is undermined. In Malawi, for instance the success of students has mostly been measured by classroom credit hours in other subjects but Arts. My passion for Arts began 20 years ago when I was in primary school. I remember loving music and dance. Among all my friends, I was well known as the dancer.   When I was 10 years old, I loved the Congolese genre of music called Rhumba. Rhumba was the music. The beat in rhumba felt like nothing else. I grew up in church. When I was in secondary school, I envied the choir members at our local church. I was curious to know what made the jazzmen and vocalists unique. Why were they able to make music while the rest of us couldn’t?   The piano players were always my favorite.   Somehow, at the age 15 my ears had already learnt to distinguish a good pianist from a not so g...
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Arts Education and Creativity in the Malawian Arts Industry

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Creativity in the Malawian Arts Industry   I recently wrote a piece about Arts Education and how we can advance Creativity in the Malawian Arts Industry. Arts is one of my passions and I believe that the establishment of arts  centres will contribute alot in the Arts industry and Arts Education in Malawi. I partnered with the Arts Education Partnership in Denver to publish this blogpost and it has been published on their website. Please read my blogpost on: https://www.aep-arts.org/arts-education-and-creativity-in-the-malawian-arts-industry Enjoy!
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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

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                 In most of the communities where I have worked, the importance of educating a girl child  is undermined.    I remember visiting one school in one of the rural communities in Neno district where standard 8 class had 1 girl against 30 boys in the same class. Records showed that the number of girls was high from junior primary and it kept on dropping as the classes went up.   In such communities, it is a huge challenge to help girls to stay in school because the norm is when the girls reach puberty, the goal is to get married. For this one girl, it was only a matter of time before she dropped out as well, because being the only girl in class for her has to take a whole lot of courage. We had checked with the headmaster of the school to tell us the major causes of the dropouts. He confirmed that the girls end up getting married. He further said most of them look at their married friends and believe that they...
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Dealing with Intergenerational Poverty in Malawi

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  Intergenerational Poverty in Malawi We can argue that, quite a number of today’s poor children will become tomorrow’s poor adults. Why? Inheritance is of the most common means by which physical property is transferred from one generation to another in Malawi. However, the design of living for poor Malawians is not necessarily passed on from one generation to the next. Poverty is often associated in people’s minds with misery, but for us who are familiar with rural Malawi will understand that poor families accept their slice of poverty with courage and cheer just like in most developing countries.  In Malawi, there are families, who are rich today, and yet they come from poor backgrounds. This upward movement, therefore, indicates that the poor in Malawi are capable of taking full advantage of changing circumstances and greater opportunity. It is important for us to understand that poverty hits children the hardest and threatens their most basic rights to survival, health...
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