THE GENESIS

 

After University, all I wanted was to work with and within rural communities. I found meaning in helping others and I wanted to spend the rest of my life helping people out of poverty. I believe that my background greatly inspired  this desire. Growing up in poverty, I did not see a future for myself. Growing up there was very little at my exposure.  I did not know much. Life was okay so long as Nsima (Malawian staple food) was provided for me and my siblings. The biggest challenge for my family was food: How and where to get food for the day. Nsima was a priority. We did not have a choice really. We did not have the privilege of choosing what to eat. Nsima and vegetables on a daily basis was a huge blessing.

When I was in primary school, I went to school every day not because anyone inspired me. No one in our neighborhood was educated. All girls aspired to be married. I went to school because my parents forced me to. My Dad especially. The more I went to school, the more I found meaning in education.

I failed my primary school leaving examaminations. Its not because I was unintelligent. In fact, I was the most intelligent student in class. I lacked informed guidance. I did not have anyone to prepare me for the exams. It was tough I must say. I wrote my exams without knowing what’s expected of me. All I knew was to get back from school, throw my books in my room and go play with my friends.

Talk of my room. It sounds fancy when am writing it this way. But it was quite a dump really. My three sisters and I shared a room. We slept on a locally woven mat, known as Nkeka. The blankets we used were old and ragged. The hit was felt during winter. No matter how much you tried to cuddle yourself up, it wasn’t warm enough.

Dad had already retired by the time I was in Primary 1.When time came for me to go to secondary school, he had secured a job with one private secondary school. They paid him enough to pay my school fees. But still the money wasn't good enough. Dad still struggled to balance between providing fully for the family and paying my school fees. 

I was sent to a private secondary school. It was a catholic school. The fees were not much but now and then I was sent back home because of school fees balance. My Dad tried his best to make sure I attained education. He knew what it meant for me and I could see it in his eyes every time he talked to me about school. Being sent home because of school fees disturbed my learning and at the same time motivated me to work hard to bail my family out of poverty, especially my little sister. I wanted her to be educated someday. While I wanted to become a Doctor.

At St Peters Secondary School, I was once more one of the most intelligent students at my school. I remember in 2006 while in form 4, I was selected to go to Scotland to represent my school alongside three other students and two teachers. We went on an education visit to St Michael's Academy. Going to Scotland was like a dream and it motivated me to work even harder. I had seen snow! I always wanted to see snow. It was a Dream come true. I went back home fully energized to work hard so that someday am able to fly on my own to foreign countries. I wanted to see more snow.

After getting back from Scotland I immidiately sat for my form 4 national exams. Unfortunately, I did not do so well. I lost concentration. I had fantasized a bit too much about Scotland. My grades were not good enough. They were not what I expected to get. I was disappointed! Nevertheless, with determination and persistence I was selected to the University of Malawi.  I did my four years at the University with a lot of Financial struggles. My Father sold his land and house to get me through the four years of my study. It wasn’t easy but at the end of it, I made it. I graduated with a Degree with credit. The journey then begun: The Genesis!