Malawian culture has always been known as a treasure trove of wisdom, and proverbs being an integral part of our rich heritage. These timeless sayings have been passed on through generations, offering guidance, direction, and warnings that shape our values, beliefs, and daily lives. In this blog series, we delve into the world of Malawian proverbs, exploring their meanings, contexts and significance. Read today's blog post which serves as a continuation to our journey.
Promoting Education Equality through Student Sponsorships
How you can Play for a Purpose to foster education equality in rural Malawi
Promoting Education Equality through Student Sponsorships
“Education is key to success.” As true as this phrase sounds, this key seems to be inaccessible to most secondary school students in rural Malawi, where there is no free education beyond eighth grade. In Malawi, secondary school education requires one to pay tuition fees and cover all other school necessities, which most students cannot afford. For those students who cannot afford such costs, they are left with no choice but to go back to their villages. This means their dreams and aspirations being shuttered, due to poverty.
Alifonsina Chadula's story
17-year-old Alifonsina Chadula vividly remembers how, despite being a brilliant student who was so passionate about achieving her ambition of becoming a nurse, she could see this dream dying as her parents could not afford her tuition at Madisi Secondary School, which was amounting to 120,000 kwacha (approximately $70 USD).
“When I was selected to Madisi secondary school I was so excited and I saw my dreams coming to pass until the day I was chased out of school as my uncle could no longer afford my school fees. My uncle told me that he had tried all he could, but he could not afford to keep sending me to school,” narrates Alifonsina.
Alifonsina explains that she lost all hope of going back to school while she waited at her home village at Mankhaka.
“My heart bled as days passed. But there was nothing I could do about my situation as my parents are mere subsistence farmers, who solely rely on farming to provide for our family of eight,” says Alifonsina.
How Orant's student sponsorships help students living in poverty
After two weeks of staying at home, Orant heard of Alifonsina’s story and decided to come through for her.
Orant has been paying her tuition and providing her with basic necessities such as notebooks, soap, sugar, body lotion, sanitary pads and other necessities.
We are so proud that Alifonsina is doing well in her studies and that she is one of the best behaved students such that she was elected in the leadership position of a Vice Head Girl, due to her good behavior and performance.
“I am thankful for Orant’s support. I used to only have five notebooks for eight subjects as my parents could not afford enough notebooks for me. I am now happy that I have enough notebooks on top of other necessities that I am provided with,” says Alifonsina.
How can you promote education equality?
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Have you ever wondered what Orant means? It’s not just a funny word - it has a deeper meaning that we’re telling you about this week in the blog. Read more about it here and learn where we got our name and why we are grateful for you, our readers, donors, and supporters, this week and always.
Malawian culture has always been known as a treasure trove of wisdom, and proverbs being an integral part of our rich heritage. These timeless sayings have been passed on through generations, offering guidance, direction, and warnings that shape our values, beliefs, and daily lives. In our upcoming blog series, we will delve into the world of Malawian proverbs, exploring their meanings, contexts and significance. Read today's blog post which serves as an introduction to our journey.
Read today’s blog about the children’s book, “As Big as the Sky”, a Malawian story about a brother and sister whose love for each other is as big as the sky.
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