It’s not over until it is over

Many girls leave school for good after getting pregnant but the case is not the same with a female student at Salima Technical College (SATECO).

Malawi24 reveals a life of an automobile mechanics student from SATECO whose future was bleak after being impregnated but now she is scoring high in her studies.

In an exclusive interview with this publication, the young woman Chinsinsi Mikuwa, 27, said that her dream of living her dream was in vain as she was impregnated just after two weeks before the start of Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exams in 2011.

Mikuwa told Malawi24 that it was a blow when she realised that she was pregnant since she was aiming to do great with her studies.

“I felt like it was over until when I realised that it is not over for me. I went home but still more my parents were not happy with me but at the end they accepted the challenge,” Mikuwa told Malawi24.

“I told my parents that I need to go back to school after giving birth and they welcomed my idea and I sat my MSCE in 2015,” Mikuwa added.

The father refused to take responsibility of the baby and she ended up working for five years to take care of the child.

“I had no choice since that time my parents were failing to take care of us (I and my baby). I chose to work for some time and I was keeping the little kwacha that helped me to go back to school and helped to raise my baby who is now in standard six,” Mikuwa told Malawi24.

The promising automobile mechanic told Malawi24 that she learnt about the course through TEVETA and she opted to be one of the young women who wanted to reshape their future.

“Thanks to TEVETA for the offer and now I can see great things ahead of me. In the first place I was like I have nothing to do in this world but now I can feel that I have a role to play in Malawi’s social -economic development,” Chinsinsi Mikuwa told Malawi24 in an exclusive interview.

Asked on her advice to young women in a similar situation, Chinsinsi said that it is not too late for them to realise their dreams.

“Being pregnant or marrying early unknowingly is not the end of the future. You can turn things around by accepting the situation and the move on with better plans for the future,” Mikuwa told Malawi24.

“My advice should also go to parents who feel like when a girl is child has been impregnated then it is over. No! That is not the end of the future since better planning can help to revamp the future,” he added.

Early marriages and unexpected pregnancies are some of factors that are making a lot of girls to drop out of school.

In response to such challenges, First Lady of the country Dr Gertrude Mutharika through Beautify Malawi (BEAM) Trust initiated a programme called “Bring back girl child to school” aimed at seeing such girls returning to school so that they may be sharp weapons of the country’s social -economic growth.