For the past three years, Alice Mkakamila has been in and out of school. Her parents could not manage to pay for her school fees regularly, and missing classes became the order of the day.
The 20-year-old girl defied all odds and never allowed challenges to stand in her way. She ventured into a vegetable selling business with a capital of K500 which she was given by a well-wisher. She later on used the proceeds from the business to pay for the outstanding school fees balance. However, she says she struggled to catch up on her studies after missing classes for a long time at school.
“Staying home for a long time made me lose concentration in lessons,” Says Alice, who attends Phalula Community Day Secondary School in Balaka district, Southern Malawi.
“However, I was determined and my passion to continue with my academic journey never died.
Alice also feared falling into the same trap most of her peers face in her area—early marriages.
“In our village, most of the girls fall pregnant at a tender age, which leads them into early marriages,” she said.
But in the course of her studies, she met another big blow—her business collapsed, and she decided to withdraw from school.
“Later, authorities at my school noticed that I was always absent from classes and they approached me to understand the reasons for my absence,” Alice narrated.
Her passion was once again reignited when she was selected as one of the beneficiaries of a bursary scheme supported by a collaboration of Oxfam in Malawi and the Centre for Alternatives for Victimized Women and Children (CAVWOC) as part of “Education Support for Girls and other Vulnerable Children in Malawi” project funded by Oxfam Hong Kong.
The bursary covers school fees, which is crucial to ensure that Alice can focus on her studies. Additionally, she was also given educational materials like books, pens and a solar lantern.
She is one of the vulnerable girls in Balaka and Phalombe districts who are being supported in the scheme.
She said: “My academic performance has tremendously improved since I was selected into the bursary. Right now, I have plenty of time to concentrate on my studies.”
Alice, who is now on the verge of finishing her secondary school education says she has big dreams.
“I want to be a medical doctor,” she says emphatically.
“Ever since I was young, I have dreamt about this career and now, I am working hard to make sure the dream should become a reality,” she said.
Director of Education and Sports for Balaka District Council, Saulos Namani, believes the project has tremendously changed the landscape of education in the area.
“It is worrying to see some bright students failing to achieve their academic goals because they are coming from poor backgrounds. The bursaries, coupled with various interventions like construction of change rooms for girls and also provision of education materials have helped many learners to concentrate on education as a pathway, not marriage,” said Namani.
Oxfam Hong Kong programs officer responsible for international programs, Leung Wing Nga, Mandy, expressed satisfaction with the progress of the project, looking at the impact it has made in supporting education.
“I am extremely excited to note that various interventions we are doing in the project are helping to keep learners in school.
“I should also commend the connection we have made in the project with different community structure leaders. It is a way to go in the promotion of education by looting out some of the bottlenecks in access to education such as harmful social norms.
Education is a crucial catalyst for socio-economic development in the societies. However, many challenges persist, including low enrollment rates due to, among others, poverty, which forces learners, especially girls, to drop out of school even before finishing the primary school cycle.
