single post

From Barefoot Dreams to Healing Hands: The Story of Ednas Chadzuka

Before she ever held a stethoscope, Ednas Chadzuka carried something heavier: the quiet weight of poverty and the stubborn belief that her future could look different. As a child growing up in the rural heartlands of Dowa, her mornings began without shoes, without breakfast, and often without certainty. She walked long distances to school barefoot and hungry, watching classmates arrive with uniforms and packed porridge, simple comforts that felt out of reach.

She was the tenth of fourteen children and the first daughter in a family already stretched thin. Her parents were elderly by the time she was born, and resources were scarce. One by one, her siblings left school early. Some married young. Others reached secondary school but could not continue. Against this backdrop, Ednas nurtured a quiet but determined conviction that her story would not end the same way.

Her acceptance into Likuni Girls Secondary School became a turning point, made possible by her mother’s extraordinary sacrifice. Through physically demanding farm labour, her mother saved enough to buy pigs, selling two each year to pay school fees. Even then, life at boarding school remained harsh. She owned only the bare essentials and had no financial cushion. Yet through resilience and faith, she completed secondary education, becoming the only sibling in her family to reach that milestone.

Her next step, enrolment at St. Luke’s College of Health Sciences in Zomba, should have been a moment of celebration. Instead, it was shadowed by financial uncertainty. With no sponsorship secured and her father deceased, the family sold their last remaining pig, raising just MK25,000, a fraction of the MK1.2 million needed for first-year tuition. She lacked basic stationery and relied on classmates to share notebooks. Each semester came with the constant threat of expulsion for unpaid fees.

Everything changed in her second year when she learned about the There Is Hope University Scholarship program. The support cleared her outstanding balances, covered tuition and living expenses, and provided a laptop that transformed how she studied. More importantly, it offered mentorship and belief. In 2019, she graduated as a Nurse Midwife Technician.

For Ednas, graduation was not a finish line but a starting point. Inspired by the investment made in her life, she resolved to create opportunities for others. In 2020, using earnings from temporary survey assignments and small jobs, she purchased a modest private clinic in Dowa Boma and named it Lesson Private Clinic. In its early days she filled every role herself, nurse, administrator, cleaner, and assistant, supported by only one employee. The hours were relentless, but the purpose was clear: bring affordable healthcare to communities often left behind.

Her vision expanded near Dzaleka Refugee Camp, where she acquired land and built a basic clinic structure. Seeing urgent health needs among refugees, she trained three young refugee women as Community Health Providers who now conduct door-to-door checkups, promote hygiene practices, and refer serious cases. Treatment is often delivered free of charge.

What began as a single-room operation has grown into a small but impactful healthcare network. The Dowa Boma facility now employs a clinician, nurse, receptionist, cleaners, and a security guard. The Dzaleka clinic includes two Community Health Providers, a part-time nurse, and a caretaker. Together, the clinics employ nine people and serve more than 900 patients each month.

Her transformation is also deeply personal. Shortly after graduating, Ednas built a proper house for her mother and siblings, replacing insecurity with stability. Today, her 80-year-old mother no longer labours in the fields, an achievement Ednas considers among her most meaningful.

Looking ahead, she envisions building a fully equipped hospital at the Dzaleka site, offeri

ng radiology, laboratory services, prenatal and postnatal care, and comprehensive outpatient treatment. Her model seeks to balance sustainability with accessibility by providing most services free or at minimal cost for both refugees and Malawians.

Ednas often reflects on the scholarship that altered her life’s trajectory. It did more than pay fees, she says. It reshaped her understanding of possibility and deepened her commitment to give back. Her journey stands as living proof of what strategic investment in education can unlock: a barefoot girl who once walked to school hungry now leads clinics restoring health and dignity to hundreds.

Her scholarship was made possible through the generous support of Gods Economy, USA, whose investment continues to ripple outward through every patient served and every life touched.