What’s happening

Her name is Ireen, a refugee of Burundian nationality. She is also a beneficiary of our university scholarship programme. When you look at her now, it is hard to imagine that she had all along aspired to pursue legal studies and become a judge. Actually, the desire to study law manifested when she was 11 and grew stronger as she got older. But that is not what she studied when she finally found the opportunity to go to college three years ago.

Refugee camps are a sorry sight – throngs of individuals, young and old, squeezed into a small area where sanitation is a disaster and ideal healthcare is almost close to non-existent. Or at least that is the status quo in Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp. Healthcare for refugees and asylum seekers in the Camp, which currently is home to over 40 thousand people, is a nasty issue. The Camp is served by a small hospital which struggles to meet the growing demand of the refugees plus additional Malawians from communities around it. Dzaleka Health Centre has always experienced inadequate medication to cater to the large population that depends on it and the advent of COVID-19 pushed the small hospital to the edge.

There is nothing nightmarish during this coronavirus pandemic than the thought of a hospital running short of oxygen gas. It is a horrifying thought, more so because it is literally a lifeline for patients of COVID-19. Oxygen gas is that thin line between life and death for such patients and lack of it will only […]

His carpentry bench is located deep in the rural area, in a tiny village about a 20-minute drive from the main road. It is in the middle of nowhere, far from the glamour and glory of modern life and where the majority of the villagers depend on subsistence farming to pull through life. His bench is surrounded by about seven small huts roofed with grass, plastered with mud and windowless. The bench was set up under the shade of a large tree overlooking a small house where he and his two brothers stay. Welcome to Frank’s carpentry business place. This is the bench that brings Frank income each day and lets him help his mother and father to provide meals for the family.

People pursue higher education for different reasons. Some do it to get a job that pays good money while others advance their studies to make a difference in the lives of others. Whatever the reasons for going further with one’s studies may be, education still remains the epitome for achieving change, whether individual or societal. When Gustave opted to upgrade his education by earning a degree, he decided to take a course that he believed would let him contribute – even a little – to make a difference in the lives of the place that he called his new home in 2003 when he became a refugee.

We love Kibebe because it renews hope to the less privileged. Thierry is one of the artisans that Kibebe employed. Initially, the only way that Thierry could take care of the needs of his wife and kids was through jobs like washing laundry at random households. When his kids got sick, he would carry them on his back and walk for 2 hours to the hospital because he could not even afford the fare for public transport. That is his past. Now he works for Kibebe.

Every story that has a ‘happily ever after’ ending starts with a cliffhanger… or a shocking beginning. The story either kicks off with the hero trapped between the proverbial rock-and-a-hard-place or a related shocking scenario which he, of course, eventually overcomes. For Pemphero, a young man living in one of the poorest communities of Dowa District in Central Malawi, his story begins with almost a related situation, albeit slightly different.

When life gives you a lemon, make a lemonade. Archaic as that saying might sound, those who apply the concept behind the adage make considerable profits from the lemonade produced. Ednas Chadzuka is one of the people at whom life chucked a lemon. From struggling with her secondary school education to enrolling at a nursing college with nothing but faith in her pockets, Ednas’ story is a tale of awe, twists and shock.

Dzaleka Health Centre is a small hospital that lies at the heart of Dzaleka Refugee Camp located roughly 50 kilometres from Malawi’s capital Lilongwe. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the health centre caters for over 70,000 individuals within and around the refugee camp. The majority of these individuals – 62 percent […]

“Without the scholarship, my life would have been wasted”. After more than four failed attempts to find a scholarship for his university education, Jean was depressed. Jean loitered in destitution. He started applying for a scholarship soon after he had finished his secondary school education in 2018. He was unsuccessful twice. Then he tried again […]

Born and raised in Dowa district, Maligerita’s upbringing was not significantly different from that of her peers. Like most of them, she was raised in an underprivileged household. Even though that was the case, her parents underscored the importance of education and encouraged her to attend school. While she was able to finish primary school […]

“Welcome Mr. Phukaphuka,” I warmly uttered the words as I gently stood up from my seat. I was very pleased that I was finally meeting him. We had been rescheduling our appointments for quite a while now owing to his busy schedule as a policeman cum legal officer. Mr. Aulerious Phukaphuka has been in the police service for over a decade and his resume was rife with a plethora of achievements that he is so proud of – achievements in the child rights field. Among his touted accomplishments is the establishment of a special legal clinic specially dedicated to handling child-related cases ranging from child marriages to defilement and others.