John schrijft over zijn leven in Malawi
John Mlangeni is één van de jongeren die gesponsord wordt in het kader van het schoolproject van Kwasa Kwasa vzw. Kwasa Kwasa wil de verschillende sponsoren dan ook bedanken voor hun steun!
Hieronder kan je de ongecensureerde tekst terugvinden die ons is opgestuurd door John zelf. De tekst is bewust niet vertaald door ons maar des te meer de moeite waard om te lezen!
Hallo,
My name is John Molson, a Young man, born in 1995. You can calculate for yourself, how old is me, but the date is on October 3. Currently, I am studying a degree in Information Technology with the Lilongwe University College of Law and professional Studies . A university which is on the heart of the warm heart of Africa (Malawi)’s capital city (Lilongwe). I was born in a family of seven children, with a girl as a first born, the second and I as the third born and the rest except the last born, who is also a boy like myself. Means 2 boys &5 girls.
As a family, we do live in a happy life, though not all the times. Comparing to other people, my parents did not go further in academic wise. And this is the worst thing that is making us children to be struggling to make ends meet. Due to this illiteracy, my parents especially the father as a bread winner, fails to find a white collar job so that he could be paid enough salary, and you can agree with me, that, in this century, the world is looking to give lucky to those who deserve it, and they are those who are educated. Due to this scenario, my father used to work with several people as a house servant and be receiving a peanut payment, which was too difficult to cater for food and school fees, for us children. To solve this problem, in 2004, the father sent us all to village, including the mother, so that maybe he can be helping us, in terms of soap only, while we are there in village. For the food it was a thing of self reliant thus farming.
Though at most the whole family left for the village, things didn’t work according to plans because my sisters were not going to school just because of the same issue, fees. To me it was also a threat, because I was asking myself that if my elder sisters are not going to school, just because of fees am I going to make it; since, by then I was in primary school.
GOOD NEWS
As we were staying in the village, the father came with a story from town, which made every body of us felt like flying, “ Some well wishers who knows and remember to treat others like themselves, has offered my children scholarships”. He said these words as a mock to others, because I remember at one time he resigned a job after his boss failed to borrow him money for my sister ‘school fees, so he considers this kind of people selfish.
You may be wondering who are these well wishers, don’t worry, I will disclose, tit for tat, good things to good things. These are the KWASAKWASA team with its head of directors, Agnes Vancamp, it is the organization which rescued me and my sisters from the sharp canines of illiteracy. Minus these people, I think I would have been included in the statistics of Malawi, as one of those who has contributed to the raising of the illiteracy levels, here in Malawi.
They have been helping me since my secondary school and as I said in the preamble that at the moment I am in university doing I.T, don’t wonder,is the very same people who are spending un counted kwachas & Euros just to make me become one of those who so called role models, here in Malawi.
LIFE AT COLLEGE
I moved to start a new academic life here at the University, though I haven’t stayed too long here, I mean the boarding, the way I have observed, it’s a nice place to be, either academically, physically/ emotionally. Apart from secondary school, here also I have made some new friends, whom we do help each other academically or in other ways. Of these friends, some are coming from within Lilongwe, Blantyre, many from Mzuzu and other districts.
You can observe that people here in Malawi, do migrate from their homes just to find a good school in cities like the one I am studying with. Education here in Malawi is a tough thing to find, just because we don’t have enough facilities. And to find better education is in private schools, but here the name fees comes again in heads of people, due to expensiveness , but for my sisters and I, that is a story of the past, because, since the introduction of KWASAKWASA here in Malawi, we have been in safe hands in terms of fees, and anything as far as the education it concerns.
A BRIEF BACKGROUND OF MY COUNTRY
MALAWI is a country, found in the south eastern part of Africa, poorest country, a small one but with higher number of people, The poverty comes in due to high illiteracy levels, hence increasing the unemployment rate. Due to this, people ventures themselves into illegal businesses like selling of charcoals especially in villages.
Burning of charcoal, involves cutting down trees, and this has led into floods, that some parts of Malawi currently are experiencing, districts like Blantyre, Zomba, part of Mulanje and worst in Nsanje, that at some point the a village (people, houses, crops) has been washed away and some parts of the mentioned districts, people are sharing school blocks for accommodation.
Though food is shared to the victims, but it isn’t enough, just because the number of the victims is just many,and this has made the government to plead with well wishers like companies and NGOs to involve themselves in supporting the victims. Same like KWASAKWASA, companies that run telephone lines, has contributed 2million Malawi Kwacha for the help.
Finally, Here is a simple question, if it was you country facing this kind of natural disaster and you want to help, how would you help these victims nutritionally.(joking)”
