Educating the Girl Child: The family affect.

25th May 2016:


The picture is of Malala Yousafzai.  As a young girl, of 15, she defied the Taliban, in Pakistan, and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, but survived and went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
I am not suggesting that our girls will become activists for women's rights, but if they get even a little education, they will be more likely to know that they actually have rights and do something about it.
 
Interview with Idah Msiska by Cliona Joyce, a course intern from UCC
(How a little help can change family life)
 
Idah, the mother of Angela Mwale, whose education is supported by Wells for Zoe. Herself and her husband are farmers and they have 4 daughters.
 
(Why did you come here?)
W4Z went to  Cachaso to explain about the organisation. This is when I heard about the fees. It was them, the General Village Head, etc. and they were looking for girls who were just staying at home because of issues with fees.
 
They were both sick (herself and her husband) while Angela was taking care of them, like giving them medication and food. So Wells for Zoe has made a change for them because their worrying had been making them sick. They are continuing to take dosages of drugs every day but they are now fit/ok because they have less worries about Angella as well as their other daughters.
They had been thinking things like ‘who will support our children?’ ‘we are going nowhere’ ‘God has ignored us’.
 
In the past herself and her husband, though very sick, had been very worried about the welfare of her children. But when Wells for Zoe started helping Angela go to school, all these worries were removed and now they think about the future.
 
(What are your hopes for the future?)
She is seeing a very bright light for her and her children that they will depend on themselves.
Though she is worried about her children, because between home and school is a long distance. They are all standard 5-8 but when school closes she is worried for them walking home in the forest, she fears she will be attacked, harassed or raped; or even that someone will take their blood as she heard happens.
 
(Daily life?)
Early in the morning, first thing she goes into the garden where she has vegetables, and waters them. Then she goes back into the house and prepares food. Angela helps clean the dishes and brushes the house. Because she is sick they are advised not to work too hard so they do some small things in the garden to get vitamins from the vegetables.
 
(What kind of  things does she like to do?)
She likes to stay with other friends so she can chat and share ideas. She likes to farm so she can earn money to assist the family.
 
(Anything she wants to say?)
She is very excited about her children. She tells me that the teachers at Angela’s school told each parent to check the notebooks after school. When Ida was checking Angela’s work she saw a story in English that Angela had written about herself, it was about her background and her hopes for her future. She asked her daughter ‘Why is it in English?’, she answered ‘I wrote it like this so I could send it to the head teacher’. She hoped he would put it on the noticeboard because she was so happy about her future.
 
Ida: I woke up at around 4.40am to start walking from Ekwendeni to the office of Wells for Zoe (she was also helping to cook). As a mother it is strange because she did not know her child was so serious about education - so she made herself go here this morning to escort her child, as her child’s determination has made her to be serious about it too.
 
(This is the story Angela wrote that she wanted to send to her head teacher)
 
MY STORY
My name is Angella Mwale. I was born in a family of six, with four daughters. I am in form 2 at Ekwendeni Community Day Secondary School.
I begin my day by waking up around 4am. Then I do household chores like sweeping around the house and inside the house. Then I make fire and put water for bath. If there is food I cook it, but most of the time I go to school with an empty stomach because my parents are  living HIV positive and they can not manage to buy food for our breakfast.
But I don’t much care. I am looking forward to my future, so that I should be the one helping my parents to have good health.
If I have taken my bath then I put on my uniform, then I start off walking to school. But because of distance I often reach school late. Sometimes I find that one period has gone.
I often start off when the time is coming to six o’clock am and I reach school at around 7.30, since we start lessons at 7.00. I am not happy to lose a period. But I will still work hard. Maybe it’s a will of God.
We knock off at 1.30pm and reach home around 3:00pm.
After I put off my school uniform I take the food which my mum has cooked.
Then I clean the plates, go to fetch firewood and go to well to draw water. After that I cook food for supper. We usually eat the food with green leaves, and sometimes with beans. Then I take my notes for study. But I just read less time because of tiredness.
Now I want to thank God for what he has done for me including my parents. God created a way when there was no way. As soon as I have passed standard 8 my parents told me that they didn’t have money for school fees. But God gave me John and Mary to help me and my parents with school fees. In this case I thank almighty God for giving us donors.
 Angela