grew up at Kande Beach, on the shore of Lake Malawi. This is an area where early marriages and early pregnancies are common among young girls, and boys dropout to become fishermen. Long distances to secondary schools add another reason for dropouts, and rural schools often do not provide the quality of education available in urban centers.  Nashion believes that a strong education is the best solution to solve Malawi’s problems.

 

Nashion’s dream was to earn a university education and then return to his community and open a secondary school. In 2012 he joined the University of Livingstonia to earn a bachelor’s degree in Education (Humanities). But by 2013 he was preparing to withdraw because he was unable to raise enough to pay his school fees. Fortunately, John Knox Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma offered Nashion financial support. With the help of this scholarship, Nashion was able to continue his studies, was elected president of the Student Union at Laws Campus and graduated in 2015.

 

Although Nashion was eager to be posted to a secondary school, new graduates typically must wait for some years before receiving a government position. Impatient, Nashion decided that he would open his own school—with no money. He borrowed US$40 from Bethel, then his fiancée and now his wife, and promised a free uniform for each student who enrolled early, which provided some additional cash up front. He rented a small building and a room at a nearby church and convinced a few former college mates to join him in this shoestring operation. He visited nearby primary schools and asked for their broken desks, which a carpenter friend repaired. Another college mate arranged for a loan of textbooks for all classes. In September 2016, Excel Foundation opened with 39 students total in forms one, two and three.

 

In 2018, John Knox Presbyterian Church again came to Nashion’s rescue by providing a generous grant to fuel the buying of land and molding bricks for new structures and to repair a borehole for convenient water access. Nashion explains that school fees have been the oxygen to sustain the breathing rate of Excel Foundation. The official annual tuition is MK120,000 (US$120). Even though fees collection is Excel’s only reliable source for teacher salaries and infrastructure needs, tuition is kept low and on a sliding scale for those less privileged.

 

Excel Foundation’s enrollment has increased to 140 students total in forms one through four, and each year sends graduates on to universities, ranging up to top government programs. In addition, Nashion has campaigned for girls with early pregnancies to return to school; this academic year 14 of these girls have returned to complete their education.

We are proud to spotlight Nashion Kamanga, a man whose education was made possible with scholarship help and who is using his talents and inspiration to improve the lives of young people in his community.

In Malawi, the value of a scholarship extends far beyond the particular student who receives financial support. Mwayi Chirwa is a wonderful example of this truth. Mwayi was fortunate to have an American sponsor who provided her with full tuition, room and board for the four years she studied at University of Livingstonia Laws Campus. Because she has a passion for the environment and natural resources, Mwayi chose to pursue a bachelor’s degree in environmental management.

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Mwayi graduated with distinction in August 2016. A month later she was hired as a lecturer at Laws Campus.

Although Mwayi had originally hoped to work “on the ground” addressing Malawi’s environmental problems, especially deforestation, she is glad to have become an academician and realizes that she is training many others to address Malawi’s challenges. She has now been an associate lecturer at UNILIA for six years and has served as head of the environmental management department for four years. Not only has she taught a full load of courses, but she has also led department planning and overseen course assignments and student management.

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In addition, Mwayi has been working toward a master’s degree in forestry and environmental management through Mzuzu University. In her first year, she alternated spending two weeks lecturing at Laws Campus and two weeks taking courses in Mzuzu. For her second year, she worked on her research, investigating the ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and anti-microbial activity of two native herbs found in Malawi.

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Mwayi continues to “pay it forward”, sharing the advantages of her scholarship with others. First, she sponsored her brother, who graduated from UNILIA with a credit in computer engineering in November 2021. He now works for a tech company and has opened his own business with a group of other techies. Then she sponsored her sister who is graduating this month with a bachelor’s degree in food security and nutrition at UNILIA. In August 2020, Mwayi married Wisdom Chibaka who is now in his second year at UNILIA studying computer engineering. All three family members are very grateful for the assistance Mwayi received; it has transformed her family remarkably.

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All of this has happened because of the generosity of a single donor. We are grateful to all who contribute to the UNILIA Foundation. Know that your contributions extend far beyond their original recipients.