Lusungu about herself:

My name is Lusungu Chirwa. I am the youngest in the family of seven. My parents are both very old and they live in a typical village in Mzimba, Malawi.

Currently I am living with my sister who is divorced, and she also looks after her two children. My sister did not go further with her education, so she runs a small business in order to feed us. Looking at how she struggles for us, I decided to go further with my education so that I might be of help to her and my parents at home.

In 2012, I got selected to Nkhorongo Secondary school, NED organization helped with my fees. In 2015 I wrote my first form 4 examinations and I passed with 25 points. Due to high competition, plus the high points, I was not offered a place at the University.

I decided to repeat form 4 but no one was able to help me with the fees. I stayed at home the whole year, staying at home pained me a lot because that was never my plan in my academic life. I started looking for solutions.

In 2016, I found Mary Coyne and found out that Wells for Zoë pay school fees for the needy girls. I went there and after they looked at my situation, they helped me out. I went back to school and I worked very hard. My target was to pass with 20 points or below. In 2017 I again sat for the form 4 examinations and I passed with 18 points.

After applying for the colleges, I was offered a place at Chancellor Collage to study Bachelor of Arts in social and economic history.

I am very thankful to Wells for Zoë because they have done a lot for me; they paid my school fees at secondary school and looked after me when there was no one else, and now that I have been selected to go to college, they have helped me with accommodation and transport fees. Apart from that, they also helped me from the time I wrote form 4 examinations until now as they called me to work with them.

22^nd May 2018

This is Lusungu working in the Wells for Zoë pump factory on 22^nd May 2018 cutting solid bar for pump parts.

She is one of the Girl Child Students who completed her MSCE last year and qualified for the prestigious University, Chancery College, but sadly with no one who can afford to support her, she doesn’t have fees to go.

She has been employed by Wells for Zoë since her exams, otherwise she would starve.

Because of excellent results, including an A in English, we have been working with Social Welfare to see if a bursary might be possible, but it’s not looking good. A college loan is possible but it’s a small amount.

It’s a strange and sad world!

11th August 2018

The first picture shows Lusungu before she headed off to University. Even though the bursary never materialised she did receive a loan which will start her off and she decided to start University anyway hoping something would fall into place. We think she is a great investment for the future of her country and have set about looking for someone to support her.

24th Nov 2018

St Patrick’s Parish, Lucan, Co. Dublin, Ireland read this about Lusungu and decided to fund raise in their parish to support her through her three years at College. Congrats to them for supporting someone special. They are now closely following her progress

Needless to say that at every opportunity she has Lusungu is back helping out as an office intern at the Wells for Zoë Centre for Learning & factory offices.