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Malawian girl's dreams come true through Flying Girls' scholarship programme
Flying Girls Malawi educates girls in Malawi about menstrual hygiene, leadership, and entrepreneurship-Sumeya Issa.
Malawi-On a bright morning at St. Lawrence Secondary School in Chikwawa, a young girl walks past her new school surroundings with confidence, her eyes radiating cheerfulness and brimming with joy and gratitude, writes Sumeya Issa.
Prospellina Kapito, an 18-year-old former student of Chichiri Secondary School in Blantyre, considered returning to school an unattainable dream until an unexpected opportunity unfolded, and she became one of the fortunate ones.
The Kapito family's life took a drastic financial turn over a year ago following the death of their father, who was their financial backbone. This unfortunate event forced them to leave the city and return to their home village in Chiradzulu.
Prospellina was in Form 3 by the time they arrived in the village. However, their mother, now a single guardian of three children, was unable to afford the tuition fees to enable them to continue their education as she had hoped.
In Malawi, the majority of the population, approximately 70%—lives below the International Monetary Fund (IMF) poverty line of $1.9 per day. This dire situation is reflected in the educational statistics that show only 13% of girls complete upper secondary school in the country, with the number dropping to 2% among the poorest children, according to a 2019 UNICEF report. These statistics underscore the significant struggles experienced by many communities and the challenges faced in providing access to education for girls in the country.
Despite these daunting challenges, Prospellina's life took a turn for the better through a newly implemented sponsor-based scholarship program under Flying Girls Malawi, a Blantyre-based organization focused on menstrual hygiene and empowering girls' education.
Unlike many girls who lack support and encouragement to pursue their education, Prospellina is one of the few whose life has been transformed by this organization, which is working to change the narrative and empower girls to achieve their educational goals.
As a middle child in a family of three, Prospellina is among the first students to be enrolled in the Flying Girls Malawi sponsorship program, and she expresses her excitement at what she sees as a life-changing opportunity.
“I would like to thank my sponsor together with Flying Girls Malawi because I never hoped I could be here. I had lost all hope by the time I was meeting Flying Girls and my sponsor. They helped me return to school which is where I am today. I am so excited because they have made my dreams come true, and I thank God for them,” narrates Prospellina.
Prospellina expresses her happiness with her new school environment and the treatment and coaching she receives from her teachers, which she believes has played a significant role in her good progress and grades in class.
“I found things going smoothly for me in class because I was repeating form 3, so it was easy to cope with lessons since I was familiar with everything already. I stayed in fourth place throughout Form 3. However, through the encouragement of Flying Girls Malawi, together with my sponsor, I managed to make it to position 2 during the first term of Form 4," she says.
Proud of her new opportunity, 18-year-old Prospellina has big dreams for her future. Her once-fading aspirations have been reignited by the efforts of her newfound heroes, Flying Girls Malawi and her sponsor.
Christopher Moyo, a form 4 teacher at St. Lawrence Secondary School who teaches in Prospellina's class, testifies to her excellent grades and overall performance.
He beams with pride at his student’s performance: “Since her arrival in Form 3, Prospellina has been consistent in terms of her performance. Her presentation from previous terms indicates that she is going up and not down. She shifted from position 4 in form 3 and now she sits at position 2. We are confident that by the end of her form 4 here, she will have very good results.”
Moyo describes Prospellina as an exemplary student, who currently holds the position of Vice Head Girl, making her second in command in terms of student leadership.
Lydia Banda, the founder of Flying Girls Malawi, expresses her satisfaction with the newly implemented scholarship program, describing it as an essential initiative for their organization.
“We were triggered by the increased number of girls staying home as a result of early pregnancies as well as the high number of girls who drop out due to different reasons beyond their control. Our desire is to reach out to these girls and send them back to school. We want to ensure that we make their dreams come true,” says Banda.
According to the founder of Flying Girls, the organization aims to close the gender inequality gap in education in Malawi.
“As an organization, we are hopeful for a future of this initiative. We are seeing several people interested in our vision and willing to support us. With that, I am confident that we will be able to support and sponsor more girls to return to school because it is their right. We believe in every girl’s dream,” narrates Banda.
Despite this, the organization acknowledges that it still has a long way to go in terms of securing the necessary financial resources to support and sponsor the targeted number of girls in the local community.
Established in 2020, Flying Girls Malawi aims to engage girls in Malawi on topics such as menstrual hygiene, leadership skills, and entrepreneurship, among others.