By Onishias Maamba in
Chipata
IT has been said that
education is the greatest equalizer in life. To prove this, to date,
education/school is the only place that brings the son of a charcoal burner and
the son of a minister to amalgamate in one place in pursuit to attain academic
excellence.
However, like many other
undertakings, the route to attaining academic excellence is not devoid of
hurdles that one has to overcome to reach the finishing line.
A dozen people, who
never had the privilege to transverse the academic journey to reach tertiary
level or even secondary, have different stories to tell.
Common among them is
financial hardships, especially after the demise of their biological parents,
lack of access to nearby schools or worse still high poverty levels in homes.
Yet, others have bowed out own their own despite having everything at their
disposal.
The story of Auleliano
Phiri, 18 of Chadiza district in the Eastern province of Zambia is a
demonstration of how one defies the odds just to attain academic excellence.
Currently doing his
ninth grade at Chadiza Day Secondary, Auleliano is passionate about becoming a
doctor.
“I want to become a
doctor so that I can help people. I feel compassion seeing people suffering
from different conditions,” he notes.
Living in a small
community of Chadiza with his mother and stepfather, his academic life has been
one marred with hurdles because his stepfather has not been willing to support
him together with other sibling from his late father.
Seeing that this could
hinder him from achieving his dream, Auleliano has taken a different route by
working as a bricklayer during school holidays to meet his educational needs
and those of his siblings as well as home basic needs.
“Through my education, I
have had a privilege to learn construction from expressive arts. As such, I
have chosen to use it to meet my own my own financial obligations and education
needs through building, roofing and putting floors in people’s houses around my
community during school holidays,” he narrates.
Although this initiative
has worked in part for Auleliano, it has impacted on him negatively as he finds
it hard to divide his time between school and work as well as meeting needs for
his siblings.
“My challenge includes dividing
time between school and working when am constructing people’s houses. I also find
it difficult to support my siblings with school needs and buying food for my
family from the little that I earn,” he says.
Auleliano’s tenacity can
best fit in to the old cliché’ that says, “Where there is a will, there is a
way.”
Consequently, his
resolved has not escaped the attention of ‘The Knowledge Effect’ a non-profit
making organization that works to empower rural communities through promoting
literacy especially among vulnerable children and women.
Besides having a mobile
library, The Knowledge Effect has embarked on a programme to return children to
school and also keep them in school by financing education for vulnerable
children and educating communities.
Auleliona will be among
the first beneficiaries of this initiative, despite being in its infancy stage.
To achieve this, The
Knowledge Effect has partnered with two other organizations, Bingiza Foundation
and Caprecon Development Foundation.
The programme also aims
to provide mentorship to the children on the programme so that they can realize
their potential and live their dreams as well as empower them with knowledge in
different aspects of life especially literacy and skills.
Auleliona’s story could
just be the tip an ice berg as there could be many other children in rural
areas who encounter similar hurdles to acquire education.
However, not all of them
could be as industrious as Auleliona and the risk of their dreams going into
jeopardy is high.
There is therefore need
for a good Samaritan to take charitable step and come to the aid of such
children. For now, Auleliona’s dream is to one become the modern day Tackson
Lambert or Zambia’s Ben Carson and his ambitions are as fresh as the lilies of
the valley on a bright sunny rainy day.
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