Lufasi Keneddy of Ngala village Traditional Authority Chadza is an exceptional student. Growing up in the rural setting did not deter him to realize his ambition of achieving great milestones in the educational ladder.

  • Lufasi in his class at the Polytechnic

Pursuing his primary school education at the famous foot of Ngala Yapakamwa Hills in TA Chadza Lilongwe was all Lufasi Kennedy knew and experienced during his childhood. Just one session of a career talk from one of the student teachers who came for teaching practice at his school was enough to open his mind and enable him decide on what he wants to do in future. From then he was determined to work hard, achieve best grades and get to best schools ever. The ever cheerful Lufasi says he always wanted to be a good role model in his area in terms of dedication to education.

There was one bottleneck though, Lufasi and five of his siblings were all raised by their mother alone. While she is so determined to care for all her children, she has several other challenges. Her source of income is not regular as she is just a subsistence farmer whose produce is merely used to feed her children. Such a situation left Lufasi puzzled and even discouraged him a lot.

In 2016, Lufasi got the best news ever. His family was among the families chosen to be beneficiaries in the Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) of SOS Children’s Villages Malawi. The organisation, apart from working with the entire family, also started providing educational support to Lufasi. This saw Lufasi receiving school fees, school materials like note books, textbooks, and other requirements at school. His motivation towards school was enhanced and his results after writing the Malawi School Certificate Examination (MSCE) were quite exceptional.

“I have passed through hard times in childhood to get to where I am today, as you rightly know, here in the village there are very limited sources of finding money. My mother is just a subsistence farmer as such she cannot manage to pay for education for all my siblings and I, let alone feed us.’’ Said Lufasi with mixed emotions.

With his good grades at the MSCE, Lufasi got accepted to further his education with one of the renowned and a constituent college of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) the polytechnic where he is studying for a first degree in Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering.

“It has been a rough road for me, but here I am, a university student from a rural setting. As a way of showing my gratitude to my community and SOS Children’s Villages Malawi for the educational support, I will work hard so that I make them proud. No organisation would love supporting someone who is not determined to achieve better grades. I will surely graduate and be a responsible family man.”  Said Kennedy Lufasi.