A day of mentoring at Rainbow Hope Secondary School- Malawi Style.
“It is an opportunity that I had always wanted to chance upon because I share a background with a majority of the learners at the school”
The dream of getting some of the inspiring female business owners to go and chat to the students of Rainbow Hope Secondary School finally came true. There surely can be no better way to inspire the students to finish their education and work hard than to see Malawian role models and hear about their businesses.
Trinitas, Luckia and Prudence have written about the experience.
Trinitas amidst the excited students at RHSS
Arriving at Rainbow Hope Secondary School
Excitement, Friday blues to dash off to a weekend and scorching heat filled the air at Rainbow Hope Secondary School in Mangochi on the 30th of April 2021. Immediately the students knew that the mentors they had waited for are here and are eager to engage them, serenity filled their mind and there they were opening up their souls to chat with their mentors.
Three mentors; Trinitas (Blantyre), Luckia (Zomba) and Prudence (Mangochi) picked a discussion topic each and dashed to their respective venues with the help of the coordinator, Blessings and his amazing team of teachers at the school. Each mentor had a different experience and you would rather hear from their mouths. Trinitas is first up…
Trinitas- how to succeed and pass your exams
‘Balancing study time for both boarding and day students’, I announced, and those inquisitive minds grinned as a response to how ready they were. On this session, we did a baseline survey to understand where every child is academically so they wrote their previous marks scores for all subjects.
I went through most desks and read silently the grades while smiling. They were amazing, they gave me hope and also a desire to improve them. Most said they are not happy with their grades which were between 22-38% in most subjects for many learners and yes, we had other higher good grades too, and needed to project the changes they want to see by end of this term exams due next week, which ushered us to goal setting on grades.
“I emphasized how determination and commitment can help everyone achieve anything in life and told them how this is possible for everyone!”
So we each wrote grades we wanted to score as a change and drew a timetable - I gave an assignment to every child I interacted with to read at least 2 hours in a day making sure that only two subjects are concentrated on and not having random subjects. I also stressed how each has to have at least 6 to 7 hours good sleep so their brain is in good shape when one lamented he is mostly tired. I did my time table too because I want to prep for a short course and a master's degree next year. Then the curtain needed to draw so I fished out some wisdom to end with.
We talked about how my life transformed from that little child who would get over the moon over a half an egg as the only relish for a meal when I languished in poverty to how hard work and motivation from mentors especially my mother really paid off to push me to study real hard, achieve good grades and bagged myself a degree which enabled me to get a good job until I resigned to work for my own company Tinapads which allowed me comfortable life to eating whatever I want and dressing up however I want ( they really complimented my look on the day and with a smile I said it's deliberate to hammer the point home).
I emphasized how determination and commitment can help everyone achieve anything in life and told them how this is possible for everyone! And the kids were amazed, garnered their inner strength and desired change because I saw this written all over their faces :) it was a beautiful day I will keep cherishing because I know the seed planted will sprout, blossom and shine in the due course.
Luckia- Your journey to university and a career
The excitement that we would be going for a career talk grew each time I remembered that I would not only be talking to mere secondary school youths but youths from my home village. Born and raised in Chipoka, a product of Koche Model School and a child of an unqualified waiter at a local hotel, it is an opportunity that I had always wanted to chance upon because I share a background with a majority of the learners at the school which would smoothen our chat.
We started the journey from Zomba and three hours later we were at the school welcomed by Blessings and his amazing team of teachers that helped out throughout the session.
Fast forward to the discussion room. To break the ice, I told the learners, a majority of which already know me, a brief background about me; my name, whose daughter I was, and my current profession and qualifications that I hold.
We didn't have much time so we had to be quick to go straight to the discussion . I wanted to learn about their goals after MSCE to know the kind of people that I was talking to. I posed a question on what they would like to do after MSCE to which some said they would like to venture into business, others would utilize their skills such as knitting to make money while a majority wishes to go further with studies up to PhD level. I smiled when I realised that in that environment, given all those tough unfavourable conditions there are still some youths, including girls who are enthusiastic to go further with studies not to mention about being architects; it was a different issue during my time as a girl would look forward to get married and boys would rather go to South Africa instead of continuing with their studies.
“To address their fear that they may not be picked to go to University, for failure to make a strong application, I volunteered my time to take them through application processes at universities both in Malawi or outside Malawi if they qualify.”
This brought us to the topic of discussion; career choices (with a bias towards tertiary education of course). Together we talked about available places for study in Malawi and the world at large. As I was running out of time, I told them that passion only cannot make them study the course that they like. University placement is competitive everywhere especially for the poor whose only passport to university is a good grade. One needs to work hard to improve their grades in the field that they are interested in to increase chances of being picked to study at a tertiary institution.
The questions that some of them asked at the end of the discussion were an indication that indeed, these people want to take it further; NCHE better be prepared in the next two years. To address their fear that they may not be picked for failure to make a strong application, I volunteered my time to take them through application processes at universities both in Malawi or outside Malawi if they qualify.
Prudence- Mental Health and Gender Based Violence
“The students suggested that we establish a safe space club at the school to pave way for discussions about such critical issues”
Due to the increase in Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases and mental health issues, these topics couldn't just be left out. One of the sessions tackled such issues and yours truly facilitated the discussion. I drilled the students on the various forms of GBV and the referral pathway systems readily available in their communities. Some of the issues were new to the students as until then they were not aware that some of the comments or scenarios they go through are forms of GBV and can also affect their mental health.
An emphasis was placed on the need to open up to teachers and qualified professionals if they are going through abuse or just to talk about the mental health. One of the male student complained that he is bullied by his fellow students just because he doesn't usually associate with girls.
As such, the students were also encouraged to create a safe space or a conducive environment for peer support and effective learning. After the session, the students suggested that we establish a safe space club at the school to pave way for discussions about such critical issues. I am excited to lead this exercise and hope it will be fruitful.