The first born of a family of four, Annie Nkhoma experienced difficulties in fees payment at Karonga Girls’ Secondary School right at the start of her secondary years. She has now graduated with a BSc in Soil Science from LUANAR in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The first born of a family of four, Annie Nkhoma experienced difficulties in fees payment at Karonga Girls’ Secondary School right at the start of her secondary years (2012 to 2016). Her father is a piecework builder (casual labour) and her mother has a small business selling tomatoes at the market. Because of their problems in fees payment she was selected by the school to receive an MMF bursary.
Annie graduated in Soil Science from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in 2021. She was supported at school by MMF and at university by the SOKO Fund. She is so grateful for the MMF and SOKO support that has allowed her to reach this far with her education. Her home is in Karonga so her trips to and from LUANAR involved a 10-hour overnight bus trip each way and then an hour’s minibus ride to the campus. ‘It was a tiresome journey’, she admitted.
Annie would like to get a job in her field with the Malawian Government or an NGO in Malawi. She says “if I fail to get a job from government or an NGO, I would like to involve in self-employment (being an entrepreneur e.g. doing business to support my daily life and others)”. She believes that through her career some change shall be seen in her community because she will act as a role model to younger girls and women who, due to poverty, think that they cannot reach far in their education levels.
Unfortunately, two years after her graduation, Annie is still seeking professional work in her field.