Robert Laws Secondary School. Supported by MMF 2006 – 2009. Now a professional woman, Mercy says “I highly recognise that I am where I am today because of the sponsorship/bursary I got from Mamie Martin Fund which was the most needed stepping stone for my life.“
Mercy Mvula lost both her parents when she was very young. She was cared for by her maternal grandmother for five years and then by other family members. Mercy was selected to Robert Laws’ Secondary School in Embangweni in 2005. In the first term her uncles and relatives contributed to her fees but there was no money after that. Like many other pupils, she was sent home. Thanks to the Head Teacher, Mr Chirambo, she was selected for an MMF bursary and was able to return to school the following term. After completing her secondary school education at Robert Laws’ she studied Economics at the Catholic University of Malawi. Her maternal grandfather used his pension to pay for her first two years at University but struggled thereafter, graduating only because of support from her fellow students and other well wishers.
Mercy Walusungu Mvula 2020
On completion of her degree Mercy worked with various institutions including the Government of Malawi in the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare. She is currently working with help2kids as a Field Manager for Malawi. This is an international humanitarian organisation working to support children in school in Malawi and Tanzania. Mercy has been offered a place to study for a Masters in Humanitarian Assistance and Crisis Management at the school for International Training (SIT) in Vermont, USA in 2021. She has some scholarship money for this degree but not yet enough. Even with these pressures on her, Mercy is offering to help MMF girls. She would like to use her experience and knowledge to inspire these girls ‘to keep pushing and stay focused now that they have one burden less as they do not have to worry about tuition fees anymore’.
Mercy has considerable mentorship and career guidance experience. She has volunteered with the Youth2Youth Empowerment Network as a mentor and is their current National Mentor-ship Coordinator. In addition, she has established a Malawian organisation called Basic Life that centers on girl child education and women’s social economic empowerment.
In offering to mentor some of our MMF girls, Mercy says:
Many girls in primary and secondary schools do not have clear goals and lack models especially the ones in rural areas that can help them see beyond than their current situation. This has led to most girls not being able to go beyond secondary school. I would like to bridge this gap by offering mentor-ship and career guidance sessions to inspire and enlighten these groups of girls in terms of how they might plan and face the future.
We are so happy to be in contact with Mercy and grateful for her support of our pupils.
November 2020