From suffering leg pains to helping those who suffer
By Chloe Yin
Menia Musiiwa and Stanley Ndambakuwa pose for a picture with her classmates.
Menia Musiiwa was born in 2004 to an impoverished family in Zimbabwe. From a young age, she suffered from leg pains, making many everyday activities difficult.
Menia attended school through Grade 3 but ceased her education in 2018 due to a severe lack of income. Menia’s family was struck by extreme drought, and her parents were rendered unemployed. This unfortunate catastrophe had a severe impact on Menia’s physical and emotional well being. More importantly, she could no longer afford her school fees - her parents were unable to pay her tuition - and she was forced to drop out of school. Her family struggled to meet their day-to-day expenses. Menia was compelled to work several piece jobs below the minimum wage, such as gardening, sweeping, and fetching firewood to maintain basic survival.
Menia Musiiwa outside her home.
Education was a priority for Menia. She is a brilliant student who receives countless awards in all aspects of life. She has received top student achiever awards several times. However, her stellar performance was not enough to keep her in school, and she was forced to drop out eventually.
Menia dreams of becoming a nurse. She aspires to promote health and nurture individuals, families, and communities to reach an optimum physicality state. This profound goal is something that requires a sophisticated level of education, something that Menia is unable to attain currently.
The African Community Fund for Education (ACFE Group) sees excellent potential in Menia and her dreams. Since they granted her an academic scholarship, Menia was able to return to school. The ACFE Group’s School Feeding Initiative helps children like Menia, who walk very long distances to school to eat the one meal they are allotted at school. Menia not only needs continuous support for school tuition, but she also needs money to cover her accommodation, transportation, school uniforms, and stationery. She is one of the few girls who decided to build a temporary shelter at school to reduce the impact of walking long distances to school every day.
Please donate today to the ACFE Group to help Menia, and many other girls like her, to finish their education. In our world today, education is the best way out of poverty.
Together, we can help her fulfill her dreams. Let’s help Menia in building a utopia free of diseases and infections.