Student Stories

Some Student Stories

	Ethel Moyo (26) Ethel had completed Grade 11 when she became pregnant. The father left and she was forced to leave school to look after the child (and now younger family). She is employed as a domestic worker, earning US$90 per month. ‘I was very good at school and really enjoyed it....although on many days we had not teachers, so we taught ourselves.’
	Victor Kundola (33) Victor moved to Lusaka after school to try and find a job, and finds piece work when he can. He dreamt of being a teacher, but at his school ‘there were always shortages of teachers and the class sizes were very big: over 100 squashed into small rooms’. ‘We could never afford books or learning materials’.
	Charity Longolo (31) Charity grew up in a rural area and left school after Grade 5 when her parents separated, as she had to look after her brothers and sisters. She is now a domestic worker in Lusaka sending money home to her family. ‘I have a child and a husband and that is good. Maybe one day I will be a teacher, but I have no money and no education, so I will stay as I am’.
	Mary Phiri (19) Mary grew up in rural part of Eastern Zambia, but her parents moved the family to Lusaka when her father was diagnosed with HIV, as there he could find the drugs needed to keep him alive. Mary now walks 2 hours each way to school. ‘In [my first] school we had few teachers... and did not have any books. When I leave school I want to be a nurse’.

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