Letter From a Nursing Degree Graduate to FOCHTA’s Patron
Hello Papa Claude
Greetings from Malawi. I am Keith Mwitiwa, now 26 years old, and was a long time beneficiary of FOCHTA (once a FOCHTA beneficiary always a FOCHTA beneficiary). I am so proud of it and thankful to your vision. I graduated from University of Malawi (Kamuzu college of Nursing) in October 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree (nursing and midwifery), two years after Brenda. At that time life was hard because there was a crisis in government which stopped straight deployment of graduates to jobs, as was done before. So living in a country where experience is the only thing that matters to secure a job, I really struggled. Then I organized myself and thought of volunteering at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, a big learning and referral centre in Blantyre. Volunteering here is another thing; sometimes it’s purely without benefit and at times with some stipend. In my case it had a small stipend for just soap, but the problem was it could take 2 or 3 months for me to get a monthly stipend. Living in town on a rented room with friends, whereby at every month-end we were supposed to pay for the sharing of rent and food. This was just too hard.
So I decided to search for a non-governmental organization where I could volunteer and luckily I found one, The Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) in Mulanje District. So I moved to that district and was working to provide out-patient services, family planning and HIV/AIDS care. Life started changing because I had an improved stipend which was given to me monthly. But still this wasn’t enough because I was paying school fees for my young brother and sister so the stipend was only enough for my daily basic expenses. I kept on applying for different jobs and lucky enough got a job with Malawi AIDS Counselling and Resource Organisation (MACRO). There I am working on a project called “Gateway Project; addressing the unmet needs on HIV/AIDS in Blantyre”. I enjoy my job very much because it was my passion to work in HIV /AIDS fighting institutions.
The only challenge I have with this job is the contract they provide. The contract is always a short one with uncertain renewals, depending on whether MACRO can have enough funding. So at every end of contract, I worry a lot. But by grace, funding does come miraculously as many donors like our work. Am not married yet but I have a longtime girlfriend, Caroline, who I am planning to marry to on December 1st, 2018 at Kanjedza Lodge in Limbe, Blantyre. All in all, life is fair to me.
With all the best wishes to you.
Keith