Enala soars for women and girls
On August 12 2023, Enala Ngulu Gondwe, 43, graduated from Shareworld Open University in Area 36, Lilongwe.
For some, this was just another event. Not for Enala, who 30 years ago could not imagine herself wearing an academic gown.
For the girl who could not make it to public university due to the quota system of selection, the gown capped her journey of resilience and determination. A journey so painful, yet rewarding.
At 13, orphaned and without support, Enala married a 47-year-old community health worker as a third wife just for survival. Wells Gondwe, the husband, “abused” his age, position and influence to lure a minor into marriage, she says.
“That’s regrettable and worth learning from,” says Gondwe.
The health surveillance assistant supports Enala’s current effort to end child marriage.
“During the graduation, I was fighting back tears. It was an emotional moment for me considering what I have gone through,” said Enala in a phone interview.
But she had every reason to smile.
“I’m happy with this achievement because it is likely to inspire more girls and women never to give up in life,” she stated.
Enala works with the Foundation for Community Services Organisation (Focus) in Karonga to inspire girls. She uses her story to fight child marriage and empower women. She is development officer for the Child Not Bride Project funded by Plan Malawi.
The new milestone, bachelor of science in rural and community development, solidifies Enala’s position as an activist and role model, says Focus executive director Kossam Munthali.
The non-governmental organisation has organised an event to celebrate her feat, inspire children to dream big and raise funds for needy girls to remain in school.
The event is slated for December 9 this year at Focus head office in Karonga Town as part of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
Said Munthali: “The event creates a platform to recognise Enala’s accomplishments as an achiever and presents an opportunity for fundraising while motivating other women and girls, even men and boys to dream bigger.”
The event will also amplify calls to end early and forced marriages.
Troubled past
Inspired by her troubled marriage, Enala was 29 years old and a mother of six when she enrolled in Standard Eight at Lusako Primary School alongside her children.
She ecstatically recalls: “Some friends thought I was going there to look for men and others said I was out of my mind.
“I didn’t mind because I had the full support of my husband and zeal to accomplish my dream.”
Against the odds, she was the only learner selected to a boarding secondary school.
While at Chilumba Secondary School, she endured untold bullying because she was an over-aged learner in a community of students the ages of her children.
“All this couldn’t deter me because I had a bigger goal,” she says. “I wanted to go beyond secondary school and obtain a qualification worth counting on.”
She thanks supportive teachers who helped her settle in.
Enala passed the Malawi School Certificate of Education, but her dream was almost dashed as she did not make it to a public university.
“I was not done yet,” she says.
She enrolled for a four-year degree programme with Shareworld Open University in Mzuzu.
Rise to Activism
After her MSCE, Focus recruited her as a community facilitator under a project to restore hope for orphans and vulnerable children.
This gave rise to her activism for girls and women’s empowerment.
She remains a passionate advocate for the rights of women and girls in Karonga and surrounding districts.
She helps terminate child marriages and liberate girls from the illicit unions, persuading women to return to school regardless of their age.
In 2015, Enala spoke at a high-level meeting on ending child marriage on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Malta.
She is not only inspiring her community, but also her children who have all taken education seriously.
Enala’s youngest child, Martha, is in Form Three at St Mary’s Girls Secondary School in Karonga, Alinafe is at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes), Annie is a qualified nurse at Kibwe Rural Hospital in Karonga and Fwasani is doing water navigation at Marine Training College in Monkey Bay, Mangochi.
