Esther Kuweruza: Founder of Kuwala Christian Organisation

At just 24 years, Esther Kuweruza has achieved a lot in life by changing many young girls’ perception of life in general, especially education.

A holder of a Masters Degree and Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, she realised that not many girls were as privileged in education.

Esther, an IT and computer science lecturer, decided to act and help underprivileged girls and women reach their full potential.

She formed Kuwala Christian Organisation (Kuco)

The lecturer believes her purpose is to help young girls see themselves the way God sees them and achieve all their goals and dreams.

Through her initiative which she founded while in college, she has helped many needy girls to succeed in life.

Kuco empowers girls and women, especially those in secondary and primary schools.

Esther disclosed that they have managed to reach more than 10 schools and five orphanages while the number of girls could be more than a thousand

“My inspiration came from college, at DMI in Mangochi. I used to hear a lot of stories of young girls dropping out of school, others getting married. I wanted to inspire them to reach their potential and motivate them to study any course in the field of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics just like I did,” she beamed.

“We visit schools and orphanages to empower everyone to reach their dreams and potential through education,” she beamed

Through her initiative, Esther also tackles her audiences’ spiritual lives, teaching them the importance of knowing God and having a personal relationship with him.

The computer engineer also teaches girls how to take care of their bodies.

She incorporated the hygiene aspect because she mainly deals with teenagers; hence decided to be each her sisters’ keeper.

Esther is a first born daughter in a family of two girls to Moses and Madalitso Kuweruza.

She attained her qualifications at DMI.

She is commonly known as Queen Esther among her friends and is a born again Christian from Assemblies of God, Dream Centre International Assembly.

“I am an IT lecturer and it’s something I wanted to do and  be because I am a student at heart. I am a full-time IT lecturer at St John Catholic College and part time computer science lecturer at DMI Saint John the Baptist University, Blantyre Campus.

“I enjoy impacting lives and changing my students’ perception of life in general. I believe in education as a catalyst for change and I am glad to be a part of the system that fosters that change,” she said.

Esther confessed that she loves it when her students ask her questions on things they didn’t fully understand, especially in technology.

 “I choose to help young girls out of passion for them and because of my background. My sister Hannah Kuweruza has been one of my greatest cheerleaders in life and I believe I can be a cheerleader to these girls as well,” she said.

Esther said it breaks her heart to see many young girls dropping out of school and getting pregnant.

He observed that although there are a lot of empowerment programmes for women, there is still more to be done.

“This is because when we don’t reach out to these girls faster, we are delaying our own progress as a nation and within our communities. It is true of the saying that when you educate a girl child, you educate the whole village.

“We should see a girl as a village so when a girl drops out, we are losing an entire village that would have been impacted through one girl’s life,” she explained.

Her favourite outreach so far has been Mthunzi Orphanage based in Machinjiri, Blantyre.

She noted that most of the girls from the orhpanange were taken out of the streets of Limbe, but have grown to love the Lord and work hard in school.

Funding for these programmes comes from well-wishers within the organisation, friends and family that believe in her initiative and also out of her personal income.

She said: “When selecting on who to help, we look at those close to where we are, especially those less privileged that lack access to opportunities where people can reach out to them and inspire them.

“I have role models that have shaped my life and I look up to one of my mentors, Angie Mwafulirwa.

Mwafulirwa has two organisations that help young people called Young N Sharp and Sharpen Her; the African Women Network respectively.

“I also look up to a Nigerian female pastor; her name is Reverend Funke Felix Adejumo. She has similar initiatives that help single mothers and widows and is an inspiration to my life. Lastly I also look up to women in Malawi such as Professor Address Malata, Dr. Queen Dube, Hon. Vera Kamtukule and Pastor Emma Mwasinga,” she said.

The biggest challenge she faces is lack of resources and funding.

She noted that it was hard to sustain the running of the organisation and reaching out to many girls.

However, Esther bemoaned unrealistic target expectations by donors when applying for aid to fund projects within the organisation to reach these girls.

She said God has been her biggest factor in her achievements; guiding and directing her in the operations of the organisation and in handling challenges.

Esther believes God has helped her through church gatherings, mentors and having great support system of members within the organisation.

“There is enough room for each one of us at the top and I believe we are all meant to be there. So, I believe we have to be each others’ keeper and help one another to rise instead of being competitors. We need to compliment each others’ skills and talents that God has given us,” she said.

She believes in dressing well because first impression matters.

“Working hard in all the things I do and putting extra efforts, having mentors around me as well as nurturing healthy relationships with my friends are key,” added Esther.

One of the biggest decisions she ever made was choosing to do her MBA while doing two lecturing jobs, having an organisation as it demanded a lot of her time and needed her to be grounded, but it was worth it.

She also advises fellow women in these times of economic challenges to cut down on expenses by, among others, taking cooked meals to work instead of buying.

Esther added that there was no need for new outfits for every event, but to repeat the same the clothes one has.

He also advised on deleting some apps that are less used, but take up time and data to save time, money and make this generation productive.

Her advice to girls is to believe in themselves as the world need their magic.

“Always show up and never doubt dreams because they always come true when you work hard for them,” she said.

In her free time, she loves to watch sermons, especially by Apostle Joshua Selman, trying different cuisines with her friends and listening to Afrobeat songs.