Miracle of Karonga

For 23-year-old Clara Chawinga from Mwanganda Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kyungu in Karonga, life became unbearable when her parents enrolled her at Marianist Institute of Rural Artisans for Christian Life Education (Miracle) Technical School.

She did not want to be associated with the school which was originally introduced to offer life skills and technical education to children orphaned by Aids.

“I was a laughing stock among my peers for attending a school for orphans, most of them did not want to be identified as such,” Chawinga says.

However the tables have now turned for Chawinga as she is now the envy of her friends. Her life has transformed upon successful completion of her food production course and she is now able to support her family.

Marianist Brothers of the Catholic Church established the school in 1999 at Chaminade in T/A Kyungu’s area in the district as a pilot programme to equip orphans with different life skills.

Deputy director of the school, Brother Pachalo Mfune of the Society of Mary, says in the early days the brothers would go looking for orphans in the villages to enrol at the school.

Mfune says the brothers were touched by the rising number of orphans in the area which was also triggered by the HIV and Aids pandemic.

He says the school enrolled 100 students for a two-year programme in different trades, but only 33 graduated.

The school opened its doors as a full technical college in 2000 and 15 years down the line, the school is attracting not only orphans but learners from all walks of life in the country.

The school has graduated 986 students according to Mfune.

This year alone, it has 250 learners. Among them is 23-year-old tailoring and design student Otriner Chitipa from Kasepa T/A Chilikumwendo in Dedza.

Chitipa lost her parents and says she went to Katewe Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Dedza through a social welfare bursary which paid for her forms One and Two.

“I sat for my Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) at Chisamba CDSS in 2010 when my sister took over from the social welfare,” she says.

Although she did not do well in her MSCE, Forum for African Women Educationalists in Malawi (Fawema) hooked her up as an auxiliary teacher at Kabwazi Primary School, where she would receive K7500 per term as an allowance.

However, life proved too hard for her that in early 2012 she applied for Technical Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (Teveta) apprenticeship training programme.

In October 2012, she was enrolled at the school where she is currently doing tailoring and design.

“My sister pays K6 000 only, while Teveta pays the remaining K31 000. If I were home, I know I would have been married and raising children by now,” she says.

Chitipa says she now makes clothes which she sells to earn pocket money.

Mfune says Teveta started working with Miracle Technical School after assessing the school’s goals and syllabus.

“Some students apply to Teveta, which selects the successful ones and sends them to us, among other technical schools,” he says.

Mfune says the school is different from other technical schools because all students undergo computer and entrepreneurship training regardless of what course they are following..

“The aims is to equip learners with job training and life skills. After graduation, they write business proposals and we give them a starter pack to help kickoff their business,” he says.

He, however, said the school is currently facing financial challenges, as it is only funded by Marianist Brothers in United States of America (USA) and well wishers.

“Our funding has gone down,” Mfune says, adding they are currently engaging in some income-generating activities to raise funds.

He says it is involved in pig and poultry farming in order to pay the 25 tutors and support staff.

“We are only saddened with the shutdown of Kayelekera Uranium Mine, because they were our principal buyers,” Mfune narrates.

Despite the challenges, Miracle Technical School is fulfilling the beliefs of the Marianist who believe that the best ways to live a spiritual life apart from sharing the faith is to educate others.