Steven Mwamba Tells a Successful Story of Resilience and Hope

And now my story began!

Everything seemed to be well with me before I left my parents’ house to settle on my own. When I was 23 years old, I started working as a volunteer teacher at Lukashya Day Secondary School, that was 2018 just after graduating from college . I then moved out of my parents’ house and rented a house for myself. My salary was good because in those days the school fees for pupils were high and the amount was determined by each school’s administration. I was getting K700(seven hundred kwacha) pay month plus the economy of our nation was doing abit fine so I managed to provide for myself. In 2019, I got married and soon God blessed us with our first born daughter Blessing Mwamba. My administrators at Lukashya Day Secondary School were so good and reliable. They helped me a lot with my family.

Suddenly, in 2020 term one, we received two permanent teachers employed by the government in Languages department were I belonged. And that was a disadvantage to me because then staffing levels increased and my services were you no longer needed. So I applied at Misamfu Day Secondary School and luckily I was accepted to work voluntarily as a subject teacher because they were understaffed in Languages department. To my surprise, the Zambian government announced the reduction of school fees for all government schools. They stated that each pupil should pay a K200 (two hundred kwacha) as school fee. So as I was reporting for work at Misamfu Day Secondary School, my salary dropped to K200 pay month due to the reduction of school fees. Therefore, this incident benefited parents and pupils while on the other hand disadvantaged us volunteer teachers. To make the matter worse, in that same year the economy of our country began to shrink.

With those effects, life began to be hard.  In order to make ends meet, my wife who had also graduated from high school started baking scones to sell at home and at the school I was teaching from, I also started to do some extra piece work after knocking off from school so just we could afford a proper three times meal a day. Consequently, it wasn’t easy but we kept on pushing daily in order to make ends meet. On a sad note, again we received a permanent teacher in our department as a result, I was dismissed because my services were no longer needed. I stayed for a few months without any job, I walked tirelessly and made a lot of applications in government and private schools, companies, shops and many more, but there was no positive response. Even though my wife was still doing the business of baking, her income with my unemployment was not nearly enough to pay the bills. Things were so hard to the extent that we could not even afford the normal three times meal properly. We struggled a lot to pay for basic necessities, rarely able to afford any nice luxuries. My first born daughter had already reached the year to be enrolled in preschool, but we couldn’t manage to enroll her, infact we were not even able to give our daughter the single things that she was accustomed to. I then started doing tuitions for students in examination class which helped a little financially but it was not enough. Few months turned in six, then eight, then a year passed without a job but just piece works.

With that hardship, I kept on questioning myself, ” What the hell went wrong? How did things get like this?” I seemed to have lost my way because the longer I was out of work, the harder it was to get back into it. My prayer and hope was for that one day that I would be employed by the government, but because of the shrinking economy, the government had stopped employing thus increasing the number of graduates in society. On the other hand, the cost of living in our country was very high due to other effects including the COVID-19 pandemic and the cholera pandemic which we usually experience almost every year in our country. Family and friends had been generous and helping but times were hard for everyone.

Fortunately, in 2022, I was accepted at Milenge Day Secondary School to work as a volunteer teacher with the salary amount of K300 (three hundred kwacha). I accepted the offer though it wouldn’t be enough due to the high cost of living but at least I would  have some where to lean on. I was happy about the job because my wife was already pregnant with our second born daughter, so that was a answered prayer for me, the job would help me provide for my family, and avoid my wife to be stressed. Months later the government announced that they would be recruiting 30 thousand teachers. My prayer was to be one of those 30 teachers to be recruited. Suddenly, when the names of the 30 thousand teachers recruited came out, I found that I was not on the list, the sad news broke my heart and shocked my pregnant wife to the extent that she got very sick. I watched my wife cry over the sad news and I too was disturbed. The school that employed me received five new teachers, two in Languages department so they wrote to me to stop because of high staffing levels. We were traumatized by the sad news and suddened as we saw people who were not volunteering in government schools being recruited while I was left out, the minister of Education did mention that volunteers would be first to be considered in the recruitment process, but it wasn’t like wise. We just thank God that our pastor at church was visiting us regularly to check on us, counsel us, comfort us and sympathize with us.

Despite all the disappointments I realized that I’m the man of the house, it was my responsibility to provide for my family, so I got up on my feet and started looking for a job again, although it was then intense, the response in every school I went to was that they had received permanent teachers. I wandered around different schools until I found a place to volunteer at Misolo Primary School which had only received permanent teachers in primary section (grade one to seven) while in the upper or secondary section (grade eight to nine) they lacked teachers. Before I reported for work, my second born daughter was born safely and that brought joy in our lives and we celebrated as a family for the gift the good Lord gave us.

I started to work in January, 2023 and I was told that I would be getting K600 (six hundred kwacha) pay month. I was so happy about the job offer as it would help me support my family. It was not easy though due to the high cost of living so I had to do extra piece works and tuitions in order to survive in the shrinking economy. With a few effort made to increase my income, I managed to enroll my first born daughter in school and we were so excited about this accomplishment. Nevertheless, life was still so hard because the school would sometimes pay me and other times fail to pay due to lack of funds in school, and since it was voluntary work that was a usual normal thing to bare with.

Later in January, 2024, I attended interviews by the ZSF board. The interview was a success but I never thought I would be among those selected as teachers under Zambia Scholarship Fund (ZSF). I kept on praying and hoping for the best to come. In March, 2024 I was called and told that I was accepted as a teacher under ZSF. This came as a shock not only to me but my wife as well. We were so excited to hear that we were now part of ZSF. ZSF has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. This organization has been a blessing to me and my family, it has helped me socially, financially and economically. Especially with the salary increment that we had early this year in January. I now have financial stability because of ZSF. Through my salary I am now able to buy farming inputs and engage in agricultural activities. Through my salary, I am able to buy nutritious food for my family and improve household diets. Through my salary, I am now able to pay for basic necessities such as house rent, electricity bills and TV levy. Additionally, it was also a great joy and honor to receive the gifts from ZSF (a bicycle and a home solar system). The gifts has not only provided me with easy transportation and lightning, but it has also reminded me of the importance of kindness and compassion in our world. ZSF has made me not to wander around schools looking for a job like I used to. I now have peace of mind and I’m financially stable all thanks to the kindness and generosity of our sponsors in ZSF. This kindness and generosity has truly touched my life in a meaningful way. May God continue to richly bless you all.

Thank you once again,

Steven Mwamba.