AT 15 WEZI MADE IT TO CHINA

People always think winning a scholarship to study abroad is hard for those under the age of 18. However, at the age of 15 Wezi Kamanga won a scholarship to study in China after she got 6 points in her Malawi School Certification of Education Exams. This scholarship was sponsored by Zodiak Broadcasting Station in 2011.

Wezi, the first born in a family of 3 children was born on 31^st December, 1996 at Dedza Hospital. She acquired her primary education at Dedza Christian from kindergarten to Standard 1 then continued her standard 2 and 3 at Cherub private school. For classes 4 to 6, she went to Walani private school. She wrote her Primary School Leaving Certificate Exams (PSLCE) at Chigoneka Christian while she was in standard 6 from where she got selected to Likuni girl’s secondary school. However, following her heart desire on schools, she chose to study at Mary Mount from form 1 to form 4.

From a tender age, she had always dreamt of studying outside Malawi. In 2010, her dream came true when she got 6 points and was one of the girls who won a scholarship to China where she studied Chinese language for a year at Shandong University as to enhance good communication with the Chinese people.

Asking how she felt when she heard the news Wezi said, “Well, I was shocked, like I remember literally throwing my phone to the ground when I heard that I had passed with 6 points and I was going to pursue my tertiary education in China”. Now in her third year, she is studying general medicine at Southeast University.

Relaxing from her school work, she likes to sleep, watch movies and school materials that have been put on video. Among her many hobbies, she likes talking to people especially on social networks.

When someone is about to live for some place they have never been before, they wish days would fly so that they can see the new place and afraid that they are going to get lost or miss home, But Wezi said, “Well honestly, I was so excited that I really did not have time to worry about anything, but reality hit me at the airport when I waved goodbye to my family and my little sister started crying. That is when I realized that I was going to miss home”. Fear overwhelmed her when she got onto the plane because she started to worry that she might get lost at the airports where they are going to stop.

Though well received at the airport in China by officials from the Malawian Embassy, she started facing challenges when she went to Shandong University. For example, she did not know where to get food and she depended on noodles for a month because it was hard to communicate with the Chinese and ask for directions. She also found it hard to buy her basic needs due to poor communication. As time went, she started learning Chinese which made life a little simpler than before; however, it was also a challenge on itself because it was different from English and she had to memorize the characters and pronunciations. This affected her academically and she did not do well in her first semester. However, with time she managed to catch and master the language.

At the age of 18, Wezi has managed to come this far and she plans of obtaining another scholarship to another country and study epidemiology after China.

Advising the youth who take school for granted she said, “My advice for the youth is for them to make the best use of their opportunity of being in school. No matter how challenging circumstances surrounding them may be, they should always focus on their education and on making a bright future especially now that they are still young and active”.

By Chikondi Phambala and Lusayo Singogo

Tags: Wezi Kamanga