I am Diana Lughano Mayuni. I am 16 years old born on the 23^rd of March 2003. I am from Mzuzu, from an area called Luwinga. I am studying at the University at Livingstonia and I am doing a Bachelor of Education in Humanities. After completing this four year course, I will become a secondary school teacher. Basically teaching the subjects English, Geography and social studies. 

Since I was young, I have loved reading and I have a bookshelf full of books that I bought and collected.  This helped me to get very good grades in humanities subjects and  I enrolled into the school of education because I also love teaching people and would also like to follow into the footsteps of my mentor, my 97 year old great grandfather who was a great teacher and is now retired. I would like to be one of the people that contributes to the development of our nation and world by passing on knowledge to others.

This September, when entering level 3, I will get a chance to choose which subjects I get to major and minor. I would really love to major English because I love languages and most schools in Malawi need English teachers. This is because English is a compulsory subject. I hope of minoring in Geography because it’s so interesting. For example in this semester I get to learn Remote Sensing which involves obtaining information about an area without getting into physical conduct with it. The school also set a compulsory rule for students that in the first four semesters of the course, they must have Christian courses which may guide us in our day to day life. In the first semester I learnt Spiritual Formation which taught me how to solve problems in life with prayer. In the second semester I learnt Marriage and family which taught me how family is important to one’s life and how they can help one in different aspects of life. Last semester I learnt Bible and Moral issues which taught me how to be a good principled and moral person in society. This semester I will be learning Christian Leadership which will help me learn how to lead people in a good way. 

I dream of becoming a teacher who understands students. I would also like to be able to help needy students who struggle with school fees. I also dream of being a volunteer where I can have a chance to teach a school for free just to promote education. If all goes well, I would also like to have a simple organization that supports girl child education because I have been observing that many girl children drop out of school due to lack of support and also early marriages and pregnancies. At my age no one expected me to be in my second year of pursuing my degree but I think I am going to try to be a role model to those younger and also tell them that as long as you aim high you will get whatever you want.

The reason I struggle to pay school fees is because I have a single mother who struggles to provide my needs, including school stuff which includes meals, stationary and tuition and boarding fees. I lost my father when I was 1 year and 6 months. My father and mother owned a company and a little part of property which by all chance would have covered my life time education but due to different family situations, the company including my father’s property, was taken away from us. 

I thank ZIKOMO for supporting my education by paying that part of my tuition fee, my mother cannot afford. Thank you very much for helping my dream of becoming a teacher come true.