O.N.E - July 2009

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ly Ju

Oxfam News E-magazine

09 20

THE EDUCATION ISSUE • • • • • • •

From driver to manager

Training opportunities in Zambia A new board game on Hong Kong poverty Education with ethnic minorities in Vietnam Schooling for home-alone children in China Climate change awareness and action A new CSR guidebook for the garment industry A new book on basic education

By Navin Vasudev and Neal McKenna

Most people see NGOs as making

It had been 12 years since he had been

and Geography. I got a mere pass in

Stephen reflects on the change,

c h a n g e s i n p e o p l e ’s li v e s . Ye t ,

a student. HODI covered tuition and

Mathematics.” When Stephen took

“I don’t even want to think of how

sometimes the change happens from

examination fees of about 1.1 million

extra classes to prepare for university,

terrible life might have been if I had

within, as at HODI, a nationwide

Zambian Kwacha (about US$200) on

he also managed to get a distinction in

continued as a taxi driver,” he says

NGO based in Lusaka, the capital of

the condition that if Stephen failed

Mathematics, and in 2006, he earned a

emphatically. “So many people have

Zambia.

the exams, he would have to pay

diploma in Sociology. All the while, he

helped me transform my life. I had the

back the loan. “It was a challenge!”

still worked full-time at HODI. “There

ambition, but not the resources. I am

he smiled.

was no choice. I have a wife and three

so grateful.”

Born the first of 12 children in 1974, Stephen Mumbi was fortunate e n o u g h to a chi eve a 9 th g ra d e

“I went back to secondary school

education before he had to leave

in 2004 and matriculated in 2007. I

school to help support his family:

was totally lost at the beginning, but

His work life changed along

with wisely, because they shape your

His father had been injured in a

I made up my mind I would make it…

with his educational achievements.

thinking. Believe in yourself and get

road accident and could not work.

Sometimes I used my per diem (from

By 2007, Stephen Mumbi was on

an education. It will improve your

Stephen first found a job as a daka-

HODI) to buy textbooks, supplies or

the programme staff. One project

well-being. Knowledge will pay you.

buy at construction sites, then as an

to hire a tutor…. I used to travel a lot

Stephen helped coordinate was an

It will give you understanding and

unlicensed taxi driver called a night-

– sometimes two weeks in the field

Oxfam-supported effort in Chiawa.

wisdom. Believe me, with education,

rider. “I liked the taxi work better,”

– and it might be examination time…

“I worked with various teams on the

your life will never be the same.”

he says. “But I kept promising myself

I got a lot of support from various

ground and with other community

I would complete my schooling.”

people as well as from HODI… and

organisations to help improve people’s

children. I couldn’t only be a student. I had a family to support.”

In 1996, Stephen got a driver’s

by the beginning of the second term I

living standards.” By 2008, Stephen

licence to drive taxis and buses legally.

had started to catch up. By the end of

became a full Programme Officer and

For seven years, he continued to

that quarter, the principal was quite

started a BA in Development Studies

work the roads, with his dream of

impressed with me. He assured me I

at the Zambia Open University, and

an education slipping further and

would not fail… I worked hard and

this year, in 2009, he was promoted

further away. Then, by chance, one

received merits in English, Commerce

to Project Manager.

of his customers for whom he had been helping with postal pick-ups, deliveries and other tasks, introduced him to HODI. He was hired full-time, again as a driver. When people at HODI discovered Stephen had not finished his schooling, they immediately encouraged him to return. “I was hesitant,” he admits. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it – but this was my big opportunity.”

COVER: Children walking to school in southwest China

What advice does Mr. Mumbi give? “Choose people you relate

HODI, which means ‘may I come in’ in a Zambian language, works throughout rural Zambia, with a focus on food and income security. Navin Vasudev coordinates Oxfam Hong Kong’s projects in southern Africa from his base in Johannesburg, where Neal McKenna is a freelance writer. Oxfam Hong Kong has been supporting HODI www.hodi. org.zm since 2007.

Stephen Mumbi in 2009, as a manager with an Oxfam-supported NGO (left) and as a driver in the 1990s (right).Photographs courtesy of HODI.


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O.N.E - July 2009 by Oxfam Hong Kong - Issuu