How a Sponsor-Provided Cow Helped One Boy Rewrite His Story

Moses paces the floors, left to right, as he holds the microphone and makes his presentation in front of hundreds of younger children. He seems confident in his own right, and doesn’t flinch while he shares his story.  A story of hard work, determination and resilience.

He tells of how he defied the hardships and poverty to make it to where he is now, and being the Sponsorship Week, this testimonial is nothing short of amazing, as it reflects on the enormous benefits of being a sponsored child. 

Moses was a sponsorship child from the time he was 5 years old till when he turned 15.

“I have four siblings, and I am the second born child. Life here in the village is hard, and poverty is the order of the day for most of the families, with mine not being an exception,” explains Moses.

When he sat for the primary school examinations, he was selected to Chiradzulu Secondary School.

“The institution is good and one of the best around here, so that was quite an achievement. But it was hard for me because that meant I had to walk to school every day since my parents could not afford to pay for my minibus (public transport) fare.  I would get to school utterly exhausted and tired, making it hard to concentrate in class,” he narrates.

For a 14 year old, walking for 4 kilometers just to get to school, and another to get home was not an easy feat. But as fate would have it, Moses received a dairy cow through the livestock pass-on program, an initiative of the sponsorship program.

“Whilst in Form 2, my family was chosen as one of the beneficiaries of the livestock program, and I received a dairy cow.” The program helps families that are in poverty to find means of increasing streams of income and improving daily nutritional needs. “That was an answered prayer for me,” Moses says, and he smiles fondly.

The Moses’ family began seeing benefits of the cow within a year, when Moses was now in Form 3. “The cow gave birth to a calf, and that meant we could now start selling the milk for a profit and cover basic necessities at home. Of-course we passed on the calf to another family so they too could enjoy the benefits thereof.

“With proper care, the cow produces about 12 liters of milk every day, which we would sell to STEMA Diary, a local buyer within town, for MK200 a liter, giving us a profit of MK2,400 ($3 as of 2020). I would then use the money for transport to school, school materials, and basic needs at home for my family as well,” explains Moses.

Now at 19 years old, Moses is set for bigger things in life. An ordeal that is not taken lightly because of his history and where he comes from. He sat for the secondary school examinations, and scored 14 points (equivalent to distinctions/credits).

“I am bound for the Malawi University of Science and Technology, to study Mathematical Sciences which is a 4 year degree program,” Moses beams with pride.

Moses will continue to benefit from that one dairy cow he received a few years back, which is about to give birth to yet another calf. Moses will be the first university graduate of his home and community. Moses has proven that he is bigger than his history of struggle and poverty. Moses is rewriting his own story. This is Moses, and his story of hope.

Because of the community focused solutions, the sponsorship program has assisted 313 households with dairy cows and 357 families with goats in Onga AP.

Moses Paul resides in Onga Village in Traditional Authority Onga, in Chiradzulu (Onga Area Programme). He is now is his first year of university at Malawi University of Science and Technology, studying towards a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Sciences.

Wriiten by Wezzie Nungu