Lucia Punungwe

“I am more than I thought I was. Lucia Punungwe”When education was introduced in Zimbabwe, mostly it was boys who were sent to school and not girls. The parents were so poor they could not afford to send both. It was believed that educating boys was an investment because a man would marry, bring his wife home and continue to support his parents. But my parents struggled to send us all, boys and girls, to school.

My father and mother depended on subsistence farming. We grew crops mainly for our own consumption and sold very little. I still remember my father setting off with a big sack of groundnuts on his shoulders to walk kilometres and kilometres selling them from one village to the other. I remember seeing him coming back very tired and hungry as well as dirty with the dust from the road. When I finished primary school, I could see many people filled with joy saying that they were proceeding to secondary school. I just broke into tears. I had passed very well and was even the second highest in the school but I could not proceed with my education – my father had no money because of the drought that same year.

I will never forget the help that Camfed rendered me for my education. I felt accepted and loved. I worked hard in school. I even became the head girl. I got to solve other people’s problems since every girl consulted me when in trouble. In the final exams, I reaped what I had sown and achieved six As and three Bs.

Education removed a blanket of darkness from my face such that I can now see very well. I am able to communicate with you because I learnt English at school. I can even teach others. Had it not been for my education, I would probably already have many children to care for. In Zimbabwe there are many girls like me who cannot afford to go to school. The dream has come true for some of us and we are helping others to achieve their dreams.

Lucia Punungwe helps coordinate Camfed’s support to give thousands more girls in Zimbabwe the opportunity of education.