GUEST ARTICLE: A triumphant daughter rebuilding a legacy broken by death

By Chibamba Kanyama

THIS is a story of courage, resilience and determination. I wrote about Muzila Nchimunya last year. I shared about how my wife and I decided to sponsor her father, Matthews Mwando from the time he was a kid.

Matthews, aka Hachiloli, was a hit-and-run survivor in Kafue. He was strapped on his mother’s back. The mother, my mother’s niece, died on the spot. This prompted my grandmother in Chief Mwenda to adopt Matthews. That was in the late 1970s.

As Matthews progressed through primary school, and I started working, my wife and I decided to support Matthews through primary, secondary school and college. Our vision was based on an economic cliche, ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’ In other words, if we invested just one relative, someone promising, from among our family in Kafue, we would have started the process of destroying poverty in our extended family. Matthews, already living among us in Chikankata, was the best option.

Years later, Matthews got a job as a manager for a lodge in Livingstone. Unfortunately, he died in a road accident in Batoka as he could not navigate the vehicle in heavy rain. He left behind a wife and four young children, all below 10 years old. We cried to God, asking Him to make us understand the tragedy. Our dream was immediately mutilated. But it was never over with God.

Muzila is one of the children Matthews left
behind. She identified education as the key to her personal independence; a tool she would use to support her siblings. She graduated from UNZA this week with a degree in Agriculture Science and Soil Management. She is among the four students who graduated from the department.

Muzila was in March this year hired as a tutor at UNZA, being prepared for donship. Much more interesting, Muzila has been recruited into a programme to study for her masters in the USA during which period she will take up lecturing work. She leaves in August.

We have watched Muzila grow. All she needed was just a little window; very little support from any relative just for her to cross the next line. She stands out as one of the many young girls who know how to set up life priorities. These know what they want in life and will only pursue things that will help them achieve life independence.

I got quite emotional last night when I shared to her the details of the vision that we thought would be achieved through her father and how she would be the one to fulfill it. I assured her to be courageous because God was with her.

I remain appreciative of the LORD God for raising up such a flower when we thought the grass had dried from the roots! God has helped us understand that when it’s over with us, it’s never over with Him.

Kalemba May 23, 2024