News from Alumni cum Board Member
Austin Kambalame has been appointed to be a member of the FOCHTA Board of Trustees. Austin, an orphan, was our student beneficiary, first in secondary schooling, then at tertiary level, and graduated with a B. Sc. (Irrigation Engineering) in 2014. He is now serving as a senior irrigation agronomist in the Dept. of Irrigation Services. His job includes implementation of irrigation services, conducting training programmes for farmers, advice on irrigation policy management and maintenance. Prior to working in this job, he served also as a volunteer for FOCHTA and later became the principal of the FOCHTA Vocational Technical College.
Aaron Mwafulirwa, another beneficiary and board member, has recently been accepted to study an M. Sc. (Physiotherapy) degree at the Witwatersrand University in South Africa. He will therefore take leave of absence from the board. Aaron has since his graduation been working as an assistant lecturer at the College of Medicine in Blantyre. He will have every opportunity to be a full lecturer after obtaining his master’s degree.
Nenani James is starting on January 18 to do a B. Sc. (Community Development) degree at the Pentecost Life University in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Nenani obtained his commercial development diploma through being a FOCHTA beneficiary. Like Austin, he had also worked for FOCHTA as Programme Officer. He is currently working as a project coordinator in YODEP, or Youth for Development & Productivity, a community based organization.
Dyton Liphale. As mentioned in a recent article, Dyton first obtained his B. Ed. at the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College. He later obtained a master’s degree in sociology before going to South Africa, eventually becoming a pastor at Cape Town.
FOCHTA is proud of these past student beneficiaries and also of many other former beneficiaries who have made meaningful careers to serve the local community.