My name is Richard Miti. My father died when I was in grade three. My family moved to Eastern Province and I started grade 4 at Likwizizi Alpha Community School (LACS). After my experience in government schools, I found LACS a very different place: it turned out to be the best school ever.
Learning at school was conducted in a very friendly manner. Our teachers were free to teach in the familiar Tumbuka language, the local language in the Lundazi district of Zambia. There were no restrictions on the language spoken in class or school. We were taught by lay teachers, some of them were not even grade twelve graduates but they did their job very well for village pupils like us.
Through the sponsorship programs from Education without Boundaries (EWB), our lay teachers got some training plus teaching manuals, materials and skills to teach us. We felt their fondness for the program, which had Christian values. The program that provided primary literacy in community schools classrooms is what made a difference, an opportunity for better lives for many of us. After passing grade eight from LACS, I successfully made it through grade ten. It took hard work, but I completed grade twelve with flying colours as one of the best grade twelve graduates of year in Lundazi District.
I’m a doctor today because I went to this school, because I was given an opportunity. When I began primary school, only a few people in the community made it to grade seven. But now, the Likwizizi community has an uncountable number of grade twelve graduates and many university graduates. Every parent in our area is motivated to take their children to school because it is nearby and because they are encouraged that so many of us have completed our education. Without your contributions and dedication to Christian primary literacy education, we would not have been able to start our education journey. Our journey did not just help us get out of a doomed life, it also encouraged our youngsters to dream big, too.
On 6th June 2015, I was inducted into the noble health profession as a Medical Doctor, after graduating from the University of Zambia. Most of my friends and colleagues do not believe my career history, given the Likwizizi village part of my story. I am always told that it sounds so unrealistic to receive a good education in a village setting. Nonetheless, the experience was real. Likwizizi was a miracle for me, a big stepping stone. Going through such a life myself and being where I am today has helped me gain immense respect for the importance of opportunities given to us as pupils at this school.