Help Aunety Fund Her Bachelor's Degree

Greetings, I have known Aunety Pukeni for over 15 years since I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia.  Aunety at 15 years old pictured below...


She is ambitious, brilliant, driven and hard-working. She has prevailed against all odds. She has been unable to reach all her education and professional goals only by virtue of the economic context she was born into as the last born of 18 in rural Zambia. She has demonstrated her ability to pursue and successfully complete academic initiatives such as certificates and diplomas, however in order to attain a sustainable salaried job in Zambia, she will need a bachelor's degree which requires great investment. She has already been accepted into a reputable online university but needs to raise the fun to ensure completion. Please read her story below and consider donating. I am committed to support her through this journey and we need your help.  I have set up a separate bank account that will be used to pay her tuition going forward and there will be updates on this page as she completes modules toward attaining her bachelor’s degree.  Aunety ultimately wants to attain a Master's in Public Health following her bachelor's.  If we are able to raise beyond the goal, she will be able to earn both.  Thank you in advance for your support! ~Natalie

 

Aunety Tells Her Story Below...

• Wow! It’s my 30th birthday this Friday the 27th August, 2021 help me celebrate by supporting me to attain my Degree in Public Health.

 

My name is Aunety Pukeni and I'm a single mother of a son who is 9 years of age, my life with him is through struggle and sacrifice. I completed my secondary school in 2009 with the help of an American friend who has been there in and out of my struggle and problems to assist me until I completed my grade twelve, and I have done some training with ministry of health Zambia and therefore worked as a volunteer in Zambia for seven (7) years doing different work such as Data entry clerk, Psychosocial counselor, field officer and lay counselor. Being a volunteer at times I could work for more than six months without any stipend, I would survive through braiding people's hair from their homes when I finish volunteer work in the evenings at times. I could not stop because my dream is to become a hospital administrator at a higher level in public health.


I was born in a family of eighteen (18) from the Village 12 girls and 6 boys and I am the last born, only five (5) were educated or managed to reach grade 12, therefore only two managed to get a job one boy and a girl. Being the last born education was not considered as an option for me beyond grade 8, they would prefer me to get married in the village.  Looking at our village setup a girl could either be in a polygamist marriage or work in the fields to suffer more. With this huge number of siblings, it was hard for us to be educated because our parents were very poor and it was hard for us to be fed as needed at times you will only have one meal in a day or sleep with an empty stomach. When I grew up I insisted to be in school without school fees, uniform and shoes, my mother use to give me some groundnuts to go with at school for sale in order to raise funds for my school fees. The nearest school was about 2 hours and 30 minutes walking every day and that offered studies only through grade seven (7) so I needed to be transferred to another school where there was grade eight and nine which was about six (6) hours walking everyday my mother would wake me up at around 3 am escorting me to school every day on foot and get back when the sun set which will be maybe 6 or 7p.

Even though I completed grade 12 our village norms often expect that no female child is supposed to be educated, only men are invested in for schooling, I had to fight and struggle to finish secondary school. In my 7th grade class only three out of 36 girls managed to complete grade 12. Most girls got married and others were impregnated, but most of them were found in polygamous marriages.  It was the parents role to say a girl child could not exceed the seventh grade she has to be married off, because our parents would prefer in making quicker money by marrying off their girl child through dowry then investing in her education. When they look at a girl child, they could only see money nothing else, they never use to see the future in a girl child and her passion. It is not until I proved them wrong that a girl child can succeed and complete her education. After I got pregnant, I continued to pursue my education to a diploma level in the ministry of education in Zambia for three years upon completing my 12th grade. It is unfortunate that in Zambia I cannot find a better job with only a diploma and I have to attain a bachelor’s degree in order to find a better job to support my son and family. I also want to prove to my village that there is nothing that could hinder a girl child to achieve her education, there is still hope and progress even after having a child and that education is a key to success, rather that marriage. Our mother now has a number of grandchildren to take care of being a single mother too as we just lost our father in June of 2021.

It has not been easy for me to manage life as a single mother, looking at my education and the education of my child. Zambia still does not provide free education to all, after grade 7 parents have to raise school fees. I would survive through braiding which is a talent I have and that could help my parents too.

I am now working as a Nanny in Ethiopia with Natalie who has helped me over the years to stay focused on school.  She is encouraging me to pursue my bachelor’s degree online while we are together. I refuse to return to the norms of my community that does not invest in girls and women but I would rather move forward and pursue my education and encourage other young girls to do the same.  I am driven to be a hospital administrator and public health official and I will not stop trying until I achieve my goal.   

I therefore applied for school in United Kingdom at the Open University to study public health and I was accepted to begin studying in the October 9, 2021 intake. I am kindly asking for well-wishers to help me raise for my school tuition and exams, your help and assistance will mean a lot to me so that I can attain my dream and help people out there from the family, community and world at large once I am educated. With your help I know I can reach my goal of working as a hospital administrator in public health. It is my wish to become a public health worker and through working hard with knowledge, help and support, I believe anyone can be who they want to be in life.

 

Thanks,

Aunety