By Peter Chidongo Mseteka
: The Bible story of a widow’s offering in Jerusalem remains a powerful reference in generous giving. While the rich were contributing large sums of money at the temple, the widow gave the only two small coins she had.
In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus called his disciples and said to them; “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.”
0ver 2 000 years down the line, traits of this widow, that teaches Christians that God sees what man overlooks, are found in Patricia Ovilhelha Nehiya, 21.
With K90 000, raised through selling soap and piece work, Patricia had put smiles on faces of 104 needy children in Salima through a donation of shoes.
Well-wishers supported the cause with K30 000 to cater for transport and other costs from Lilongwe to Chitukula Primary School in the area of Traditional Authority Chitukula in the district, where 104 pairs of shoes were donated on April 5, 2019.
“I came to Salima to work for Love Community Radio Station as an intern from Malawi Institute of Journalism (Mij) where I did my Diploma in Journalism.
When I visited Chitukula Primary School, I found most pupils without shoes, this was a setback as they felt inferior towards their fellow pupils whose feet were covered with shoes.
“They could not visit the toilets barefooted and resorted to rush to the bush instead. This experience saddened my inner most.
“I related Bible story’s my parents told me as I grew up including the one about the widow who gave all she had as an offering and I told myself to do something about it,” she said.
Apparently she never remembered the last time she bought herself a shoe. Her father works as a driver while her mother sales cosmetics and her two siblings are pursuing their studies. It was never easy for her to accomplish the mission.
After her internship program, she worked for one mobile company in the country for three months and got a minimum pay of K50 000 per month.
She saved the little she could out of it, and ventured into clothes and shoes business in an attempt to multiply the money for her project.
However the business collapsed before meeting its purpose because some customers could not pay for the products in agreed time.
“People could give an order for goods and pay half of the agreed price, and when time came for them to pay the balance, they could start giving excuses, some even switching off their phones,” she said.
This however did not put her off. She started buying 50 kg bags of powdered soap to resell it in smaller packets at a profit.
Coupled with her establishment in piece works related to her profession, she made some strides.
“People started to hire me to do rough recordings or acting through live drama, this is where I got most of the funds for the Give a Child a Shoe Project,” she said.
Though funds remain hard to raise in this time of crippling economy, Patricia`s dream lives on. Her parents find it necessary to support their only daughters dream.
Through this spirit, on September 26, Give a Child a Shoe Project, visited Kalipindile Primary School, in the area of TA Chitukula in Dowa with another donation.
Here, the exercise cost her K275 000 out of which well-wishers contributed K55 000.
Patricia said she was happy to make the donation for the second time. She however said this time around she discovered that learners also lacked learning materials such as exercise books, pencils and pens and she pleaded for people of goodwill to assist.
“I am dreaming of having a charity organization that will also consider welfare of children with disabilities in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
“I am well focused on the wellbeing of a school child and I am seeking support from people of good will from all over the world towards this dream,” she said.
Kalipindilire Primary School head teacher, Nedson Chimbulunga said he was very pleased with the project and thanked the founder for the shoe donation saying it would motivate beneficiaries to work extra herder.
“Furthermore, the shoes will help learners prevent diseases when they visit toilets,” he said.
A standard eight student, Ruth Manondo, said she was excited with the shoes, saying she felt encouraged to work hard in class.
Patricia`s mother said her daughter is only doing what was supposed to be done in this world of trouble.
“When I see her doing her work of good will I feel happy, I do encourage her and I help her with the little I can,” she said.
Selah Banda, Patricia`s closest friend describes her friend as one with a big heart, generous and who always puts other’s happiness first and above all, a God fearing woman.
“When she told me about her plan of embarking on a project of helping less privileged primary school children with shoes I laughed off thinking it was a joke, I never imagined that she was going to make it single handedly without a job to back her up,” Selah said.
Apart from introducing her own charity organization, Patricia looks forward to pursuing her education to a degree level. She dreams of becoming a great actress and travel to places. To her credit, she won two public speaking competitions and was first female president at Malawi institute of journalism
Petermseteka 