Angela's Success Story: An AYC Alumna
By Annabel Mumba
Annabel Mumba is AYC’s Donor Relations Coordinator in Zambia. She is a Scholarship Fund recipient, high school graduate, and also one of our Success Stories.
Co-written by Pamela O’Brien, African Education Program’s Development Director, who is mentoring Annabel as she pursues a journalism degree.
Angela is a program alumna whose life has undergone a significant transformation since she first joined the Amos Youth Centre (AYC) in 2011 on the recommendation of her mother, and she hasn't looked back since. What began as her mother's prodding has evolved into her second home. With four other siblings and a single mother whose work involves selling vegetables at a market stand, the family was barely able to make ends meet.
As a part of her AYC membership and the feeding program, Angela regularly received a full, nutritious meal each day. The meals provided her with enough solace and energy that she could study and attend the various clubs and activities that would change her life.
After submitting a request for sponsorship and having it approved, Angela was happy that AYC would be covering her necessary school expenses. Angela gained a lot from the tutoring program at AYC during her secondary school years. The tutoring sessions helped her raise her academic performance. She remembers in particular how regularly receiving tutoring from an AYC student teacher during her 12th grade exams aided her in getting good grades and helped with her college application.
After graduating from secondary school, Angela entered AYC’s College Prep Program during the mandatory gap year between high school and college or university. During this time, Angela taught social studies to younger students for two years and it was through this experience that she realized she loved teaching. When the time came to apply to colleges, Angela was able to do so with the help of the AYC staff and was accepted to the University of Zambia to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Education.
Due to the welcoming atmosphere at the Learning and Leadership Center, where young people can discover themselves through the many clubs and activities, her gap year also gave her the opportunity to discover herself.
Angela poses next to her mother after graduating from the University of Zambia.
Angela’s first official AYC photo taken for membership in 2011.
Our Reproductive Health Access Initiatives (RHAI) had a significant and positive impact on Angela. Through clubs like "One Up for Girl Power" and our menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) movement which works to advocate for an end to period poverty among girls and young women in our program and in the Kafue community, she was well informed about her changing body and development. In the earlier days, AYC distributed disposable sanitary pads. Today, AYC provides more sustainable choices through the distribution of reusable menstrual pads, reusable menstrual cups and period underwear. Angela was one of the college-aged women to welcome this.
She claimed that having a supply of menstrual products made it easier for her to manage her periods because she always knew what to use. Angela greatly benefited from this because she had a community of young women and sisters that she regularly interacted with, and together they managed life.
At AYC, we educate young girls and women on how to manage their periods without sacrificing their quality of life.
“AYC provided me with an opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to change my future and become the woman that I am today. Looking back, I can proudly say that I am here because of AYC and their partner, the African Education Program. Thank you!”
Angela's time at the university was simple and easy because she had nothing to worry about except for good grades, thanks to the AYC College Scholarship Fund. She received a college scholarship from AYC that covered her lodging and food expenses, which the partial government student loan was unable to do.
After graduating in 2020, Angela returned home and started looking for a job. With her degree, Angela was sure there would be plenty of job offers. Angela kept going to the Center to teach Civic Education lessons to secondary school students, particularly the grade 12s, while she was looking for a job as a form of giving back to the organization that was instrumental in her success.
Angela is one of the many students who have benefited from AYC's Alumni Program, which connects recent graduates with internship and job opportunities. Angela was able to find employment as a loan officer thanks to our collaboration with Spark-Zambia, a microfinance organization that provides loans to women entrepreneurs to help them finance their businesses. Now Angela will be able to support her mother in caring for her siblings and live independently too.