Malawi Student Profiles
Taking a Usap Zimbabwe as a perfect sample of assisting the students to achieve their goals, the Usap Malawi was started in 2006 with an aim to support highly qualified students who want to study in the US colleges and universities but have difficulties with financing their study. To date, four students have have come through the Malawian process and are now studying in the US.
Fumbani Chibaka
Gettysburg College 11'
Fumbani was born and raised in Malawi, the warm heart of Africa. He is last born in a loving family of six. Fumba is currently enrolled at the Gettysburg College as a Biochemistry major and Computer Science minor. His hobbies include playing video games, playing intramural soccer, hanging out with friends and creating new stuff on the PC.
Fumbani completed his high school education at Viphya Secondary School in 2003. Upon graduating from High school; he was awarded a scholarship to study at the University Of Malawi College Of Medicine. Through the colleges' community health projects, he had first hand encounters with the failing healthcare system in the rural areas. He inspires to train as a research physician and be directly involved in the improvement of health services in developing countries. His wildest dream is to establish a medical school in Malawi that would help train medical personnel for the country and its neighboring nations. As he climbs up the stepladder toward his dreams, Fumbani is very thankful to have been in the experimental cohort of Malawi USAP.
"It was an amazing experience and a privilege to work with people who believed in me and made me realize of my potential just at the very moments when I doubted myself. The program also exposed me to opportunities and responsibilities that helped hone my personal development. USAP 06-07 was a self defining and maturing process!"
At the Gettysburg College, Fumbani is a lab assistant for a neuroscience professor. He is also involved in the International Club, Amnesty International, Disciple Makers Christian Fellowship, Biosphere, Skeptical Chemists and the Pre-Health Club.
Victor Kamanga
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
12'
The youngest child in his family, Victor is the first to make it to a US Institute, and probably the first Malawian to get admitted to such a prestigious institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), for his undergraduate studies. Born and raised up in a country everyone knows as the Warm Heart of Africa, Malawi, Victor did his secondary education at a local school, Phwezi Boys Secondary School. He graduated from secondary school with seven points (six points being the best a student can ever get), and in his year of graduation he turned out to be the Third Best Science Student at Nationally.
Now a freshman at MIT, Victor is considering a major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Under this program, he is planning on taking what MIT calls the MEng Program. "The EECS Masters of Engineering Program is a five-year, combined, simultaneous bachelors/masters program in EECS. Think of it as a four-year bachelor's and two-year master's condensed into five or five and a half years." (Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer science.) Victor also has interest in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Should everything go as planned, Victor intends to do his first Summer Internship with either Boeing or Microsoft. And if there is a company that this focused future young leader has always wanted to work for at one point in his career, then it is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It has been his dream since when he was twelve.
Victor is also a strong supporter of the idea of going 'green'. Living in a world with a perfectly good weather is one thing he would ever want to experience. He thus plans to help effectively reduce the production of greenhouse gases, for the good of Malawi and the rest of the World. With a good degree of interest in avionics electronics, Victor would like to work as an Avionics Electronics Technician for one of the big aircraft industries—and as pointed out earlier on, Boeing is one such company. By doing so, Victor believes he will acquire enough knowledge to help him help boost the Aviation Industry in Malawi.
Tiamo Katsonga
DePauw University 13'
Tiamo was born and raised in Blantyre, Malawi. Her hobbies and interests include reading, knitting, drawing, listening to music, and getting to know new people.
After completing her secondary school education at Kamuzu Academy, she eagerly looked forward to pursuing her tertiary education in the United States. When she applied to US Universities, she found that the American advising centre was efficient and effective. This was a place where she found great encouragement and made many lasting friendships.
She is now enjoying her studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where she is the first and only Malawian student to ever attend the university. It is an amazing liberal arts college which presents her with so many opportunities that she can’t wait to pursue.