Selling Blankets to Pay for School: A Young Girl’s Journey to Leadership

With International Women’s Day just around the corner, we’re sharing Stella’s story – a journey shaped by family sacrifice, opportunity, and determination. From a young girl at risk of leaving school to becoming a leader in neonatal nursing, she’s proof that when you give a girl a seat in the classroom, you aren't just changing one life, you're changing the world she builds around her in the future.

Thanks to the Mamie Martin Fund, a valued SIDCN member organisation, for sharing this story with us.

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Stella Dzimbiri is the 4th born of six children. Stella’s parents both died while she was in primary school. Her maternal grandparents took over the care of all the siblings, as happens so often in Malawi. Stella was selected to Karonga Girls’ Secondary School in 2006. She travelled there and started Form 1 with only a fraction of the money needed for fees, as so many other children do.

Stella was ‘chased’ from school to go home to fetch the rest of the fees. Her grandparents did not have any more money so they sold their blankets and raised enough money for her first term.

Supported to Stay in School

By the second term, the school had seen the depth of Stella’s family’s poverty, and she was awarded a Mamie Martin Fund bursary, through which she was supported for the rest of her time at secondary school.

After school, Stella secured a place to study nursing. Again, she attended without money for fees and again was ‘chased’. She was then identified by the College for a Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) bursary which provided her with money for fees and some expenses. She completed that study in 2016.

From Education to Leadership

In 2017, Stella began working as a nurse, and the following year she secured a full-time position at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. The opportunity to work and gain experience marked a significant step forward, made possible through years of perseverance and educational support.

In March 2025, Stella wrote to the Mamie Martin Fund to share news of a new chapter in her life: she had begun a Master’s degree in Neonatal Nursing Care at the University of Zambia. She is now nearing completion of the programme and, on her return to Malawi in 2026, will be one of only two nurses in the country qualified at this senior level.

Looking back on her journey, Stella reflects:

"The support at school has impacted my life a lot. I will make sure that my children are educated and attain higher education. In my community, I work as a role model to encourage young ladies to work hard and use any and all of the opportunities they have been given."

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Thank you to Mamie Martin Fund for sharing Stella’s story with us this International Women’s Day. We hope you are as inspired as we are by her determination, dedication, and the difference she is now making to those around her.

Find out more about Mamie Martin Fund on their website, or connect with them on socials here.