If Agness Sampa, a 28-year-old single mother of four children of Mungwi District was told she would be a qualified Public Health Nurse six years ago, she would not have believed, as she had failed her grade 12 exams and was struggling to survive.

However, Agness´s life changed for the better when she was identified as a beneficiary of the Supporting Women´s Livelihood (SWL) Programme in 2018.

Like other women on the programme, she received a productivity grant of K2, 200 and training in life and business skills.

According to Agness, she invested her grant in a grocery and farming business which gave her good profit and enabled her to rewrite her grade 12 exams and passed.

As a single mother, she wanted to improve her life further and become a good role model for her children by attaining tertiary education.

She later enrolled for a course in Public Health Nursing at Mbala School of Nursing and sponsored herself through her business.

Agness graduated in 2023 and is currently volunteering as a nurse at Mungwi Baptist Hospital.

She has since expressed gratitude to the Government and its Cooperating Partners for implementing the SWL Programme.

“I wouldn’t have been where I am today had it not been for the grant and skills I got from the programme,” she said.

Agness´s story is an indicator that women empowerment programmes such as the SWL have the potential to not only change the lives of vulnerable women, but also change the face of their communities.