When dreams come true: From a small African village to big city China
Many Africans have dreams of leaving home to get a higher education abroad. Not many succeed in realizing them.
But some do. Meet Limbani Noya, who is hoping to change education in Africa — one school at a time. Limbani, 30, was born to a large family in a small village near Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. He’s now finishing his Master’s degree in China.
“Education is important and I believe my country needs to benefit from my knowledge and everything that I have learned,” says Limbani in an interview.
For many, getting an education is a given. But for Limbani, it wasn’t always so simple — nor what was expected of him.
In Africa, he says, education isn’t something that everyone believes is important. Some kids are taught they need to work and provide for their family at a young age, rather than go to school. Others are just too poor and don’t have the resources to give their kids an education.
Limbani knew that he wanted to get a good education ever since he was a child. Born the sixth born of nine children meant the house was always a little crazy, he recalls.
“We lived in a little village where there were two different rooms for the kids,” he says. “All the boys slept in one room and all the girls in the other. We had these mats we would all line up and sleep on the floor next to each other.”
Where Limbani lived, kids were encouraged to go to school, but it wasn’t mandatory. He was one out of only three kids in his family to go. His parents left it up to the children to decide.
“Some of my brothers stayed to help my dad work in the fields. They would harvest corn and plant crops. But not me, I knew that life wasn’t for me. I wanted to go to school,” Limbani says confidently.
Limbani’s schooling including math, science, history and English — and of course, the primary language, Chichewa. Limbani loved school and says some of his best memories are from when he used to play soccer — Africa’s favorite sport — with friends every day after school.
After he graduated from secondary school, he went through a rough time. No matter where you’re from, it’s hard growing up and trying to figure out who you are and what you should do with your life, he says. And when Limbani lost his mom due to cancer, he didn’t know what to do.
“She was so dear to my family. She was the glue that kept us all together,” he says. “And we lost her when we needed her most.”
As he tried to move on by applying to colleges outside of Malawi, he only received more bad news. “It was really hard for me to get into any type of college. I wanted to go to America and I knew I wanted to leave my country, but I just couldn’t get in anywhere,” he says. “It was really a slap in the face. All I wanted was to talk to my mom about it, but I couldn’t.”
Most of his siblings didn’t go to college. Only his one older sister decided to go and she stayed close to home. Limbani had bigger aspirations, though.
He knew he had to do something greater to continue to challenge his brain. A year after applying to schools, in 2009 he got accepted to the African Bible College, only an hour away from his village.
“I know I didn’t want to stay in Africa, but God had other plans for me I guess,” he said.
The school helped him grow in many ways. It was there that he started working with kids and ran many vacation bible schools.
“I fell in love with teaching children there. I knew it was something I not only wanted to do, but was called to do,” he said.
He graduated with a BA in education four years later. But he wasn’t done there. He knew that he still needed to leave his country to continue to grow and further his education.
His determination lead him to get accepted in 2014 to the East China Normal University in Shanghai, which he’s now attending with the help of a scholarship.
“When I got accepted, I felt so accomplished. My goals and dreams of leaving Africa and getting a better education were finally coming true,” Limbani says with a smile.
While in Shanghai, he has been learning Chinese culture, volunteering at a local church in the kid’s ministry, and doing lots of studying.
He will graduate next spring with a Master’s in International and Comparative Education.
His dreams have changed since arriving in China. After three years away from his life, family and friends, he realized that he wants to bring all he’s learned back to his home, Africa.
“My goal is to go back to my country after I graduate. I want to bring a positive change to the school system.” Limbani says, “Education is important and I believe my country needs to benefit from my knowledge and everything that I have learned.” He plans to start a new school in his village — and that’s just for starters.
