"Yes We Can," says Fishland Ladies youthful secretary Ruth Magombo

Ruth Magombo is a former Form 2 school dropout, while at a young age. She is now a youthful secretary of the Fishland Ladies Cooperative, who helped pay her school fees until completion in Form 4

Ruth Magombo, Fishland Ladies Cooperative youthful secretary who picked up the bits and pieces and completed her secondary education despite the fees hurdle (Photo - Planet Defence)

SALIMA, Malawi (Planet Defence) - Ruth Magombo, is the 20-year-old secretary of the Fishland Ladies Cooperative, a Mangochi based all–female dominated active fish processors. She hails from Msumbi Village, traditional authority Namkumba.

Fishland ladies topped the list of beneficiaries of a MK25million refrigerated three tonner Isuzu van loan from Fisheries Department under African Development Bank Group funded Sustainable Fisheries Aquaculture Development Project mid-July.

One eye catching member of the Fishland Ladies during the van handover, was the youthful secretary of the ladies cooperative. Magombo is a former form 2 school dropout, while at a young age.

Despite having all his parents school fees for her education was a challenge before 2019. This forced her to temporarily drop out of school.

However, Magombo still had the steam to forge ahead with her education and she remained focused despite the fees hurdle she experienced.

Seeing the enormous potential she had, some members of Fishland Ladies approached her after seeing her lying idle at home as a young lady. They briefed her about the cooperative idea and asked her to consider joining the other young ladies in the fish buying processing and selling.

Magombo gave it some thought and finally bought shares which contributes to the capital investment of the cooperative to buy fish. Once fish is bought including that caught by the ladies boat. It is processed right there at Msaka beach using cost energy efficient technologies like chitofu.

Msaka along Lake Malawi shoreline is a busy as a bee landing site with a mix of different groups of people. Some originate as far as Nkhata – Bay and settled at the landing site.  At Msaka the business of buying and selling fish has been going on for decades.

Fishland ladies invests in both buying, processing and adding value to the fish to ensure it has long shelf life at markets. The fish products are then sold preferably to an off-taker who buys the produce at a higher price in order for then to earn a profit.

Looking at my age, my colleagues in the cooperative decided to send me back to school. The money that was accruing as profits for the cooperative was used to pay my secondary school fees.

“I returned to school and started learning in Form 2. It was not my family that supported me. It was however, my cooperative that saw a need for me to enroll back as a young person,” Magombo explained in an interview.

When asked what her advised to young female ladies along Lake Malawi shoreline. Magombo was quick to respond.

“I want to encourage my fellow young girls to say. Yes, we can. I was very young but my cooperatives members were paying my school fees. I want up to Form 4 and did very well in my final exams,” an excited Magombo shared her education path in an interview.

“Yes we can,” power to the youth to realise their dreams in the sector of environment and natural resources management in Management (Photo - Planet Defence)

In the past people thought my future was shattered.

“As a member of the cooperative. I would do the fish business in the morning at Msaka landing site. Later in the afternoon, I prepared myself for class work and join fellow students at Lusumbwi Secondary School,” Magombo shared her experience while eyeing to reclaim her future.

The visionary Magombo who sat for her Malawi School Certificate of Education examinations in 2022 scored 20 points. Her best grade was Geography with a score of two points. Her ambition is to pursue a career in education.

The involvement of active youth female lakeshore cooperative sends a message that given the opportunity the Malawian youthful population can actively be involved in economic livelihoods initiatives that can change their lives.

The changed life of one school drop Ruth Magombo, is a typical example that if well managed fish as a natural resource can a be life changer to some desperate Malawians aiming to achieve certain goals in life.