Trusting your instincts...

Am living my dream of being a geologist
- Tamara Faith Kamanga

Fascinated by her secondary school Geography teacher's explanation of an obsidian rock  to be a volcanic glass. Tamara Faith Kamanga was keen to understand the formation and mineral composition of this rock. Knowing the secret of knowledge can be sealed in books, Tamara started familiarizing herself with a number of geology literature. From Mary mount secondary school Tamara went through Mzuzu University as a Bachelor of education student before withdrawing for her dream career to the University of Malawi, Chancellor College where she was enrolled for a Bachelors degree in Geology with a double major in demography.

Geology was not so popular then as it may be today, and there was little that Tamara knew about Geology.She only related it to minerals and rocks.As she kept on with her studies, she discovered that there is more to geology than just studying rocks or minerals. She came to realize that she could map geology to policies.Soon after graduating in 2012, Tamara found herself at Malawi's ministry of Natural Resources,energy and mining working under the geology survey department as a geologist.

Despite being employed at the Geology survey department, her decision to work with the ministry was not supported by many. Everybody thought Tamara would do better as a demographer somewhere or perhaps as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer with some NGO. It just never sounded so feminine for her to work in such a department, argued those advising her.

"Being an M & E officer is not all I wanted and It took faith and prayer, sticking  to my instincts and following my dream of becoming a geologist and defiling all odds."

Many are the times, we tell our girls in Malawi that choosing a career goes with one's gender position,and most of the secondary school girls might be dropping their dreams as they do not see their dream careers fitting their gender position and often get less support in terms of encouragement.  Tamara was one of those girls discouraged of her dream career, but she stuck to her interest , worked on it and got it. Every in secondary school have dreams and indeed some of their dreams are at the peak of fading with many voices discouraging and blinding the visionary girls. No matter what voices may be there to fade these dreams,it is necessary for girls in secondary and primary schools to stick to their dreams, work towards it and live it just as Tamara did.

In Malawi, mining was set out as one of the priorities in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS 2011- 2016) signifying the role the sector has and plays in the sustainable development of the country. Currently, Malawi government is undertaking a countrywide airborne geophysical survey under the Mining Governance Growth and Support Project, which upon completion will reveal the true potential of minerals in Malawi. Today Tamara is a proud part of this project as a geologist that has exposed her to many opportunities including earning trust to represent Malawi at different fora in Africa, Asia and beyond on issues relating to mining.

"Yes  as girls we have been told to dream and dream big , but Its vital to make your dream a reality .and it takes courage!" say Tamara who adds on to say " Courage is the vehicle taking you to your dream and faith in God is the fuel.  If you don’t have courage, you will never want it bad enough to plan. If you don’t have courage, you will never plan it well enough to do it, if you don’t have courage you will never fulfill your dreams. If you don’t fulfill your dreams, you may not have the courage to dream again.  And most importantly, if you don’t have faith, you will not dream or go anywhere.  I dreamt, I planned and I have the courage to move ahead. " Who is still dreaming again and again as she keep aiming higher and higher.

Tamara who is intrinsically interested and committed to promoting girls into geology as a career as well as other challenging careers as perceived by society. She grew up seeing family members playing the role model role to her but she does realize that not so many young girls are privileged like herself to have so many role models in their homes or communities and she decided to be one. She therefore started visiting secondary schools across Malawi, with other like minded young Malawian men and women over career talks. her message to the youth and society at large is that quality education requires a multifaceted and multi layered approach at family, community and national levels and that everyone has a part to play believing in the power of unity Tamara says "Together we can, and it begins with you and me."

NB: This profile is shared for motivational purposes, feel free to use it to motivate young women and girls who you know are still not aware of their potential. If you are looking for mentorship or need more details please contact the blog owner (alibewawo@gmail.com). Young women achievers are also welcome to share their profiles and achievement : Are you one or do you know a young woman whose achievements and story will motivate and encourage girls to stay in school? send me an email and the story will be featured here.

#Girlsmustayinschoolsupporttheireducation#

 Photo Credit : AMARU Photography in support of girls education

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