Nursing students in Mzuzu organise walk to raise funds for struggling classmates

Nursing students across northern Malawi are coming together this Saturday for a mass charity walk aimed at raising a staggering K20 million to help fellow students struggling to keep up with their tuition fees.

The National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives (NONM) Students Chapter in Mzuzu has organised the ambitious fundraiser, with participants set to march from St John’s Institute of Health, through Mzuzu University, all the way to St John of God University.

NONM Students Chapter President and event organiser Ida Msimuko, herself a final-year nursing student at Mzuzu University, revealed the initiative was born out of an outpouring of desperate appeals from classmates unable to afford their studies.

“We intend to assist needy students from all the four nursing colleges in the northern region. So many needy students have approached us to tell us their problems and the K20 million is just something to start from because they are many,” Msimuko told Nyasa Times.

She admitted the target figure was really only the beginning, given the sheer scale of financial hardship facing students across the region, and revealed organisers are actively courting other organisations willing to step in and offer scholarships to help ease the burden further.

“We are also looking for other organisations which can come in to offer scholarships for these needy students,” she said.

The northern region is home to four institutions offering nursing programmes — Mzuzu University, St John’s Institute of Health, St John of God University and the University of Livingstonia — with organisers hoping Saturday’s walk will spark a wave of support for struggling trainees determined to complete their studies and enter Malawi’s stretched healthcare workforce.