Everything Fine For Two Years
"At first I was born nicely," says Grace Gondwe as she sits facing the computer screen. It is mid-afternoon and Grace is hard at work as the assistant accountant for the school where she works in Mzuzu, Malawi. Her features are frail, and her voice is soft and gentle. She rubs her hands together in a nervous gesture as she continues with her story.
"When I was two I fell ill. From my illness I could not move. I was just crawling down. I could not walk again." The year was 1970 and Grace apparently had been one of the many who fell victim to a plague so few understood, the curse of polio. Grace continues her narrative.
I Was So Determined
"I was determined, in spite of my illness, so I started school in Standard One. I just kept crawling
about. I crawled about through each grade up to graduation," she continues. "It was after my graduation and degree in computers that I could be given crutches so I could begin a job. Now I have this job and I come to work each day." Her employer, Randy Judd, an American missionary who operates the school outside Mzuzu, reports, "Grace is one of our best employees. In spite of her difficulty Grace comes to work rain or shine, on time, and does her job in an excellent way."
Grace continues her story. "I was only married for the time I was in school. That is all. Today I have two girls, Pillirani, age 14 and Glory who is 18. Both girls cannot go to school at this time because we do not have the money for their school fees."
From the northern Malawi Timbuktu tribe Grace proudly reports she is from M.Nzimba Village in the Mzimba District under the Tribal Authority of T. A. Mtwalo.
At 40 years of age Grace has suffered more than most people 20 years her senior. After telling her story it is time for the interview to close, as she needs to complete her tasks for the day. 4:30 will arrive all too soon and she will have to struggle down the long, dirt path to the main road where she will catch a bus south to her home near the local airport. Tomorrow she will reverse the trip, coming back to her job in accounting. Day after day, week after week, laboring mile after mile after mile.
Soon another shipment of wheelchairs will be on the way to Malawi. Grace is on the list of future recipients.