Peter's Journey to the African Leadership Academy

By Annabel Mumba
Annabel Mumba is AEP’s Donor Relations Coordinator in Zambia. She is a Scholarship Fund recipient, high school graduate, and also one of our Success Stories.

Co-written by Pamela O’Brien, African Education Program’s Development Director, who is mentoring Annabel as she pursues a journalism degree.

Just like many youth in Zambia, Peter is an ambitious young leader. At only 19 years of age, Peter is on his way to becoming a better leader thanks to a scholarship opportunity to attend the African Leadership Academy in South Africa.

Through the many programs that the Amos Youth Centre (AYC) offers, Peter has shown exemplary skills in becoming a leader that will bring change in his family, community and Africa at large. Peter’s first chance to lead came when he was in the 9th grade when he was elected as the president of the Leadership Club at AYC. It was a position that he held for close to two years. He described the campaign for the presidency at the time as highly competitive. This was because many eligible candidates participated.

Peter, along with the other club members, undertook many community projects that brought notable impact. They ran a monthly clean-up campaign of Shikoswe and inspired many students around the center to emulate exemplary behavior. The Leadership Club has since become a very popular club with participation from all the students that attend AYC. With time, Peter landed more leadership roles and is a wonderful mentor to so many young people that attend the center.

In 11th grade, Peter and a few friends who are also in AYC’s Scholarship Program, founded the Storytelling Club, a club that was inspired by one of  the African Education Program’s volunteers, Michael Candelori. The club quickly gained popularity among the students. The students in this club role played as journalists and spent their time writing and capturing stories around community and the center.

That is where Peter found his love of storytelling. Peter now has dreams of becoming one of Africa’s biggest storytellers. He wants to tell stories of impact through film and photography.

Lumuno Chongo is AYC’s Director of Programs and has mentored Peter from the time that he joined the program. She describes him as a hardworking and focused young man. She shared, “When I first met Peter in 2014, at first glance he looked shy and reserved. After spending time with him I noticed that he was very curious and excited to try out new things without hesitation. And that is a strength I feel will make him achieve great success in life. He always rises above challenges.”

Peter poses for a picture with AYC’s Director of Programs, Lumuno Chongo.

She further shared that she is very excited and happy for him that he has been awarded a scholarship to study at the academy. She says that she is not surprised that he was picked among many candidates that applied.

Upon graduating from high school, Peter spent his gap year between high school and college interning in the Communications department with AYC’s Donor Relations Coordinator, Annabel Mumba. During the internship he sharpened his skills in photography and videography. Annabel shared, “Working with Peter for almost two years was very refreshing and exciting. He was always helpful and never stopped asking questions when he did not know something. I am very happy to see him go to ALA to study. I am very sure that he will be a perfect fit in their leadership program.”

Peter was raised by his grandmother following the death of both his parents. Together with his elder sister, Mary, they spent their childhood in the village of Mpika in the Northern Province of Zambia. His grandmother is a peasant farmer who grows seasonal crops such as maize, cassava and ground nuts. From the little that she earned, she used it all to support her grandchildren and other extended family members that she looked after.

When Peter and his sister both qualified for secondary school by passing the 8th and 10th grade exams respectively, their grandmother failed to meet the school fees that were mandatory to pay at that time.

Her only resort was to send them to Kafue, Shikoswe to a distant relative who promised to take care of them and make sure that they go to school. It was through their stay in Kafue that the two became members and received sponsorship from AYC.

Mary is currently studying to be a registered nurse with the help from UNICEF. She shared that she was overwhelmed with the news of Peter’s scholarship opportunity at ALA. “It means so much for me and my family because he is taking such a huge step in his life. The only advice I have for him is to study hard and make the Amos Youth Centre proud. The organization has become family and took care of us when all hope was lost. As he begins this new journey in South Africa, I advise him to look after himself well and always remember his roots.” Mary further shared that his grandmother is very proud of him and who he is becoming. She recounts the time when their grandmother worked so hard to make sure that they had food to eat and a roof over their heads.

By 10th grade, Peter and his sister had no place to go to because the person that they lived with relocated. The only option for Peter and his sister was to move back to the village and continue living with their grandmother. At the time Mary had completed her secondary school and Peter was beginning high school. Upon hearing the news of Peter’s departure to the village through a friend of his, Amos Youth Centre invited him to come back to Kafue and live at the center as a guard. Amos Youth Centre has a guard program that allows young men in the program with no home to go to or who are facing challenges staying with their relatives live. They live in groups of five to eight and take turns watching the center when everyone has left for the day, including the weekends when the center is not open.

Peter shared what this opportunity meant to him and said that it was an opportunity that was only a dream to him and he will always cherish it. “The opportunity to study at ALA is one in a lifetime and I am very excited. I am looking forward to all the opportunities that I receive. The school is very prestigious and one of the best. I feel that many of my dreams will be realized. I have dreams of being one of the best leaders, my community needs more young leaders and I am happy that the African Leadership Academy chose me.”

AYC is excited that Peter will be joining another AYC alumni, Spencer, at the prestigious academy and that the two will be fulfilling their dreams through this scholarship opportunity.