Bridging oceans and borders

Eneless Banda takes most things in stride: Education barriers in her home country of Malawi? No problem! She’d work harder. Her first time on an airplane en route to Binghamton, which turned into a 10-hour “flight to nowhere” and deposited her back at her starting point? No problem. She’d take the next one.

“I had heard stories about what happens to people in airplanes!” says Banda, laughing. “I was just so anxious. I was afraid. But it was actually quite a good experience.”

However, understanding her indomitable spirit and why she decided to make the journey in the first place requires a trip back through her history.

Growing up in the Republic of Malawi, in southeastern Africa, Masters of Social Work student Banda didn’t know if she would make it to a university education, especially as a woman from a more economically disadvantaged background. She certainly didn’t expect that she would make it to one across the Atlantic Ocean.

“My mom and dad divorced when I was 12, and I was still in elementary school. With my mom, it was really hard for her to provide for our needs since she did not have an education,” says Banda, who also has two younger brothers and a sister. “I kept working hard in school and doing everything I could to help. And my mom was just so encouraging.”

Although primary school education is free and compulsory in Malawi, that is not the case with secondary school or higher education. Children, especially girls, are encouraged to enter the workforce early and often cannot pay education costs, leading to a high dropout rate. It is estimated that only one-fourth of Malawi’s youth even complete secondary education. However, with Banda’s dedication and the support she received, she continued her education at both secondary school and, eventually, at the University of Malawi.

To pay for tuition, Banda needed to work. While pursuing a degree in education, she lived as a housekeeper with a woman who recently completed her own degree. Banda says this was one of many points in her life that inspired her to continue chasing her long-term career goals.

“I was 17 years old,” Banda recalls. “She said, ‘I’m going to take you in as my sister, not as someone who’s just working for me.’ I was a housekeeper, but I was also being treated like their family. I appreciate them for it. They were so kind to me — it contributed to my passion for working with people and helping people out.”

After a few years of learning, Banda began searching for ways to use her new skills. Based on the content she was learning, Banda decided to volunteer with the Malawi Children’s Mission—co-founded by Binghamton native Steve Koffman and a CCPA partner since 2015. Little did Banda realize that her work at the mission would propel her toward a career in social work.

Working her way up to a coordinator role, Banda focused on two projects at the mission, the Young Women’s Initiative and the Orphan Support Program. Banda was motivated to help young girls get serious about education, which she adamantly believes impacted her life immensely.

“I was working as a mentor with the girls and trying to bring in some people to speak, especially people who have been through the worst in their lives but who still made it,” Banda says.

My goal has always been to see these girls completing their education, getting some kind of work and transforming their lives, their families and their community.

But Banda didn’t stop with counseling others toward achieving higher education: She soon took the next step and applied to master’s programs. Banda recalls when a 2018 team of Binghamton researchers visited Malawi, which inspired her to apply to the University.

Soon after, Banda accepted a scholarship to study at Binghamton, and additional fundraising by the Children’s Mission made it a reality. Although initially nervous about joining the community, which seemed immense, Banda is settling into the structure of campus life and is well on her way to completing the two-year program.

While Banda looks forward to returning to Malawi, she is already a much different person than the one who left. She dreams of bringing her newfound knowledge directly to the people of her community, teaching the staff new skills, serving the children again through new programming — such as additional nutritional and educational support— and practicing in the social work industry at all levels to impact as many people as she can with a high quality of service.

“I believe that kindness is a language everyone understands,” Banda said. “I’ve been shown so many kindnesses in life, and this has greatly contributed to my passion in working with marginalized children and their families. I want to make sure that I encourage my students to be kind, to help them and make them feel they can become somebody. My goal is to see people’s well-being improve. All I want is to see people moving forward with their lives.”