Abgail Milward is a 14 year-old Form 1 (equivalent to a high school freshman) scholar at Mulunguzi Secondary School in Zomba district. She is the oldest three children and lives with her mother, who is currently unable to find a job to sustain her family.

Abgail is a very quiet and scholarly student despite coming from a poor background. She works very hard in all of her classes to consistently be at the top of her class and get good grades. Any time Abgail has difficulties in a particular subject, she makes sure she meets with her teacher on topics from class that she doesn’t understand. She is very active in class by asking questions for clarification and actively participates. She enjoys science and is determined to be a nurse after finishing her secondary school education.

During her first semester in secondary school, Abgail decided to make her education a priority and started looking for different scholarships to alleviate her mother from the financial burden of paying her education, so she was able to complete her education. She was immediately identified by her school as a scholarship candidate which is how she was introduced to AGE Africa.

Upon receiving an AGE Africa scholarship, Abgail got involved with the CHATS Girls Club at her school. From the offset, Abgail demonstrated her leadership potential in CHATS by being one of the most active group members. She always reminds fellow girls in her class to attend CHATS and encourages fellow girls to abstain from intimate relationships to avoid early pregnancy and contraction of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)—all things she learned about in CHATS.

Abgail has cultivated her leaderships qualities thanks to CHATS, which lead her classmates to elect her as the Form 1 class monitor. Her class monitor duties include making sure no one is making noise during study hall and when the teacher is late to class.

CHATS was able to help Abgail take her natural abilities and continue to mould and develop them to earn some recognition and respect in her community. CHATS is setting Abgial up for success throughout secondary school, as well as into her future.

If you want to support AGE Africa and CHATS, visit ageafrica.org/donate.