Mr Rabson (left) with his family
Mr. Damson Rabson is a father of five children (2 boys and 3 girls) and resides at Usi Village, Group Village Head Nyenje under Paramount Chief Kawinga in Machinga district. Rabson never took the education of her children very seriously.
“This project has benefited a lot in my family as there have been some changes that have been depicted,” said Damson.
He even emphasized to say that the project has come very late when three of his children got lost since there were no special skills and knowledge on how to keep his children in school.
“Three of my children are married off and other are doing their notorious ways but I have managed to keep two of my last children in school,” said Damson.
Damson said that he is now able to take the education of his children very seriously
“I can sit down with my family to plan for the education of our children so that they should go far with their education as far as reaching university level,” said Damson.
“Had it been that the project came earlier on, I believe all my children could have been in school by now,” said Damson.
Damson said that he has managed to reach out to eight families to share the skills and knowledge on the importance of educating children.
Monica Rabson, 17, a Form 1 student at Ntaja Community Day Secondary School, Group Village Njenje, Traditional Authority Kawinga in Machinga district said that the Breakthrough Action project has invited a lot of positive impact on her education.
“My father used to never take any part concerning my education. When I was sent back from school because of school fees, he used to shout at me and tell us that education is not important and I should get married,” said Monica with a sad tone.
“He used to never spare any single minute of his time to even encourage us on the importance of education and check on our progress at school,” Monica added.
Monica said that after her father started taking part in Breakthrough Action and was trained as a real father, he learned the importance of taking care of his family and also the importance of educating a female child, and things have changed for good.
Esther Rabson, 15 is also another child for Mr. Rabson and added to what Monica said about the transformation which has been depicted in her father.
“My father is now able to do some peace work so that he can hunt for money to pay school fees for me and my sister which was not the case before getting involved under the Breakthrough Action project. He used to encourage us to get married by reasoning that he did not have money to pay for our school fees,” said Esther.