Hacked Poly student sees ray of hope

Thirty-year-old John Chione, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Malawi (Unima) constituent college—the Polytechnic, may return to school after some well-wishers have expressed interest to help.

In a bid to raise funds for his tuition and upkeep, Chione picked up a job as a security guard and was brutally attacked by robbers armed with pangas last Thursday while on duty around 2am in Mandala Flats, Blantyre.

Following publication of his story in our sister newspaper, Nation on Sunday, explaining how he ended up becoming a security guard, one local commercial bank, some groups and individuals have expressed interest to help.

“I have received telephone calls from different people, but there is no concrete offer yet. But I am praying to God every minute, every hour and everyday to make this dream of returning to school a reality.

“All I wanted when I picked up the job as a guard was to raise fees, but with responsibilities I have such as looking after my old parents and a disabled young brother who is dumb and doesn’t walk, it wasn’t possible,” Chione said from his hospital bed.

Unima spokesperson Peter Mitunda confirmed in an interview yesterday that the Polytechnic has received offers from well-wishers seeking to help Chione.

He said they were in the process of verifying the offers before making them public, but hinted that one well-wisher was willing to pay for the hacked mechanical engineering student throughout his tertiary education.

Chione made it to the Polytechnic in 2012 after scoring 18 points in his Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations he sat at Chirimba Community Day Secondary School in Blantyre.

But towards completing his first year, his poor parents could not afford to pay his annual K250 000 fees then and he was forced to withdraw.