Merci is 24 years old and is from Zomba; she stays with her older sister. She is a second year student at university studying information technology. Before the pandemic, when she was not studying or working as a TEGA, she would be cooking, chatting with her friends, or using her phone for things like Facebook. She notes that her education has been significantly affected because she is not able to buy enough data to study online.

“What I would want for me to fulfil my dreams and move forward is to find sponsorship or well-wishers who are willing to support needy girls with school fees to help them go back to school that can help me a lot. I don’t want to be a housewife in my life because I see problems faced by girls [from my area] who rushed to get married and have nothing to do, they live a destitute life and I don’t want that. But now I don’t know how things will turn out”