By Chisomo Phiri
What started as frustration over unemployment has turned into an inspiring initiative as Violet Pondakwawo has founded the Inspiring Futures Initiative, which has already reached about 12,000 Malawian children and young people with career guidance and educational opportunities.
Pondakwawo, a Bachelor of Science in Development Economics graduate from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), said in an interview with 247 Malawi News that the initiative seeks to expose children and young people to a wide range of career opportunities.
She said since January 2026, the initiative has reached approximately 12,000 students through career talks in different schools, with a target of reaching more than 20,000 children and young people by December 2026.
Pondakwawo said her experience of being unemployed prompted her to think of ways of reaching even younger children and helping them develop an understanding of different careers from an early age.
“I became frustrated, and one day an idea came to me to reach out to even younger children,” she said.
Pondakwawo on centre
Pondakwawo said together with her team of four, she has developed a colouring book titled ‘When I Grow Up’, which has been designed and localised for African children, particularly Malawian children aged between four and eight.
She said the book features illustrations of children with disabilities and those from minority groups, including children with albinism and vitiligo, to promote inclusion and help children see themselves represented in the careers and learning materials they encounter.
Pondakwawo said the book is also arranged alphabetically and introduces children to new career-related words while helping them develop reading, writing, vocabulary and proper punctuation skills.
She said the idea behind the initiative was born out of the realisation that many Malawian children are not exposed to a wide range of career opportunities.
Pondakwawo said children often grow up familiar with professions such as doctors, nurses, teachers and soldiers, while many other careers remain largely unknown to them.
She said she personally only learned about the profession of an economist when she was in Form Four, at around 16 years old.
Pondakwawo said through ‘When I Grow Up’,she and her team want to remove that barrier by introducing children to diverse career possibilities at an early age, allowing them to consider a wider range of options when making future educational and career decisions.
She said the initiative primarily targets children aged four to eight, particularly those in Malawi and other African communities, with the broader aim of helping them develop their reading abilities, vocabulary and creativity while encouraging them to dream beyond the limitations of their immediate surroundings.
“Most importantly, we want children to be able to look at the pages and say, ‘I can see myself doing this,’” said Pondakwawo.
She also said the schools reached through the initiative have recorded an average improvement of three percent in their pass rates, although the initiative does not present this as solely attributable to its activities.
