Lazarous is Celebrating His Mother Because…

Lazarous Phiri is a friend of CMMB

My mom’s name:

Well, she’s not my mom, but she has been like a mom to me since 2007. I am celebrating, Teacher Laura.

I am Celebrating My Mother Because:

I lost both my parents at a very young age so I didn’t get to enjoy or learn a lot from them. And when they passed, no one stepped up in the family to fill that motherly role in my life until I met Teacher Laura in 2007. Teacher Laura came to Zambia to help set up Mukwashi Trust School in Lusaka West.

To me, she was more than just a teacher. I looked up to her and still do, I have learned so much from her and her kindness and gestures that I still remember and hold on to. Like that time, when in Grade 5 she invited me and Bright (another student from Mukwashi) to her house that was very close to the school. We shared a meal together and it felt like I had a family again.

She always wanted the best for me and my friends and that’s what a mother would want for her children. She got me involved in a lot of activities to show me what life had to offer (even though we lived in a very poor community). She helped us to dream and fight.

She also taught me how to interact with people, sending me to conferences in Lusaka … she even helped me get into the American Embassy to learn about and apply for scholarships to continue studying. While I didn’t get it, in the end, she continued to encourage me and she always believed in me and still does. And that to me is what a mother should be. That’s a mother I remember in my childhood.

How my mother has inspired me: 

Teacher Laura has inspired me in so many ways.

The man I am becoming now is all because of Teacher Laura. And I can proudly say that I have a lot of qualities that I have learned from her – like how to appreciate other people and the importance of giving back to the community I live in. I will never forget those values and will not forget where I come from. It’s something that cannot go away because I learned that at a very young age.

Teacher Laura once shared a book called “Bulu” with me and it’s from that book that I learned:” we cannot change the mentality of old people but we can change the mentality of children.” I am glad she came into my life when I was still a kid.

I can go on and on saying a lot of things about how Teacher Laura has inspired me, but that would require a novel. In fact, I think I will write a novel about that one day, when the right time comes.

Lazarous in the Mukwashi Trust School uniform

Lazarous studying for finals at Copperbelt University