Her story:
Dora Moono Nyambe is a 28 year-old of Zambian and South African descent. She gave up her job in China as a teacher to adopt 5 girls and open a free village school in Zambia, where she currently teaches at. She documents village life on her TikTok account, which has amassed over 200,000 followers. You can also follow her journey by visiting her YouTube channel.
How has English or language served as an empowerment tool for you?
"We can do so much as ladies, but we continue to face many hindrances. We are unable to express ourselves as freely in society as men, which holds us back from what we can accomplish and from our personal empowerment. I believe that we as ladies are so vulnerable in so many situations. We have less of a voice to stand up for us when we need it the most, which why our individual voices really matter.
English has opened a lot of doors for me in terms of communication. However, for others, illiteracy may also close a lot of doors and serve as a learning-block. This is why I really emphasize literacy and English in the village school. The other subjects, like Math and Science, are important as well, but they rely on English fluency. To elaborate, one can only overcome their short-fallings in those subjects and complete the readings once they understand English. Thus, English opens many doors in understanding other subjects. A native language in Zambia is English, so not knowing it is definitely a challenge when you arrive at university. I try my best to incorporate literature in classes, but many of the students are still learning how to read so its a bit difficult. I currently have 5 students in the village that are still on a basic understanding of English, but we’re getting there. My girls are most fluent in Nyanja and Bemba, 2 local dialects in Zambia, but they can fluently speak and write in English too. They’re just not as comfortable yet."
What was your journey like in adopting your daughters and opening the free village school?
"I met my oldest daughter, Veronica, when she passing through an area that I was living in - she was looking for housework and asked if she could wash my clothes for money in exchange. I wasn't very comfortable at first because of how young she was - she's also autistic, and back then, she had severe PTSD. I wanted to have a talk with her first- I asked her if she went to school and how old she was. In the conversation, she opened up to me about her parents passing away and told me that her mother was murdered by her dad due to jealousy. I asked her who she was staying with, and she said her aunt. I asked to meet her aunt, who actually thought I would take her to the police because Veronica was too young to be working. I asked her aunt to put Veronica back to school, and I then supported her education from 5th grade onwards. She is now going into 9th grade. I adopted her in the beginning of this year and I started off by fostering her. I also adopted her younger sister, Grace, who was still with her aunt, and dealing with PTSD as well.
Later on, I was given the opportunity to meet 2 other girls who were much younger, and they are now my 2 youngest. Although their parents are alive, they were both neglected a lot. I met my youngest when she was 2 and now she is 5. Her sibling is now 7.
Finally, we added our middle child. Her mother is terminally ill and her father abandoned their family to marry another woman, so she was the breadwinner of the home. I believed the more the merrier! I never planned for this all to happen; it all fell in my lap, but they were opportunities that I couldn't refuse.
I love my girls, they’re so complex, they’ve been through a lot and they have the kindest hearts. Its such a joy watching them transform into the ladies they are now. They’ve grown so much since I’ve adopted them.
My biggest hope is that my girls don’t get pregnant because it’s a big issue here. A lot of young girls get pregnant in school, and the cycle repeats itself for generations, since they are unable to complete their education. Instead, I hope they grow into the strong, confident women that I know they will be. Above all, I hope they don’t look down upon anyone and don’t allow anyone to look down upon them, and that they develop a love for humanity.
In regards to the process in opening the village school, I was on my way to renew my visa for China to teach English, and it got rejected. I decided to stay in Zambia and teach in the village. It all started when I was with my friend, and she was wondering how we could help the village kids here, and I thought, why not help them myself? That’s how I started my village school - it began under a tree and now we have a classroom. I saved up a lot during school and university. I’m quite frugal: I did odd jobs, invested in companies, and that’s the money we’re working off of right now. I saved up enough for the land and to build the school slowly."