Josephine Trish Mdhluli nee Kondowe is the last born in a family of five. She was born and raised in Mzuzu but also grew up in some parts of Lilongwe and Blantyre. Josephine attended primary school at various institutions and secondary school at Likuni Girls Secondary School, where she was selected to pursue the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at the College of Medicine now known as Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. Josephine became a Watipa Scholar in 2017 and graduated in 2022. Josephine underwent her medical internship at Mzuzu Central Hospital and is a registered Senior Medical Officer. She also has a certificate in Leadership and Management in Health and Clinical Management in HIV from the University of Washington, and she is also a member of the Women Doctors Association of Malawi.
Josephine has worked with various organizations in impacting her community like ‘December to Remember’, which reaches out to orphans, and care for girls by promoting the girl child in all aspects of life. She has also worked with Maphumziro 265 to motivate and promote education in Malawi amongst the youth. On a personal level, Josephine loves to bake, listen to music, watch drama and comedies and is a philanthropist. She is grateful to the Watipa family for funding her education. Through Watipa, she is more than ready to impact her community for the better!
“My Dad was the one paying my school fees together with my siblings and my niece and nephew, which was so overwhelming for one person that it was affecting the availability of other basic needs at home. I was grown up enough to worry on his behalf that I decided to start searching for scholarship opportunities to lessen the burden. Becoming a Watipa Scholar was like a relief to my Dad and an opportunity for my siblings to have a better chance at education and life in general, with most of the basic needs available.”