CORPSAFRICA
  • Home
  • About
    • About us >
      • The Model
      • Human-Centered Design
      • Development Partners
      • Junior CorpsAfrica
    • Team >
      • Staff
      • Board of Directors
      • Advisory Council
    • Join the Team
    • Press
    • Videos
    • Contact us
  • Countries
    • Morocco
    • Senegal
    • Malawi
  • Volunteers
    • Meet the Volunteers >
      • Morocco Volunteers >
        • Group 3 Morocco
        • Group 2 Morocco
        • Group 1 Morocco
      • Malawi Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Malawi
        • Group 2 Malawi
      • Senegal Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Senegal
        • Group 2 Senegal
    • Projects
    • Featured Volunteer
    • Alumni Association
    • Apply
  • Events
    • Events
    • All Country Conference
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Donate to CorpsAfrica
    • Corporate Council for CorpsAfrica
    • Pay It Forward Campaign
    • Holbrooke Campaign
    • Amazon Smile

FROM THE BEACH TO THE HILLS; Easy Adjustments

3/4/2018

0 Comments

 
Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Dingaan Kafundu
 

Quite a lot has happened since my last blog post. The major thing being that due to circumstances beyond my control, I have had to change sites from the hot beautiful beaches of Nkhata Bay to the chilled, serene hills of Dedza. As much as I will miss the life and smiles of Kuwirwi Village, I cannot emphasize how much I am looking forward to living and working in Dedza.

Let me share a quick background of my new community. Well, my new village is just 40 minutes, give and take, away from Dedza town. It is the ‘home’ of potatoes, with 70% of the households involved in some way with potato farming. The village is quite rich when it comes to the academics that it harbors. Both the Malawi College of Forestry and Cjongoni Technical College are surrounding my village, so it’s no real surprise that the locals here are ecstatic when it comes to the introduction of new development, especially through the Education sector.

I have been here a mere fortnight, but I already feel at home. The adjustment has been much smoother and easier than I expected. For starters, my house situation is, for lack of a better phrase, pretty darn amazing. My neighbors are really cool too; they have made me feel more than welcome. Every other morning, I wake up with a bag of potatoes at my door step. And if it’s not potatoes, it’s maize. Basically, I’m about to put on a whole lot of weight thanks to my new community. I’m pretty sure in some language, the name of my village probably means ‘hospitality’.

I have spent most of my time trying to better understand my surroundings. Both the people and the environment itself. I take random walks on an everyday basis, getting lost along the way, but hey, it’s all part of the experience. The tranquil nature of the hills that surround the village make it easy to zone out and stay at peace. It’s no wonder that the locals here are almost always positive and happy. It’s hard to not be.
​
On the work front, I’ve managed to have a couple of meetings including one with the village leaders and another scheduled this week, with the school committees. As a whole, we are working on narrowing down a project, but the community is very excited about things to come and is more than willing to work hand in hand with CorpsAfrica.

My short time here has blazed past. What I have learned is that the village has the resources, and the people have the knowledge, what they just lack is the facilitation, and hopefully I can be the missing piece to the puzzle. I am looking forward to everything both I and my community have to offer each other. It’s all really exciting.
Picture
Taking a walk through the plentiful green of the village
Picture
Standing with the community leaders after our successful meeting
Picture
The road from the Malawi College of Forestry down to our village market is nothing but beautiful
Picture
Group Village Head Mpalare standing next to my house
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome to the CorpsAfrica Volunteer Blog! 
    Get an inside look at the experiences of CorpsAfrica Volunteers in the field!

    ​Categories

    All
    Abdellah Azizi
    Abdou Cisse
    Adnane Sounni
    Aicha Mimouni
    Amadou Alpha Ba
    Assiatu Pongolani
    Boubacar Diallo
    Deborah Kamanga
    Dinisse Sylva
    Emas Potolani
    Gnagna Dabo
    Hafssa Ait Tabamoute
    Hameth Ndoye
    Isabel Mandiwa
    ​Lahcen Chanchaf
    Limbani Kamanga
    Lucy Chihana
    Lusekelo Simwela
    MALAWI VOLUNTEERS
    Mama Diop
    MOROCCO VOLUNTEERS
    Ndeye Awa Gueye
    Sarah Kazira
    SENEGAL VOLUNTEERS
    Soukaina Bouihi
    Tusayiwe Sikwese
    Vanessa Chimutu
    Walid Chougna

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
✕