Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Lessenia Chikho

Some people define a journey as an act of moving from one place to another, while others define it as the distance covered. The definition of a journey does not matter most in this write up, but the destination does matter. Reaching the 'destination,’ which is the ultimate purpose of starting a journey, is what matters most and not the pulse one is taking. That is to say, when one is on a journey, all she or he thinks of is reaching the destination. Yes, the destination matters most when one is starting a journey.

There are three things that happen when one is on a journey: moving backwards, standing still, and moving forward. Moving backwards and standing still fail the ultimate purpose of a journey while moving forward helps one to achieve the one and only intention of being on a journey.

Different people use different means of transportation when they are on a journey. Some use cars, others bicycle, and others walk. All of these people have different planned destinations, but they are all on a journey. They may be taking the same direction, but their planned destinations are different. When they face some challenges on their way with their means of transportation, they drop that means and take another means just to arrive at their destination. Yes, the destination matters most to everyone who is on a journey.
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Life is like a journey. But how is life like a journey? In life a lot of things happen but everyone has a purpose or a goal that she or he wants to achieve. For example, people grow crops because they want to harvest. The ways and means of growing their crops are different but the ultimate purpose of growing crops is to harvest. Here in Malawi, most people use hoes to grow their crops, like the woman in the picture below. 

​Others use ploughs but the reason for growing crops is to harvest. Education is another good example of comparing life and a journey and how important the destination is. Students go to school all because they want to achieve something at the end. They all have careers but different ones. They may be going to the same school or in the same class, being taught by the same teacher and taking the same subjects, but their goals and ambitions are different. They may be taking the same direction but their destinations are different. For example, the kids below are all in the same class and take the same direction when they knock off from school, but their career goals are different as well as their destinations.

​In life a lot of challenges come and they will always show up when people are on their way to their goals, but do not give up; hold on and move forward. The way you will handle those challenges will define who you are and help you to either reach your destination or not. Hold on and move on at your own pace. As long as you are moving towards your planned destination then thumbs up, you are on a right track. Do not compare yourself with others; it is not about what others are doing, it’s about you arriving at your planned destination. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Jailos Ghambi

A lot of people think its just impossible to live in under-developed rural areas since modern city life can provide a person with almost everything that one could imagine. This was part of my perception after I had tasted sweetness of the city life. And now to be told that my service as CorpsAfrica volunteer will require me to live in a remote, high poverty community. It’s been exactly a month since l arrived in my site, welcomed by heavy rainfall. I felt nervous, shaken, and terrified. Why?

I am in a strange community which is going to be my home for the next six months. Here they speak a language which is not my mother tongue and have a different cultural background from mine. However, I also feel excited, anxious, and curious for I remembered that I am a change maker, facilitator and a catalyst for sustainable development. In addition, I recalled that I am a Spartan! A warrior who never gives up but fights until the end of the battle.

I was born and raised in the village, and on other hand, I have also spent time in the city because that’s where I did my whole education! What a mixed life style.  I have arrived at my lost home.  Why lost? I left village life sometime back and I have tasted the sweetness and luxurious city life full of interesting things, a place where everyone dreams to stay. But now back to my village!
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Villages preserve our national customs and traditions. A village is a perfect place to live if you are in search of harmony with nature. People have everything for their minimum requirements of life. Villagers are satisfied with the necessities of their living. They are always provided with fresh fruits, vegetables, water and clean air free from pollution. It is simplicity, natural beauty and tranquillity that makes rural life unique and special. This has reminded me that and I am pleased to say ‘the lost home has been found’ where this Spartan warrior is going to manifest, catalyse and facilitate sustainable development for his people.  

The best definition of a tortoise, does it exist?
Covered in the glory of beauty
Which only the wise can see
Selfless, patient and meek
If only it was a plant
It could have had beautified our land
 
When she gets lonely she wonders along
When she gets hungry she fetches alone
When she gets tired she rests in the hat
The hat that is full of peace
The peace that only the visionary eyes can see
 
No one can define her motion
Neither can explain her action
You don’t know where she is coming from
And neither where she faces to go
Nor what happened on her way
 
If you never had wise mind
The eyes not could see
And the heart could not learn
That company doesn’t mean security always
And there is no difference between love and peace
 
Try to ask the tortoise one day
She meets a lot through her way
Being stoned, bullied by kids, no food
But have you ever met a crying tortoise
So loud, aggressive and angry
To the point of biting?
 
Learn to build all your roads alone
Learn to accept defeats with a head up
Learn to be silent even if it needs a loud cry
Learn to endure
Because in oneself, you are strong
 
The road may seem too bumpy and rough
But forget that they exist
And what so ever blocked the way
Forget that it happened
Just like a tortoise
Never change your pace
 
Slowly going towards the dream
Never lose focus for silly jokes
The more you meet
The greater you see yourself grow
Experience is the best teacher
 
The life of a tortoise
Thus the best of it
So will I, try too to be the best of mine
Silent in voice, but so loud
With a greater voice
Like a rolling lion in action. ​

Written by CorpsAfrica Malawi Volunteer Dalitso Mndala

Growing up, I have come to realize a lot of things that have greatly changed my life.  Among other things, I have realized that no one is useless in this world, and it always crushes my heart to see other people suffer when someone can do something.  I came to embrace the importance of taking action to help those in need, and that’s the reason why I applied to be a CorpsAfrica Volunteer.
 
Fast-forward the story: here I am, a month into my service, and I am ready and glad to be here.  When I arrived at my site in mid-December 2018, I was afraid of how people would receive me in their community.  I couldn’t keep my fear longer because sooner I realize that the people were friendlier than I expected. 
 
Moreover, what got much of my attention was the way they treated me with respect. I have to admit, I have been respected much more than I have ever been in my life. This helped me to easily to ingrate with the people in the community. Most importantly, my host family gave me all the support I needed to adjust well in the community.  They helped me to know more about the community and introduced me to people I was interested to know.
 
One of the things I have observed and learnt from my community is how hardworking the people are in their farms. Each and every morning they wake up early and go to their farms to do some work, and they are dedicated to see the job get done.  Sometimes others will go for “ganyu” (piece work) for income, and they are willing to work even for less returns.
 
One interesting tool that I have used, which has proven to be effective in catching people’s attention, is the camera. It doesn’t matter how old a person is, but taking a picture with him/her leaves a smile on their face. The kids are my favorite, they call me uncle and are always excited whenever they see me. 
 
I am also glad that I have volunteered to teach at the nearest primary school.  I am able to appreciate the work of primary school teachers and am always happy teaching the kids in class. I hope they became influential people in their society. I am really glad that I am doing something to make other people’s lives better. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/ Malawi Volunteer Chimwemwe Nzima

Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb to agree to serve, you only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love (Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.). The journey to servant leadership is more easily said than done. The experience as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer gives one a picture of what it really means to be servant leader, whereby you make sacrifices to put the interests of your community first. You become part of the community by integrating with them and understanding them better.

The first month of my experience has been adventurous, and I’ve had the opportunity to meet and interact with new people found in the warm heart of Zomba. Their warm heartedness has enabled me to serve the community with ease. Together we work and share ideas on how we can make our community a better place. Most community members are hardworking. They have farms, rear animals (goats, chicken, pigs) and do small-scale businesses. And now that we are in the farming season, everyone goes to their garden very early in the morning. Now visits in the morning will be rendered unproductive since the owner of the homesteads are busy in their farms.

The people are very willing to learn and share their ideas. I specifically understood this when we managed to make a hand-washing facility for my host parents. I facilitated the whole activity, but it was the boys within the compound who did all the activities, making it easy and sustainable. They have acquired the knowledge, can apply it wherever they go, and even teach their friends in the community to observe their hygiene habits. I have learned how the community works together as a team.

My first community meeting was interesting. I was able to learn different community cultural aspects. For example, men sit separate from women in gatherings. I was surprised that my fellow women sat at the far end of the compound where we were to gather for the meeting. I followed suit as “I sat in my mango tree.” The presence of village chiefs brought the people a bit closer as they were ready to hear what had led to their call.

So far being a CorpsAfrica Volunteer is an adventure. I am learning new things every day, and I am eager to see how much I will learn by the end of my service come June.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Chifundo Soko
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It’s been exactly 3 weeks since l arrived in my site. I am counting my days. Don't get me wrong. I am counting because I am proud of myself since I have made friends in my community. Yes, I am proud of myself!

So back to my arrival day, it was raining heavily. Luckily enough I had pleaded with my friend to drop me off in my site. It was a little adventure into an unknown place, I would say, which was going to be my home for the next six months.  Ask me how that felt. Terrifying! Why? I didn't know what to expect and that at times is scary. So you see I had - a smoothie made  up with many different feelings. Anxiety, excitement, curiosity. You too would have had the same feelings in that moment!

I arrived at my new home. When my friend left, I honestly felt alone. The only people I was familiar with were gone! No, I didn't cry. Spartan warriors never shade tears! This is where - you do self-motivation and all the motivational speakers you have listened to come to play. Humanity. Did I mention? The host father happens to be the Group Village Head himself. I mean that's a relief because that meant not arranging any particular day to introduce myself to the chief. It was a jackpot! They showed me my room and told me to be comfortable. By saying be comfortable as a Malawian girl you just know it means doing house chores. It’s not bad though, it gives me a sense of belonging when I do chores. I don't know about other girls, so don't ask me! So I enjoy doing the chores because it also meant easily interacting with my community especially when I went to the borehole.  Another jackpot! This one was gold.

There is the organisation Child Legacy International in my site, and that's where I went to charge my gadgets; it is very much engaged in agriculture. This is where I saw the big pond. There are several ponds where some include only one kind of fish species because of its nature of feeding on other fish like the catfish. The big pond includes different species that live in harmony with one another, sharing the water and the food given to them.
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This big pond made me feel like I was also a fish in my pond (my community in this case). I was going to interact with a different culture other than the one I am familiar with. I have one option. Integrate. (I remembered Agatha our wonderful "culture" expert. Thank you Agatha!). So I have to live  with them and share the same resources because we are in the same pond. The projects that we will do will help and change our lives because we are living in the same big pond.

Written By CorpsAfrica/ Malawi Volunteer Mr. Blessings Ngwira
 
Moseliwa? (Lomwe for How are you?) Its been 3 weeks since we finished our pre-service training in Lilongwe and Mpalale, Dedza. What an intense and interesting training it was. I met some 25 great trainees from different regions of Malawi and including the 2 Moroccan Exchange Volunteers. We met up with the other Volunteer, Touré from Senegal, in Dedza. 
 
The pre-service training was to prepare us for what we could and would meet in our various communities, and on how to integrate with our host families as well as in the community. This was a great experience, especially in Mpalale where we spent 2 weeks with the community and counterparts.

Swearing in ceremony, here we go. This is the day that the "Spartans" (Group 3 Volunteers) was officially born, 12th December 2018. It was such an amazing ceremony finally seeing the smiles on all my fellow Volunteers knowing that the training is done and we are about to go to our sites and do a lot of good in our communities. For me, the reality hit in when I realized that I will be going to serve in an area I have never been before and questions started raining down: How will I be welcomed by the host family? What kind of house will I be living in? Will the community accept someone who is not from this part of the country? What if everyone in my community speaks Lomwe, will I be able to communicate? Yes. Lots of questions. Luckily I had my mom to put me at ease and told me everything will be fine. Simple words but it worked.

And here we go... I left for my site, Phalombe, the day after the swear in ceremony.

When I got to my site I was finally at ease and anxious. At ease because my host mother is the Headmistress at the nearby Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) and her house is quite good, better than what I was thinking it would be. I was anxious because my host mother was not around. And I was back to asking myself questions, who will welcome me? What time will she be back? Will she even be back today? Too many questions came pouring down again. Luckily she was back in 20 minutes.
 
The following day I met a guy, who is now one of the guys that I talk to a lot. And I also met the guy that I am going around in the community with. My counterpart. Interesting he came in the morning to fetch me, so that I should introduce myself to the Group Village Head. If the guy wasn’t around I have no idea how I would have introduced myself to the chief and the community.

​Thankfully my integration in the community was not complicated at all. Luckily most of the people here speak Chichewa and not Lomwe, but I have managed to convince my counterpart to teach me some basic Lomwe. And we have started having community meetings the work has started, so HERE WE GO!! 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Billy Makombola

Tampokelerani mose (Welcome you all) to my warm heart in the northern region of Malawi, Mzimba District, especially my beautiful community located in the southern part. I once read Ms. Khwima Nyirenda’s (Group2 Volunteer) blog talking about the beauty of the district and how welcoming the people are and I thought she was just exaggerating until I arrived here (in her village!) and witnessed with my own eyes, and you know seeing is believing right? So in this one month I have stayed in my community, I've noticed some few interesting things about people here which I want to share with you.

1. Friendly and Caring!
The people here are so easy to get along with. I never imagined how my life would be like being in a new environment with new people that speak a language I totally don't understand, have you ever been in that kind of situation? But my imagination has been proved wrong because people here are so welcoming and caring, and are even making me think thrice about going back home after finishing my service.

2. Culture
I have also noticed that Mzimba district is mostly dominated by Ngoni people. One of the things that got my attention is how these people respect their culture. I will give you an example: Ngoni culture allows a man to have more than one wife and stay with them on the same compound. My host father has three wives and so has my counterpart. To my surprise, these women care and love one another as if they are blood sisters because they know it's their culture and are not supposed to feel jealousat all. I wonder if 'hate' lives in this community.
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3. Respect 
Talking of respecting culture and language barrier, there is only one significant language I am able to understand, that is Respect. People are so respectful here. Unlike in many urban areas, children are so respectful to their parents and all elderly people. Talking of greetings, I like how they do it here and let me teach you the common one; when you find two or more people together, you don't have to spend the whole day greeting them all one by one, NO! All you have to do is greet one person and ask him/her how the rest are doing. Simple and nice, huh?

4. Farming
If there's anyone who knows any other district that values farming most apart from Mzimba, contact me and we should debate. These people really got the Bible verse that says “No sweat, No sweet.” No wonder my counterpart says he can't sleep on an empty stomach because he's a hardworking farmer who goes to farm at 5am and come back at 5pm. Yes! You got me right there, from 5 to 5. 

5. Meat
Talking about Ngoni people without mentioning ‘Meat’ is like an Indian main meal without spices, tasteless. I have only been here for a Month and have had meat at least 5 times given by my counterpart. I wonder how much Kilograms of Meat I'm going to finish by the end of my service. My host father had 30 cows but he's now remaining with 29 because the other one was kidnapped by "Christmas" and his brother "New Years" a few days ago (laughs).
 
Anyway, these are some of the few things I've learned so far in my first month of service and I'm looking forward to learn and observe more exciting things about the people and community so that I would share with you again. I wouldn't ask for another site than this one, Mzimba south, home away from home.

Written by CorpsAfrica/ Malawi Volunteer Ms. Alinafe Chikombole

Mentally preparing myself for the inevitable drastic step of feeling right at home in a new community helped me significantly. Preparing to get out of my comfort zone and embracing that indeed this is going to be my home for the next six months helped me settle right in on my very first day. Having thought of all the worst case scenarios helped me embrace that even out of my comfort zone I can feel right at home even when it's not home per say. No lights? Not a problem, the people that live in this community survive, so will I.

Having a cheerful, loving and supportive host family made the adjustment that much easier too. They make sure I'm well fed and I have everything I need at the click of my fingers. There are good guides likewise, making sure I get well-acquainted with the people and the whole community altogether. Warning me off things and people to stay clear of - they are my angels in disguise, I believe. 

The variety of fish available makes me think of changing my diet altogether to avoid the red meat and go all white. The re-adjustment from my usual diet has even been great because of the readily available fish. Pork and goat meat are likewise available just about everywhere. Rich in so many different fruits, I've been able to get just as adventurous and try out new things.

​The beautiful scenery of the lake makes it worth the while. The constant sounds of waves crushing on waves is rather interesting. The calm of it also gives you a chance to sit on the shore and take a moment to reflect on a life.

​This beautiful scenery is my home away from home for my entire duration of my service and am looking forward to discovering new things about this beautiful home of mine.