Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Caroline Luka
 
Some of you may wonder what the phrase, “Wachinyamata safoila” means and some of you may be familiar with these Chichewa words. However, in the context that I’m using this phrase I’d be willing to bet that everyone needs some explanation. So let us get to work understanding what this phrase is all about.
 
This year has started with much vigour. The youth club in my community has finally set sail. A committee was formed, and everyone knows their responsibilities. However, the parents of these youth had little to no clue about what was going on. So being the polite and respectful youth that we are, we decided to put on a show that incorporated all of our objectives helping everyone to understand our intentions and why we need their support.
 
The practices for the show were fun, but intense. We were opting for perfection, but like any other event we hit bumps in the road. Some of our best drama actors quit last minute, the songs were off-key and the attendance decreased. Stressful right? I know. But we kept pushing. We got replacements and polished up all our performances on reducing school dropouts, sensitization on child marriages, and hygiene. With all these topics that needed to be addressed, the group was working very hard each and every day leading up to the performance.
 
Wachinyamata safoila. The phrase is back again.
 
Performance day finally arrived and frankly it didn’t start well. Everyone was late and I had lost hope. I really wanted people to see what we had put together and it seemed that no one welcomed the idea. But wachinyamata safoila. So we waited. We set up the stage, put up our charts, and started singing and dancing just so they knew how serious we were. One by one the people started to come and a few dramas later the area was filled. I was so overwhelmed when I saw the huge crowd in front. My heart danced with joy. The hilarious dramas, captivating poems and loud music really brought life to the grounds.
 
 “…My whole time that I have lived in this village I have never seen anything like this. I encourage you children to continue with your ideas because I am sure it will help our people. Mind you, do not go against your word and do the exact opposite of the messages you are sharing…do what you are telling us here,” said the GVH during her speech. We assured her that “wachinyamata safoila.” So if you haven’t yet figured out what the meaning of this phrase is, let me fill you in.  We want to be the people that bring about change. The youth in this community are not stupid enough to do harm for their futures. They are positive change agents. Just like this year’s CorpsAfrica slogan, we truly are the people we have been waiting for, and it’s all in our hands.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Wezi Kayira
 
With so much time on my plate, how to spend it became a daily problem I had to solve. During my first days of service I saw many hours being wasted, which left me feeling useless and unsatisfied. However, I decided to trade my boredom, frustrations, and idleness with teaching at the primary school right opposite of where I live.
 
I have been teaching for about two weeks now, and just like the beginning of everything new, I started with high energy and the dream of being loved by my students. Last week I started reading “I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban.” This book triggered a lot of emotions and questions from inside of me. I asked myself questions like, “What motivated me to go school?,” “Did I even enjoy going to school?,” and “What were my expectations from the knowledge I have gained from my education?”

After reflecting some on these questions, I realized that for me, like many other people, I simply went to school to get my parents off my back and make them happy. However, maybe if I would have been more like Malala, I would have gotten better grades. Anyway, I decided I would ask my students similar questions to find out how much they love school and if they would go an extra mile to see themselves be educated.
 
After delivering my lessons the following day, a few of my students allowed me to ask them the questions that were flowing in my mind.
                  Me: What do you enjoy at school?
                  Students: Speaking, learning, eating popcorn, playing.
                  Me: What if someone took away your right to go to school?
                  Students: Zosatheka!!!! I’ll continue to go.
                  Me: What if someone threatened to kill you and ordered you to stop going to school?
                  Students: Iiiiiiiiiiih! It would depend (and they started laughing).
 
Sadly, as much as these students know that education is one of their basic rights, they fail to fathom that the road to education is not easy for all people. In Malawi, many of our communities are failing to help young ones realize, and fight with determination, whatever obstacles they face that force them to drop out of school. It is time to not only tell these young ones that education is their right, but also that it is time to fight and help themselves gain their right to stay in school. As I serve as a volunteer here in Malawi, I hope I inspire my students and help them realize the beauty of education, and that not all children are as lucky as them to be in school.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Dingaan Kafundu
 
“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many lives…” – Clarence, It’s A Wonderful Life
 
Picture this. You and your buddy are off to a sunny, new, lakeshore destination. Endless beaches with glorious white sand. The whole lot. It doesn’t stop there though. You get to live in a pretty big 4 bedroom house that’s just a 5 minute walk from your white beach haven. And work? Well, you get to change the lives of people in ways they will never forget, in just your vest, shorts and a pretty cool pair of flip-flops. Sounds like the life, right?....right?

​Well, I mean, yeah maybe. Unless you count having to move your bed almost every night to dodge the leaks (yes, plural) from the badly done roofing. Or the small matter of the locals taking advantage and blowing the price of ndiwo (relish) out of proportion just because ‘he's a walking money bag.’ Then there’s also the weird rumors made about you. And well, as much as I knew that actually getting the locals to fully understand our work would be a heck of a climb, I think I slightly underestimated just how steep it would really be.
 
The people at my site are a very proud group of Malawians, as are any people from the village. Proud of their heritage, proud of their language, proud of their culture, and the list goes on and on. As much as this is extremely admirable, it does pose a challenge or two being an outsider coming in. Because of their level of pride, trying to educate them on changing their basic way of living for the betterment of their lives is definitely not easy. But, is life ever easy? The challenge to help is huge but so is the desire, in both the volunteer (me) and the community.
 
With this being said, the community is looking forward to the start of our project. The few people that have committed themselves are showing that they want to be the change they can be. Very few things in the life of a CorpsAfrica Volunteer bring as much joy as hard-working community members. The community and I know that with the dedication promised, it will be the success they deserve.

​As much as the experience has been nothing short of eye-opening, I’ve recently found the best way to get through it all is to embrace that everything happening is just part of the experience. The highs and the lows; it’s all part and parcel. I’m just taking it one day at a time and letting the experience surprise me. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Chris Kaudzu
 
Moving to a new community as a volunteer and starting a new life can be nerve-racking since there are many things that are expected from you during your service. Most of the time people imagine that a volunteer is going to come to the community and run big projects without knowing or understanding their way of life. However, with the skills that I learned from CorpsAfrica, I have come to know that having a relationship with the community first gives me a better chance to work with them in the future. So that’s what I’ve been up to for the first two months of my service; building relationships. Of course there are different ways of integrating into a community, but I wanted to share what’s worked well for me.
 
1. Start small!
Having stayed in a new community for about two months now, I have the learned a lot. One of the things is to start small. What I mean by this is that you should first get to know the people and work with them as individuals, and then you can build up to knowing them as a community.
 
After coming back from the festive season, I have met new people and made new friends. This is a new year and new things are happening in my community. I have been helping people with the small things and this has given me the opportunity to know them better personally. I have kids come over to my house and help them with their school work, and have fun making structures that create shade for drying tobacco. These little things have given me the chance to spend more time with my community members and I have come to the realization that starting small pays out when it comes to integrating.
 
2. Learn from the community
As I become a part of my new community, it becomes a part of me. I have begun learning new customs and traditions that occur in this part of the country. One of the things that my community loves doing is having "Gule Wamkulu" for every occasion. "Gule Wamkulu" is where initiated people from the community dress up as different animals and wear crazy and scary face masks. It is said that these animals are no longer people, but they are spirits that dance to the rhythm of the local drum. This part of the culture has shown me how my community members value their customs and traditions and also the power of unity that something like this can have.
 
I have found that these two points have helped me to settle into my new community.  Starting small and taking the time to learn has been the core of why this community is trusting and accepting me. I am still in the process of learning and growing as a volunteer and as time goes by, I hope to discover more ways for me to be part of this community.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer ​James Mapwiri
 
As the legend of our ancestors narrates the life of hunting and gathering for survival in their era, the DNA still lives among youths in my community. I’ve curiously listened to the stories that my host brother and dad keep telling me about how it was in the past, and how it is today. In the past, a normal day meant that young boys would gather their weapons and hounds and go hunting in the nearby forests. The forests at that time used to have many kinds of animals, but now only a few species exist. Today, it is no longer easy for these young boys to find an animal and make the kill for food. On average it can take up to four hunting trips to have a successful day of hunting, where as in the past the boys came home with something every day. In these days of desperation, the hungry boys would do whatever it takes to have that tasty bite of meat. Sometimes it is even possible for a domesticated animal like a cat to be barbequed if in the wrong place at the wrong time. The boys do not hesitate and do not take chances. That feeling of returning home without a kill and only carrying spears and clubs is not tolerated here.

Just like the decreasing diversity of animals in the forests, the coming of rains has also brought hardship to my community. Usually my area starts receiving productive rains towards the end of December each year. However, this year we haven’t been so lucky. So far there has been little rains and since the first time the ground tasted moisture it’s been over a fortnight. The community has been hit by a dry spill that is promising significantly low harvests. The crops do not look good and the people are worried. These circumstances are threatening food security and we are busy trying to figure out how to handle the challenging situation.

I believe that innovative and adaptive measures need to be implemented to ensure sustainable food and income security. Climate change is now obvious and its effects are being felt in my community, but we are not just sitting and watching as buzz alerts tell us to do something. As a way of fighting the challenges we are all facing, my community is in the process of raising over 150,000 tree seedlings in nurseries across the villages. These seedlings will then be distributed to members to plant at their homes and in their fields.
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Listening to the stories has been an interesting part of my experience so far. I am witnessing a new environment, different from what the stories say of the past.  The journey ahead will not be easy, but the community has come together to try and find a solution. With the united people I have the challenges we are currently facing will in one way or another be solved. 

To make my work simple and ensure community participation I have formed committees within my community to look into different issues including water and sanitation agriculture education, and health. These committees have been entrusted with the responsibilities of looking into these mentioned areas, identifying some shortfalls in them, narrowing the problems into smaller units using the innovators compass, and coming up with solutions to such challenges using locally available resources. Where there is a need for further assistance through funding, the committees have come up with quotations for procurement of materials that are needed for such projects so that we can then come up with proposals to seek assistance from our implementing partners. So far we have identified four key projects that we are going to be working on with our current implementing partners, and we are continuing to work hard to find more partners to help us with these projects. The photo below is one of the committees I work with, made of members from the Parents and Teacher Association, the Mother’s Group and the School Management Group that looks into different affairs at the school.
 
With cholera cases being reported in some parts of Nkhata Bay, we have decided that next week we are going to organize a cholera campaign in collaboration with the local Health Centre and Timaitha Youth club. On this day we will teach the community members what cholera is, what causes it, its signs and symptoms and its preventable measures.  We expect members who attend to greatly benefit from this campaign and better their lives so that they continue being healthy and productive citizens. Below is a great photo of Timaitha Youth Club whom I have been working with on several projects including a campaign against gender based violence, starting a garden for the youth club, and setting up of an organization that seeks to empower them.

As 2018 begins I am more than optimistic of the smiles we will put on people’s faces, resulting from the projects that we intend to undertake. Until next time, dear readers, stay blessed.