Written by Hafssa Ait Tabamoute - CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Morocco

During the first two days after moving to my site, "Tiwichi," I participated in putting the last touches on a carpet one my host family’s neighbor was making. Since then, I knew that I just love the way these women and girls are collaborating and helping each other to weave a very beautiful carpet, with such beautiful patterns, and in a very intelligent way with very simple, yet, important tools.
           
The thing about carpet weaving, is that two or three girls can sit in front of the equipment to design the pattern they agreed on, but the most interesting thing is that two or three more girls can make it from behind the equipment, which makes them finish it in a very little time.

It has been a week now that my host sister decided that she wants to make a carpet. I, unfortunately, wasn’t there from the first day to see how they organized and put together the carpet’s equipment, but I was there to hear all these traditions, beliefs, and bride-related stories about making carpets.

I learned to make it from both sides, but for my host sister’s carpet I was sitting from behind the carpet in order to be able to count the number of knots of the flower pattern I was designing at the left of the carpet and trying to do the same flower with the same number of knots and colors. The flower was made by green, red, white, and blue colors, so I was counting how many knots for each color and trying to do the same thing.
 
It might seem easy, but believe me, it is not, because you need to stay really concentrated to avoid mixing colors or losing the pattern’s shape.
 
We were in the third line making knots of the flower when one of the girls working from the front of the carpet asked me to give her some water. I handed her the glass between where the carpet ends in the right and the wooden pole that holds the carpet yarns, and I was surprised when she said: ‘’no, don’t pass it in between it will bring me bad luck at my wedding.’’

​I have been talking with the girls about some others traditions or stories related to the carpet weaving, and Soukaina, my host sister, told me that when a girl gets married she is not allowed to touch or to make any carpet until making ‘’a7erchich oumlil.’’ "A7erchich oumlil’’ is also made with the carpet materials, but with only white yarn. Only after that can she participate in helping the other girls or women weave or she can start making one for herself.

Moreover, when someone comes while the girls are working and he or she wants to shake their hands saying ‘’hi’’ from the top of the carpet material, the girls who are not married refuse. They think that if they do it they would get married to one of the douars (little villages) that are situated near to the mountains. Actually, girls do not prefer to get married to those places.

I used to watch women and girls, back in the village of my father when I was a little girl, how they made the carpet, but I never paid attention to the materials it is made with, which shows how our grandparents used such smart methods and techniques to create simple, yet beautiful daily life items.

Nagama is an amazing woman who took care of me when I was down with malaria, she even took me to the hospital, and looks after my house when am away. I have tasted some things I have never heard of before from her cooking; yes those are vegetables she was preparing for our lunch.

Despite Tsalani school having one block the kids are as energetic as ever. We are on a project to keep our school clean and green. In order for us to do this we have been sweeping every morning, watering trees we planted lasted month, watering our flowers, plating glass and leveling the grounds.

Everyone is expected to carry at least one trip of soil to cover the mud bricks to avoid the erosion during the rainy season. These kids are excited and energetic when doing that.  When we have a lot of school work they still ask if they can water the flowers because they want to have a lot of flowers come next academic year.
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After all the work is done we take a lot of pictures and off we go. It’s amazing the things that keeps kids in school. Just doing this excites a lot of kids and yes we have seen a lot more come to school just to take pictures and am planning on making videos soon.

All these things made me realize how diversity is so beautiful. All our differences actually make this a beautiful place to live. In as much as these kids face a lot of challenges 30-40 minutes of playing, laughing, smiling and being entrusted to make Tsalani school beautiful does actually make them feel that they matter and their work is valued. What can I say, I love being part of their lives and making them realize that they also matter!

Written by Vanessa Chimutu, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

​Since I started working with my community, one of my favourite days of the week  are Thursdays. It's pretty simple why, because this day of the week is where I get to to have CHATS with the girls of Nsala Community Day Secondary School. Now I know someone can ask, "What are these chats you are talking about?" Well this is an extracurricular program that provides girls with information about leadership, facilitation, life skills, sexual reproductive health and also career guidance.  In simple terms, CHATS stands for Creating Healthy Approaches To Success. This  work is done through the guidance of my partner organisation Age Africa which is an organisation that seeks to advance girls education in Africa through the provision of scholarships to vulnerable girls and also through their chat curriculum that provides the girls with different skills.

Written by Emas Potolani, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi
​Reposted from Emas' Korner

Well, I must admit I have been missing for a while. The past weeks have been tiring and busy for me.  My students and I have been busy with lessons and a number of activities that we were doing. As a comeback post, allow me to share with you my sincere joy and gratitude to the newly appointed Art of Giving Ambassador for Malawi , Miss. Winnie Mwamsamali who paid my school an unforgettable visit on 17th May 2016. 

On this day May 17 2016, was Art of Giving celebration Day and different nations in Africa and countries in Asia took time to celebrate art of giving  as they touched lives of the vulnerable communities through giving and spending time with such communities (you can read more through this link; http://www.artofgiving.co.uk). The theme for this day was Education for All. In Malawi, the ceremony  took place on at  my school Chitete Primary.  You might wish to know that my school has about 97 pupils with only Standard One to Standard Three. 

​Asked on why my School was chosen for this visit and ceremony, the ever smiling Brand Ambassador said that she felt compelled to choose Chitete because she follows and read more stories through this blog. I remember reading via the blog posts that the kids come to school with unwashed clothes and uniforms and mostly without taking a bath simply because washing and bathing soap is a luxury to most household from which these kids come. "Additionally, it felt so necessary to visit and conduct this ceremony here considering the fact that I personally know the CorpsAfrica Volunteer volunteering here at Chitete," she said. Wow, this is honestly very humbling, that people out there are reading and following the stories from my community and are doing something to help transforming the lives of my kids here. Mu umidzo mulidi mphamvu (There's surely power in unity).

It was indeed an afternoon of bliss at Chitete. The day was celebrated in an amazing day and many activities were incorporated to spice up the event. The event started at 1pm with the Malawi Art of Giving Brand Youth Ambassador, Miss Winnie Mwamsamali and the school kids playing netball in a friendly competition between girls and boys at the school. The kids were very happy and joyful. The sport took about 20 minutes and we later proceeded to an official start of the ceremony. 

Present at the start of the ceremony were; the Malawi Art of Giving Brand Youth Ambassador, Miss Winnie Mwamsamali, the school teachers, Mr Chadodoma, Mr Misomali, Mrs. Kalolo, Mr. Symon, the school deputy head-teacher, two local comedians, Mr Shaibu and Mr Chiwaula and of course myself. The official opening of the ceremony started with a word of prayer by one of the school kids and this was later followed by a welcome speech and encouragement on education from the school deputy Head teacher, Mr Symon.   The Malawi Art of Giving Ambassador then came in to explain the Art of Giving Celebration and why we ought to have a giving culture as humans.

​As a way of conveying a message to the teachers and kids on the theme “Education for All”, two local comedians Mr. Shaibu and Mr. Chiwaula, took the stage to both entertain and at the same time educate the kids and teachers on education and the importance of education. There was a need to emphasize on the importance of education since in this area most parents and kids do not value education. For instance some kids will be found hunting mice on a school day instead of going to school since they do not know the importance of going to school. The Ambassador took the stage after the comedians to emphasize on the importance of education and her own testimony of how she grew up and attained education and how it has and still is benefiting her, it was such a great motivation to the kids.

​After all the speeches, the comedy and sports fun, it was time for the kids to get each their presents for the day. It was amazing to see the beautiful smiles on the faces of the kids. The Art of Giving Ambassador handed out notebooks, washing tablet soap and locally made fizzy drinks to the kids at our school. 

After gifts presentations, the Deputy Head-teacher couldn't contain it but stood up and conveyed his message of gratitude on behalf of the kids. The presents served as an encouragement to the kids present and their friends who were absent from school on that day.

The kids were later happily running home with their gifts. We had ten notebooks remaining and these were given to the teachers present as a way of appreciating the good job they do of teaching the kids despite the poor conditions at the school like lack of school staff office and proper classrooms. ​

As we unite to advocate for equal access to quality education to all the children living even in the disadvantaged communities, let us continue to play a role in transforming their lives. I felt compelled to share this amazing story to you knowing there are many of you out there with a kind heart like the Art of Giving Ambassador for Malawi Miss W. Mwamsamali, who will surely do like wise.

Written by Lahcen Chanchaf - CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Morocco
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Dear readers, welcome to my first blog as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer. In this blog, I will mainly focus on what I have learned from the first day on my site. Well, to begin with, I spent the first night in Azzaden valley at Tizian in a hostel. For me, it was not only a traditional village house that serves as an inn for guest but also a wonderful cultural experience. It was amazing to be once again in touch with nature after a long time. 

In the morning, I was thinking about nothing more than moving to my site. We left Saïd's hostel towards my site (Azrfssan) with DDa Mohamed (my host father), Rees (PCV) and Soufian (our support volunteer).it took us one hour and half by walk to reach my site. In the meanwhile, we passed through several Amazigh (Berber) villages. However, I was not paying attention to time thanks to the awesome green mountains covered with oaks and juniper trees. In addition to this, wherever you take a look you get amused by breath-taking ancient irrigated terraced fields of fruit trees and vegetables. This marvellous scenery of Azzaden Valley that surrounded us in a parallel with the flow of the water in the river can only give birth to nothing other than a heaven on earth. This is the beauty of the nature in Azzaden. 

Finally, I am at my host family’s house. We go to the upstairs as DDa Mohamed told us waiting for tea. Later on, he came with plate in his Hands full of olive oil, pure honey and bread (homemade). We appreciate it so much though we have had our breakfast two hours ago. After finishing our brunch we got surprised by a Tagine, a famous delicious Moroccan dish, which we didn't take into consideration. I got tricked this time but it’s fine. The best Tagine I have ever eaten, Rees said. Few minutes later, with the sun at its zenith, group of students from Casablanca American School passed by my site. They have a rest for 15 minutes before they continue their trek to Tizian hamlet, where I spent my first night. Luckily, one of their teachers is my ex classmate, he asked me if I am going to help them for the fact that I am a native speaker of Berber at least as a language facilitator, having said this to me, I guess I will catch up with them tomorrow morning. 

After Al3asr prayer, around 17.30 p.m. my host father and I went to the house where I am going to stay. Wow a house for me, I never thought I will have my own house at this age. It is amazing, I am so eager to spend my first night at it. As it said nothing is perfect. Once again, I got shocked when I arrived. There is no kitchen and no latrine in the house and above all no water. How come???. My host father said that they have just finished building this house and this problem will be fixed as soon as possible. Typically in one week. Can you imagine so? Thank God the mosque is near to the house. but what about the night. I started thinking to use a nappy. Who knows it may work!!! (haha). 

At night what a wonderful site!! I just like listening to the water sound and how makes me feel, soothing the brain and the soul. Right now, I am covered with blankets as a protection against a nocturnal cold. It’s midnight and I feel a bit tired, so I have to say good bey and thank you. 

Stay tuned.

Written by Hafssa Ait Tabamoute - CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Morocco

The 10th of April was the day I moved to my site Tiwichi in M’Zouda commune, 75km from Marrakech city. After meeting with the authorities of the commune, I went with the treasurer of ‘’Al Farah’’ association, whose name is Mohamed Ait Hamou, who hosted me in his house for the first night. He presented me to his wife and his daughter. They are now my host family.
 
The people of Tiwichi village work in the fields, the men sow and the women help them in the period of harvesting. Some women and men, who get paid, work in the farms that market olives, wheat, watermelon, beans, pumpkin and other vegetables. The only farm that exports its products is the farm of orange.

This year, people don’t go to their own fields, because there wasn’t much rain, so what they sow doesn’t produce much, except for the big farms that get water from their own wells that they dug.
 
What surprised me the most in my site, unlike in the other villages in M’Zouda commune, the girls here can hang out in the village, go out for a picnic, visit each other, spend the night in each other houses… So in the first weeks when I arrived I was always going out with them, talking to them about the problems they have, getting to know their traditions and culture which are somehow different from mine… Even if I am a Tamazight as them, there are so many differences between us in term of dialect and traditions.

 ‘’Akhamal’’ is a special skirt the girls and the women must wear whenever and wherever they go out. Even for weddings, they wear the traditional dress, but with ‘’Akhamal’’ on the top of it. After spending a week with them, I also started wearing even in the meeting I am having with the teacher at school and with the association members. I actually liked that skirt.
What I love the most about my site is the so beautiful sunset they have. I just cannot keep taking enough pictures of it when I am out with the girls for a walk around the site.
Well, pictures will definitely better explain what I am talking about :)

Written by Lusekelo Simwela, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

"What have you learned since your last Fortnightly Questionnaire?" says one of the questionnaires that we take every once in a while. This question is interesting to me as it helps me look back on the activities I have been doing and draw positives from them.  Since the next questionnaire is in ten days I figured I should share with you one of the biggest lessons I have learned. When I was asked what factors would negatively impact the timeline of my upcoming shallow well project, I said "an inactive chief” as one of them.

The reason I said this was when we had a meeting to discuss the project, the chief was late to notify his people. He also sent another person to represent him at the meeting. This led to low turnout. His "inactiveness" also made it hard for the project’s committee assigned to the project to successfully do their duties. On top of this when asked by others about the project he denied its existence. This led to issues with some members of the community who thought the project was not going to happen.

This put me in a weird spot.  The community members wanted us to remove him from the project entirely and they stopped giving him updates, others wanted us to report him to the senior group village head man some even to the TA. I thought about it, and realized that even if we remove him from the process, we will still need him at a later point. He may actively try to block progress of the project and if any disputes arose, where would we take the matters to?

So I went to his home, something I hadn't done before. I used the committees to communicate with him. I did not bring up the issues that I had with him, I however updated on every aspect of the project and why it was important that we needed to work together. I presented to him some of the issues the project was facing, some things we as a community needed to discuss to go ahead with the project. He ended up suggesting a meeting, the venue and when to hold it. He came to the meeting, he was matter of fact one of the first people to show up. He spoke energetically and passionately and vowed to punish all people who did not participate or break the rules we discussed at the meeting.
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The lazy inactive chief became one of the people who will help the project become a success. I learnt that sometimes all we need is to talk to the people, involve them and accept their help. If this is done they will support whatever it is that you want to accomplish. 

Written by Isabel Mandiwa, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

While the first few months living in my community was exciting, thrilling and I just couldn't wait to get started, now I have some nights and days where I ask myself, "Am I doing enough? Am I doing the best I can to the best of my ability? Is there more I should do?"  These people look up to me to fix their problems and I am just one person who's learning what my responsibilities are.  I am creating the pathway for the next person who takes my place sometime next year.  I am creating the first experience-my experience.
 
It gets lonely sometimes, all the familiar voices from family and friends back at home seem so far away now and I wonder how I will make it through the next eight months.  And then I see all the new friends I have made in my community, my host family- I love them, and all other community organisations I work with and suddenly my mood changes; I am happy again. And then there times I feel empty, there just is no emotion at all am not happy but neither am I sad, just blank. I wonder if it happens to anyone else.
 
When I leave this place I want to have made a difference in someone's life, a difference that changes their life for the better and a difference they can pass on to the next person. When that happens I will feel I have done the best of what I could without any personal gain other than satisfaction which is somewhat a reward in itself.
 
Living in this community has taught me something; something that I will always carry with me wherever I go; to appreciate life, to be thankful for the good things in your life, and learn from your mistakes and failures.  It's as though I'm looking at life with a new set of eyes.  I know kids that don't own a pair of shoes and I have a thousand shoes back at home that I choose to wear on that particular day to match a certain outfit and it all just seemed normal until now......

For so many years Malawi has been talking about poverty and finding ways to eradicate it and I never really knew what it meant until I got here. Poverty is real... And am not particularly happy to live in one of the poorest countries in the world but then again I'm not going to run or just stay and do nothing. So I will start small, right where I am... Kadyalunda, Balaka.
 

Written by Tusayiwe Sikwese, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

​In my very first blog I told you all about a Nursery school project that I was helping Village X with. We had just started the construction at the time.  I didn't know much about constructing buildings. I knew what a foundation was, but I didn't know how it was constructed and all that... I didn't know what a point was. I basically knew a few levels. But now I know plenty!

Anyway, aside from learning the actual construction things during the project, I also learned a lot about understanding the social dynamics of different individuals/ communities/ committees and the importance of perceived values. We might know these things but I just want to share with you all how these two concepts helped me get through the final stages of this project and how these concepts are going to to help me with my own projects in the coming months... And maybe help my fellow Volunteers.

But first, I'm happy to say that the Nursery School was finally completed the week beginning 15 May 2016 and handed over to the community on 20 May 2016.  Michael Buckler, the CEO of Village X was there to grace the ceremony, which made it extra special! Of course Myson, the Project Coordinator was there too, after missing in action for the entire project but he was supportive through it all. I definitely would have cracked if he had left it all to me. And Sarah(CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Zomba) came all the way from her site, on SHORT notice, which was really really nice of her. Katherine (CorpsAfrica/Malawi's project coordinator) was there too, warmed my heart ♥. Lastly Chief Maluwa(my community's chief) and other surrounding chief's, as well as a few members of the community, were also at the ceremony. Seeing all these people there, all happy and thankful for the project was very satisfying. There were songs and dances that spiced up the ceremony. Even I sang and danced to songs I had never heard before (Lol! check out the super short video and pictures) but it felt so right and it was so much fun!
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As it is with all handover ceremonies, speeches were given. I gave one too but I really didn't want to, my levels of shyness were high and I really didn't have much to say to be honest. Anyway, the one speech that stood out for me was the Chiefs speech. In his speech, he said "nditamuona koyamba mtsikanoyu ndinkangomuona ngati okonda zamanyado, koma ayi ndithu ndi munthu olimbikira ntchito, ndipo atithandiza" (When I first saw this girl, I thought she was all about socializing but no she is hardworking and she will help us). Why did it stand out for me you might be asking? Well, it's not the first time I have heard something along those lines. I am certainly not proud that this is the first impression I give people of myself. And so I had hoped to change that appearance about myself when I first came to my community. That obviously didn't turn out well. The Chief then went on to thank me for working hard, committing myself to work the way I had been working and that I should continue committing myself in that way. At this point, I was happy that the Chief and the community members had finally seen me for what I am capable of doing. It was a proud moment for me.I think they gave me a tiny bit of the benefit of the doubt.

And the truth is, I am far from the very social and slacking person my appearance sells me out to be. :-)
So the ceremony was absolutely amazing, and I would do it over again if I could but the work itself was no walk in the park. There were days/weeks I felt like the people didn't want my help, I felt like they were undermining me (my petite self kind of causes that sometimes) and working with men only for the most part was hard. It was tough. I cracked once, I told Myson I couldn't do it anymore, that I was done. They weren't listening to ME. So I thought. I was frustrated. I withdrew from the work for close to two weeks. Things weren't working out. I thought it best to focus on MY mentoring project and assisting at the secondary school. I talked to Katherine about it, I talked to my family about it. Talking it out helped, a bit and for a bit. The word social dynamics came up along the way. I ignored it. I told myself I didn't have time to understand this concept. I just wanted to get the work done. It was already long overdue. I needed to get on with assessing the communities other needs. "I this and I that". It was all about ME, what I wanted. Life is hard I thought. Tired of withdrawing and talking to people outside my Community about it, I finally decided to understand the social dynamics of the community, Village X committee and the other committees I thought I was having difficulties with. The first step was to talk to them. As I did that I also took time to understand their perceived values.

At this point I realized that it's not that they weren't listening to me, but they had something they valued more at the time I had asked that we do certain tasks. Harvest season!! They love their nsima but I obviously didn't even consider that as a highly perceived value..maybe because the project was long overdue. So, it was time to engage in a positive exchange of values. After reading up and a little bit of consultation, I learnt that social dynamics cause disputes within the community which then affects people's perceived values as people do not want their values getting in the way of their relationships with their community members. For example, I like to communicate both when things are working well and when they aren't. Now, they're some committee members whose perceived value  is the same as mine, however because of the social dynamics regarding power and the like, the committee members failed to fully exchange their perceived value with mine due to fear of disputes. They keep  in mind that  I'm an outsider and I will leave at some point but they will have to face their community members anyway, and so my work slowed down and things came to a stop. In the end I got frustrated because I didn't take time to understand this and I simply withdrew. This kind of withdrawal does not yield anything positive if it goes on for too long or without any positive action being taken. So instead of mopping around, feeling sorry for myself and stressing I decided to talk to one of the members to find out what the problem was. And they explained to me, right there, how the community's and committees social dynamics were greatly affecting their work. This helped me a lot and I wish I had asked from the get go but I'm also glad I didn't because that was a strong learning point, it was enlightening and it strengthened me.. My patience and perseverance levels have gone up a great deal.

Someone recently told me  to "be very observant of what people do and how they fit in their system so that you acclimatise yourself to it, while bringing change where it's necessary in an acceptable manner". I couldn't agree more. If I hadn't taken time out to start over by observing and asking questions, the project wouldn't have been completed by now. It's very important  to step back, observe and listen when things aren't going according to plan. It will lessen your frustrations and create an amicable working environment for you and your community. And also make your Volunteering experience exciting. It's certainly turned things around for me. Village X has surely helped me in understanding more about my community and their  committees and I believe this will help me undertake successful projects.
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Time to wind out this long post... We might have handed the Nursery School over to the community but that's just the beginning. I have a lot of work to do together with the Village X committee over the next two weeks. Kids are  bundles of joy,despite the endless and sometimes weird questions that they ask but their inquisitive nature needs to be nurtured and shaped. There is no better stage in shaping a child, than their early childhood. So I am looking forward to seeing them in their large numbers at the Nursery School pretty soon. I know it's going to be tough but I'm always up for a challenge!
Oh, the name of the school is Chimwemwe(Joy) Nursery School, just in case you were wondering .

Written by Deborah Kamanga, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi
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Growing up, I heard the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” a million and one times! As a child and through most of my teenage years, my reply was ALWAYS: “I want to be a lawyer.” I didn’t even know much about being a lawyer at that time, but there was something fascinating about the lawyers I saw on TV. I am not sure if it was the way they talked with so much confidence and sounded very intelligent or if it was the black and white uniforms that I found thrilling. Either ways, I made up my mind I was definitely going to be a lawyer. To make matters worse, I have always been very opinionated from childhood, so much so that my parents used to say: “you are very stubborn and you should be a lawyer” and that somewhat gave me a sense of satisfaction that I was on the right track.

To cut straight to the chase, years down the line, I am currently working as a volunteer in a village I never imagined I would ever locate in my wildest imaginations. I started volunteering with International Citizen Service (ICS) after I graduated from the university and that’s where I gained some insight on what volunteering was all about. Having served as a volunteer with ICS for six months I came across CorpsAfrica and I decided to continue serving my country through this program.

In my reflection process, I realized that I always said I wanted a “white collar” job because I never came across a wide range of other things that I could be. No one ever mentioned volunteering to me both in school and outside. I didn’t get to know about the importance of working just for the purpose of helping people and making a difference, because in my head, the idea of “making it in life” meant having a high-paying “white collar” job. While I am not downplaying the importance of accumulating “enough cash,” I have just gained a broader view of the world we live in and a better sense of other equally important things.

I have therefore been working on starting up a girls club in the community where I live and work. The general accepted view of development especially in rural communities is on the quantitative or structural elements of projects- that is: buildings, construction of bridges, health centers, and so forth and so on. There are limited efforts on the qualitative aspect of development, that is: creating and increasing awareness on issues like women/girls empowerment, the importance of early childhood development, leadership, etc. People are more concerned with the former even if it is more costly to implement because its elements are perceived to be measurable, tangible and can be captured in standards and subsequently measured. The latter is less expensive and equally important in the development process, however it’s harder to measure, communicate and influence. It is from this background that I have decided to start up a girls’ club at Nansato primary school and one of the vital things that I want is for a sense of volunteerism to be imbibed in the members of the girls club. Watch this space for more updates about the girls club, I promise you will be thrilled! (lol).

In addition to this, I came across a community nursery school which was constructed by some Scottish volunteers dating back to five years ago. This has motivated me to start up something which I could always look back to and be able to see that I made a difference.
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The pictures below depict a brief view of what has made my volunteering with CorpsAfrica thus far, memorable. Cheers!!