Written by Limbani Kamanga, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi 
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Me: Uli ndi zaka zingati ndipo uli standard chani? (How old are you and what grade are you?)
Him: Ndili ndi zaka 14 ndipo ndili mu standard 5. (I am aged 14 and I am in grade 5)
Me: Umatha kuwerenga? (Can you read?)
Him: Chichewa ndimatha koma Chingerezi ndimayesela. (I can read Chichewa but I struggle with English)

Take yourself several years back. Try to recall how you learned how to read and write while attending congested and underfunded public primary schools. If you are a Malawian, you are aware that learning how to read and write was a multilevel struggle. If Chichewa was not your mother tongue, the battle to acquire literacy skills started with learning how to understand and speak Chichewa. Having grasped a good oral command of Chichewa, you knew that your journey to literacy had more miles ahead of it. You had to learn how to read and write Chichewa and then transition to English. Learning to write and read was a struggle that demanded patience, composure, commitment and determinism.

But if there is one aspect that I want you to reflect on, it is the role that your folks at home played in your quest to acquire literacy skills. If you went to government primary schools you will admit that you learned how to read and write from home and not at school. It is the intervention of your parents, siblings, and guardians that enabled you to acquire the ability to read and write - mostly by the time you were 9 years old and in grade 4. For some of you, your folks had to do it themselves while for others they took you to part time classes. Fine.

Now try to think of what would have become of you if your folks didn't care or had no ability to read and write. Imagine that your parents were illiterate and therefore evaded discussing or participating in your academic growth. Imagine that your parents had zero interest in your academics for whatever reason. Imagine that your only chance to become literate rested in paying attention in a crammed class, with a 80:1 student to teacher ratio. What would have happened?

Such is a scenario that faces most children in Likoswe village. Here, most adults are illiterate and therefore are incapable of providing academic assistance to their children. Even for literate parents, most of them hardly take an active role in assisting their children. To them, it is the responsibility of teachers at the nearby Malavi primary school to inculcate their children with academics. However, at Malavi primary school, the conditions are no better than the familiar classic conditions in Malawian rural public schools. In most classes, especially in formative grades such as grade 1-5, a single teacher is pitied against a large number of students, which makes it impossible to give proper attention to specific academicl problems that individual students face. As a result, children here progress slowly with their academics. With children struggling to learn how to read and write, repetition rate is high, which builds frustration and thereby contributes to high dropout. It is not uncommon to find 14 year olds in grades 4-6. For most of us, we turned 14 in Form 1.

​With assistance from Lloyd Bamusi, a youthful Likoswe village resident, I have introduced a program that seeks to help struggling students in Likoswe village to attain literacy skills. In addition to literacy skills, we are also helping with numerical skills. Participants in this program meet every afternoon during week days for one on one assistance and sort of part time classes. In essence, we thought this is our way of contributing to and augmenting the ongoing National Reading Program, which seeks to improve learning achievement of students in primary schools. When we started in October, we hoped that some residents would join us in helping these students but given that we do this free of charge, the people that we expected join shunned us. No compassion for thy community. Anyway, Lloyd and I are undeterred by this. Currently, 37 students have registered in this program and even though attendance fluctuates, the outcome so far seems promising.

            In addition to fluctuating attendance and negligence from potential tutors, other problems that we have been encountering are lack of material resources, lack a conducive learning environment, and lack of support from community leaders and parents. But when you face this kinds of problems, flexibility and improvisation bring a palliative effect. Maybe things will improve as time goes by. Maybe one day one kid will testify that our effort improved her writing and reading skills. That's what matters.

Regardless, Lloyd and I will keep on marching. One day, history will absolve us!

In June this year, I embarked on a project to empower the women of my community in a socioeconomic development endeavor hoping to transform as many lives of the women as possible. This was to be done particularly through empowering the women themselves to develop and attain skills that they would use to make a living as they also contributed to saving and preserving the environment around them. This is where the Integrated Women Empowerment Through Improved-Stove Production concept and initiative was born. Through this IWET project I embarked on a journey to challenge myself to train and teach women in my community how they can produce Improved Stoves locally known as Chitetezo Mbaula. I must confess that before starting this initiative, I had never made even a single Stove in my life before, yes; this was my very first time in my entire life. And to add to that, I never sat in any class or under some teaching learning how to make Stoves, I invested time in reading around diverse manuals from the Internet.

When I was convinced that I was ready and prepared, I requested the chief for a community meeting that was conducted in May 2016, during which I made a call to all women interested to learn to make these Improved Stoves.  Despite over 30 women showing their candid interest in joining this initiative from the start, only four women actually attended the first meeting. This gave me joy, at least I knew I wasn't gonna be alone. We went ahead to lobby for more women to join us resulting to the formation of a 10 member women’s group which I have been working since June this year.  I wrote about how we made our first prototypes for both types of the Improved Stoves and if you may need to follow properly, you may consider reading previous posts on this blog.

Months later after making our first prototype and making sure that every woman in our group is familiar with the Stove Production, I can smile and pat myself at the back for a job well done. When I move around my community and see women cooking using these stoves, I smile, I get excited because I know we are making an impact together, that slowly we are saving trees and conserving our environment. Today, the 10 member women’s group is busy training other women and teaching them how they can make Stoves in their kitchens thereby broadening the knowledge base whilst increasing the impact. Without being paid anything at all, the women are willingly and voluntarily doing this.
The women are also still producing the movable Stoves and selling within the village and at a nearby market place at a lower price. The women have proved to be great change agents and through their selflessness, they are helping to preserve the environment in their own community as they also develop their lives and families socioeconomically.

It is very interesting that many households prefer the Improved Stoves more than the Traditional 3 Stone cooking system which people have been familiar with ever since. Indeed these Stoves have lots of benefits in the kitchen before we even start speaking of the numerous environmental ones. Women are using less wood in preparing food for their families and they are now able to cook in a clean environment without being intimidated by the choking smoke in the kitchen or worried about fire accidents which would result into fire burns among children like it used to be the case before.  

This is a Stove Revolution, which is slowly invading my community for the greater good. I am so much assured that even after I am gone, the women will continue to share knowledge in making the Stationed Stoves with fellow women, which is all about sustainability. As I conclude, I would like to end with a quote from Mitzi Miller who said and I quote; “Progress doesn't happen all at once; it's a slow grind. But a commitment to serving as an agent of positive change will bring us closer one step closer.”  I am so sure that the seed of change planted in my community through my year long service will soon push it to progress to the next level. I am so convinced that the Stove revolution will end up reducing the devastating effects of deforestation in this community and that in a few years to come, it will be a different song. Truly, we can change our world one step at a time, one village at a time, one household at a time leading to a lifelong progress as we redefine development.

Written by Sarah Kazira, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

December 5th is International Volunteers Day, and this year’s theme was "Global Applause: Give Volunteers a Hand".  This year’s International Volunteers Day was eye opening for me as I got to experience the celebrations first hand. Celebrations started on 30th November, with a Forum discussion.  This was a learning experience for me as I got to hear about many Volunteer efforts that are happening all over Malawi, both by local and international Volunteers. We heard presentations and saw videos from other organisations that focus on Volunteerism like VSO, AISEC, and Peace Corps and of course CorpsAfrica also had a chance to present what it does. There were also testimonies from Volunteers on what their Volunteerism experience has been like and why they choose to Volunteer.

What was quite interesting for me to learn on this day was that currently CorpsAfrica is at the lead in sending out national Volunteers. Most Volunteers in Malawi are international and CorpsAfrica stood out as the organisation that is intentionally sending out local Volunteers to Volunteer in their own country.

The actual celebrations for the International Volunteers Day were on 5 December and the ceremony took place at Children of The Nation in Lilongwe, just along Mchinji road. This was another enlightening moment for me as I got to see and interact with so many other Volunteers from different organisations. It was amazing to be surrounded by people who are doing same thing as you are. Hearing stories from these many Volunteers made me realise that this year’s theme was very much suited. Volunteers really are doing a lot of work in this world and if all Volunteer work around the world was valued in monetary terms, it would be in the millions of dollars, and to that effect, I agree that Volunteers should be given a big round of applause. 

Written by Assiatu Pongolani, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

​The title above, itself, gives a person thousands and thousands of questions on how and why things happen or have been done, especially when we are talking of helping vulnerable communities so that these people also should have smiles on their faces. It has been my pleasure and memorable experience to live in Kadewere community and be able to interact with different people and learn their language too. Although sometimes work and life was getting me depressed and frustrated, I never gave up in staying here because I feel like the work I am doing in this community is helping and will help those who are here now and those in future. Not antagonizing those whom you are working with but being empathetic and sympathetic in some cases, this is HOW I have felt and been working and so far, and it still keeps me moving.
  
Living in this community and knowing who needs help most is what has kept me going to never give up. There are a lot of challenges that people are facing that one can list without end, but prioritising things in the community for work and even in their lives is also a right way to help.  Just knowing who and what goes first can be easier.  This is why staying in this community has made me optimistic, empathetic and even, at times, feel sorry for other people because sometimes I do not know how best I can to help that person. Answering the why question sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable, but it is a question that one would like to hear an answer to.  It is important to know more about anything or something that one has been going through at work or in life being successes or challenges to learn from it. I have learnt a lot by staying in this community and it has encouraged and made me strong with my own personal life issues and this is WHY I still have all this courage to express myself.

This experience has not only brought me a new life from this community but also from the whole CorpsAfrica family. Among ourselves, we have made strong friendships with a strong bond that will continue to be there even after working with CorpsAfrica. The All-Country Conference also added new friends to the list that I had. Meeting all these people has showed me that if we all work together on all these issues, we will help our Malawi and the whole world to understand that if we help the development of the vulnerable, the world could be a better place for everyone to live.

Written by Tusayiwe Sikwese, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

​I must admit, it was quite a transition from the All-Country-Conference in Morocco (I will not dwell on this as a lot has already been said by my fellow Volunteers) to my site Maluwa here in Malawi. I had left so much work to do, some of which I had delegated to the community members I work closely with.  But well, it hadn't been done yet. And so my energy levels dropped drastically.
 
With so little time left of my service, and so much work to do, I began feeling overwhelmed and somewhat frustrated. This was similar to the feeling I had when I first arrived in my community; overwhelmed because of the need for me to integrate with the community members, gain some sort of trust from them and of course make the place my new home for 12 whole months. But I thought of how I managed to get through the beginning of it all, and surely, I can weather the final two months come what may. 

​So, with so little time and so much to do, I am really hoping that I will be able to get all the projects (or at least most of some of them) that are in the pipeline implemented for the community's development. I would be unsatisfied to end my service without alleviating some things in my community in the smallest way(s) possible. I am also hoping that I have made a difference in my community in ways that I cannot see.
 
As of now, I will keep doing all I can for my community.
 
Thanks.

 Written by Lusekelo Simwela, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

Apparently the name Lusekelo is hard to pronounce. So her choice of names for me were either,  'inu'(you) or 'abatchala' (bachelor).  I particularly hated the latter, but as she said it, I was way too old to not be married so the name was so that I get to. Strange logic, I know. Her name is Berthia, and she was my neighbor's daughter in the house that I was renting when I got to Mwanza for the first time in March 2016. She is 16. Her and her little sister Tadala used to draw water from the village borehole for me. I liked the arrangement, I paid them 100 kwacha per pail and I always had water. Even though I was paying them I felt like they were the little sisters I never had.
 
Between those water deliveries and the many lunches and suppers their family invited me to, we had discussions about life and school.  They told me that they stopped going to school. This had me perplexed, the parents are not rich but they were not so poor that they couldn't afford to pay the school fees. Berthia told me that she dropped out in grade five and Tadala in grade three. I talked to them about going back to school and for a moment I thought I had gotten through to them but next day I saw them selling their school uniform.  It was almost to say, "we are never going  back."
 
I moved from the house a few weeks later and fired them because apparently the going price per pail was actually 70 kwacha. Apparently "abatchala" should pay more so they feel the pinch of not being married. Even stranger logic. . .  a few months passed by and I got comfortable in my new house. Summer was back and Frozy(a soda from Mozambique) hadn't been banned yet, so I asked a boy to sell me the very sweet mozambican drinks and bottled water. A month on the boy asked me for a 2000 kwacha advance. When I asked him why, he said he wanted to rent a house for himself. I was paying him 8000 kwacha per month, so this didn't make sense. After asking him further I found out that he was moving in with his new but also pregnant wife... Berthia.
 
I was surprised, but 16? Didn't the law at some point say if parents allowed it it was fine? So I met the mum and jokingly asked her when the 'chinkhoswe' (engagement celebration) for Berthia was going to be. And she said if Tadala had been married for three months without a chinkhoswe why should her big sister want a chinkhoswe for? She said this without an ounce of shame, she said it with a huge smile and even let out a chuckle. I laughed with her as a deep sadness crept in within me. The girl who,  when I was her age would not be born for another year is now married, I am 26.

Written by Deborah Kamanga, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

​Prior to joining CorpsAfrica, I always had several questions in my mind about the prevalence of poverty in Malawi. I still do. Having gone through the pre-service training and getting a broader view of what CorpsAfrica does, I was thrilled for two reasons:
(1) I would get to have a first-hand information on why my country, particularly the community I would be working in, is so much entrenched in poverty, despite many other previous development efforts.
(2) I would get to be an active citizen in providing possible solutions facing some of the marginalized people in my country.
Ten months down my year of service, I have been able to undertake a funded project within my community which is aimed at providing school desks for students at the local primary school in my site. The first phase of the project commenced in October and was completed on the 4th of November, 2016, with 20 desks being completed and delivered to Nansato Primary school. Completion of these desks means 40 students taken off uncomfortable floors and provided with a better learning environment. I know some of you must be asking; “providing desks to primary school students, what’s so great about that”? Now those of you who have had to go through the “agony” of learning on the floor, especially in public primary schools, like I have, know exactly how uncomfortable they can be. Experience and research have shown me that;
(1) Comfort is very important for students of all ages, as deep learning requires concentration and attention. Therefore it is very important to create a learning environment that keeps students focused and comfortable.
(2) Uncomfortable sitting can make students restless which can affect their abilities to concentrate and absorb vital information, which in turn reduces their level of performance.

​The success of this project depended largely on the 90% funding by CorpsAfrica, however I cannot downplay on the level of cooperation which the community members displayed in raising the remaining 10% financial contribution towards the project and other investments and commitments in-kind, channeled towards the project.
Working with the people in my community and successfully completing this project has given me some level of gratification. The commitment that the people displayed throughout the project has made me re-think some of the theories I had about marginalized poor people. I realized that there is so much potential and capability residing in these people if only they are given the right platform. I must confess that the first few months at my site I used to tell myself in the back of my mind and sometimes in the front of my mouth that, “there must be something a little wrong with these people.” Sometimes I could tell myself that, “these folks are lazy freeloaders who would cheat and lie to get out of an honest day's work,” and other times I could say, “these people are helpless and probably had neglectful parents that didn't read to them enough, and if they were just told what to do and shown the right path, they could make it.”
I'm not saying that some of the negative stories aren't true, but those stories allowed me to not really see who people really are, because they didn’t paint a full picture. The quarter-truths and limited plot lines had me convinced that poor people are a problem that needs fixing. What if I recognized that what's working is the people and what's broken is my approach? What if I realized that the experts I was looking for, the experts I needed to follow, are poor people themselves? What if, instead of imposing solutions, I just added fire to the already-burning flame that they have? Not directing -- not even empowering -- but just fueling their initiative and this is what CorpsAfrica is all about.
So, consider this an invitation to rethink a flawed strategy. Join me in grasping this opportunity to let go of a tired, faulty narrative and listen and look for true stories, more beautifully complex stories, about who marginalized people and families and communities are.

Cheers!!