CORPSAFRICA
  • Home
  • About
    • About us >
      • The Model
      • Human-Centered Design
      • Impact
      • Development Partners
      • Junior CorpsAfrica
    • Team >
      • Staff
      • Board of Directors
      • Advisory Council
    • Work With Us
    • Press
    • Videos
    • Testimonials
    • Contact us
  • Countries
    • Morocco
    • Senegal
    • Malawi
    • Rwanda
    • Ghana
    • Kenya
  • Volunteers
    • Meet the Volunteers >
      • Morocco Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Morocco
        • Group 2 Morocco
        • Group 3 Morocco
        • Group 4 Morocco
        • Group 5 Morocco
        • Group 6 Morocco
      • Malawi Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Malawi
        • Group 2 Malawi
        • Group 3 Malawi
        • Group 4 Malawi
        • Group 5 Malawi
        • Group 6 Malawi
      • Senegal Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Senegal
        • Group 2 Senegal
        • Group 3 Senegal
        • Group 4 Senegal
        • Group 5 Senegal
        • Group 6 Senegal
      • Rwanda Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Rwanda
        • Group 2 Rwanda
        • Group 3 Rwanda
    • Podcast - "My CorpsAfrica Story"
    • Featured Projects >
      • Dzaleka Basketball Court
      • Kitchen Gardens
      • Coronavirus Response
    • Featured Volunteers
    • Alumni Association
    • Apply
  • Events
    • Events >
      • PROJECTing Resilience
    • All Country Conference
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Donate to CorpsAfrica
    • Pay It Forward Campaign
    • Holbrooke Campaign
    • Corporate Council for CorpsAfrica
    • Planned Giving
    • Amazon Smile

Let Our Words Be Kind

2/26/2022

0 Comments

 
Written by CorpsAfrica Malawi Volunteer Ms. Umusa Ng’om
In my time with my host mother, I came to know a girl. Let's call her Yankho. Yankho is about 12 years old. She was working as a maid at a nearby house. When the schools opened, I had hoped that she would start school. A couple of weeks down the line, I asked her why she was not in school and her responses ranged from one thing to another, nothing concrete. After a while, she came over to my house and we spoke at length about different issues. I brought up the school issue and she bluntly told me that she will never go back to school. Her mother said something that left a scar. She said "Pa ana anga onse, palibe wa phindu. Sindingavutike kukuphunzitsani'' which means "of my children, none of them is worth sending to school as none is useful."

Everyone has hopes and dreams but, my Yankho doesn't even want to talk about them. She doesn't even see the point of talking about something that will never happen. I attempted to reason with her but it seemed to irritate her. I will take my time with her. A lot of people have succumbed to such words, thrown in the towel, and lived aimlessly. My fear is that these words will likely cause Yankho to end up like some of the girls in the community. A little trip to the health facility and I was told how teenage pregnancies were high and how most drop out to get married. My fear is that Yankho will settle for what is easy.

Yankho is just an example of how powerful words are. It has been said that words have the ability to build someone or tear them down completely. So many have had hopes crushed and dreams scattered because the wrong words were spoken. But the opposite is true as well. 

I will choose to be different, to build rather than tear down. I am hoping to start a girl’s club in my community with help from the mother group. I would want to inspire them that they can be so much more and open them up to a whole world of possibilities. Hopefully, my words will help.
I still have a couple of months still to go, I hope to inspire girls like Yankho.
"Be careful with your words. Once they are said, they can be only forgiven, not forgotten." - Unknown
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

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

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

Picture