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

​MY FIRST DAYS OF SERVICE

3/26/2020

0 Comments

 
Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Chiukepo Mwenechanya

For a start, I should admit I had a lot on my mind to share, but I could not miss the story of my first days of service with CorpsAfrica. After an intensive one month training, I started my service as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Mzimba, Malawi on the 8th of February 2020. I am not even a month old here but I have already fallen in love with this place. I cannot deny it, before I came to my site, I was filled with fears and worries on what to expect. New place, new people, what if they will be mean to me or what if they won’t accept me? These were some of the many questions which almost stopped my heartbeat before I came to my site. Only if I knew how humble and warm hearted my community is, I would not have troubled myself with such worries.

As strange as I looked in my first days, it felt like home.  My community’s native language is Tumbuka, my birth language and the culture is a bit similar to that of my home village. My community follows patrilineal system of marriage where men are considered superiors and heads of households. The people are predominately farmers with maize as their main food crop witnessed by the presence of vast fields of maize, which seems to stretch like forever. They also grow cassava, beans, groundnuts, Irish potato, onions and currently the community is investing a lot of time and resources in pine and cassia production for business. Most economic activities take place at the nearest trading centre where you can find almost all grocery items and foodstuffs. This similarity to my culture has made my integration so easy and smooth to the point  where community members even try to relate me to some of the Mwenechanya’s who lived in the community in the past.

My site has also a landscape of spectacular beauty that always makes me feel like I am in an evergreen natural park, offering me a natural relaxation spot with a calm and comfortable atmosphere. On its northside, the area is surrounded by a range of evergreen mountains and one of the largest forest reserves in Malawi called Perekezi, which also extends to the east side. I love every minute I spend in the forest as it always gives me space to think and plan for my activities. While in the forest, you can smell the wonderful aroma of flowers, and hear the bird’s beautiful songs that can relax you and almost put you to sleep.

The area also gives me a touch of community feel. I have spent almost all my youthful time in Malawi’s commercial city of Blantyre and I don’t even know all my neighbours but with the little time I have spent in here, I feel like I know everyone. Community members are always warm and welcoming; opening their homes to me. I should also admit that I have never been a fan of having food at peoples' or strangers’ houses but according to the culture and norm here, a visitor is never allowed to leave on an empty stomach, which I think is great and I love every moment of it. 
Picture
Section of Maize fields, Thoza.
Picture
Having fun with community kids
Picture
Having a walk in Perekezi Forest Reserve
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