When I was selected to become a CorpsAfrica Volunteer in September 2017, I had so many expectations. After completing Pre-Service Training (PST) my expectations kept on increasing. I was days away from being deployed and boy did I have a list full of what I would expect once I got there. You know what excitement plus fear does to you. Your brain automatically switches and all you think about is how you will behave, how the people will look at you, and what projects you intend on doing. You have so many ideas that you smile ridiculously and tell yourself that, “I’ve got this.” Had I known in the beginning what really comes with serving as a Volunteer I may have thought differently. So, here’s three things a future CorpsAfrica Volunteer should not expect once they have just been deployed to site. 

1 - Projects to go just as planned.
Do not go into the community with projects already articulated in your brain. Do not expect to tell your community what to do. It's suicide. Do not have expectations on what projects your community will want to do, but instead go in with a clear mind. Have a clean slate. Do not expect a project to just develop in the first month of deployment either. In fact, just go there with a blank mind and focus on integration first. Build relationships and trust first. Get to know your community and its members. Trust me, once this is done, project ideas will flow on their own from the members themselves. 

2 - Your idea of the perfect site.
Have you ever had assumptions in your head about life in a rural community? Those assumptions are probably both true and not true. We think that we have it all figured out about how life in the village will be when we get deployed to our sites. How unbearable it is to live in a house with no electricity, no internet, and no running water. Well it is true. It’s difficult. There is no 3G, no running water, and no electricity….or at least sometimes! To your surprise, for example, network at my site-mate Twambi’s community is terrible, but another Volunteer, Ruth, has the fastest internet at her site! Volunteer Dingaan has no electricity at his house, but Volunteer Ireen has power 24/7. Volunteer Sylvester lives five minutes away from the beautiful Lake Malawi, while my site is surrounded by beautiful mountains. My point is that no one has it easy, but no one suffers terribly either, so do not go thinking you will end up at your perfect site because it may not happen. 

3 - An evenly balanced work load.
Once you complete PST your brain is now loaded with a lot of information and all you want to do is put this information to use. Once you arrive at site, do not expect to have things to do every day but don’t expect to be idle either. There are days where you get so busy it’s tiring. When you long for a nap but do not even have the time to close your eyes. Other times your work plan is flexible. You get less busy and can finally get that nap. All you need to do is plan your week or even your month in advance so that you do not choke. Find something in your community that drives you to wake up every morning to do more and lend a hand when needed. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Ireen Kanjala

Ten months down the line since I made my community my home. One of the things that had me both excited and terrified was being deployed to a new community. I did not know what to expect, and my guess was that the community members did not know either. In the back of my mind I always wondered if they would like me or accept me into their community, and luckily, they did! They always make me feel welcome into their homes and share with me their culture, experiences and happiness.
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I have learnt so much about culture and tradition here that it still gets me excited. Every time I am around family and friends I always try to squeeze in a story or two about my community, hoping it will get them as excited as I am. I remember telling my sister about a traditional dance ritual done in my community known as Gule Wamkulu. She got so into the story and made me tell it to everyone we knew, even her workmates! Her enthusiasm made me so happy because it’s not just about the stories, but she is also very supportive and eager to hear what I have been up to with my community.

​I have made so many younger friends here, both girls and boys. They teach me new things and make me experience some really great tastes too. I recently tried a new fruit called Jinkha, I don’t know the English name yet. It was so good, and apparently it is also commonly found in the small town I grew up in. 

​I really have fun around the friends I have made. They try to keep me company and get me laughing, apparently so that I don’t leave even after I complete my yearlong service. One of the girls I am close to even offered me a place to stay at her house after my service so that I can continue teaching them at the school and hanging out with them. 

​I only have less than 3 months left here and it feels like such a short period to get everything done. I need to come up with a bucket list and do it all. I hope to make more friends and experience as many new things as I can. Especially if I will be squeezing my community experiences into conversations, I will need a bag full of them, right?

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Hope Mawerenga
 
Today I'll share about the chat I had with an elderly man at the big trading center in my community. I had gone to buy a few things because it was market day and we just ended up talking about everything. As all conversations go with new people here, he asked where I stay and what I do. I explained that I am a Volunteer who is facilitating change, and then we went into a discussion about that. He asked how we choose the projects we implement as Volunteers and I clarified that the community decides what projects to do because they need to own the project themselves.
 
He expressed how disappointed he is with his community. That they have potential to develop, but nobody wants to do anything about it. He also said that individually people are living comfortable lives, but communities still aren't developing as a whole. 
 
He gave an example of a man who bought two cars to be used as taxis and bought another two the following year but couldn't mobilize the community to fix the big road which stems from the M1. I told him that from my experience it is usually easier to mobilize a small group - giving him the example of one village rather than several villages - and that maybe he should start small. 

​As we were talking, the topic of politics was also brought up. As we are approaching our election year next year, parties and individuals are intensifying their campaigns. He blamed himself and his people for persuading the rural communities to vote for his party through giving out maize, fertilizer, etc. He also gave his thoughts on the aspirants, but at the end of the day we couldn't say how we could stop this problem or have people refuse to be bribed into voting for politicians. 
 
I have noticed how this way of campaigning cripples development programs first hand because this behavior feeds the dependency syndrome. But how should we change such mindsets that are deeply rooted in people? 
 
As I was closer to going back home, he asked if anyone could apply to be a Volunteer with CorpsAfrica and I told him that CorpsAfrica is looking for Malawians who have experience, education, integrity, and a passion to create change. He was happy that this program was very close to his community and hopes it inspires young people to volunteer and facilitate change in the future. I was so happy to have met a stranger who was passionate about developing his community and nation. He opened my eyes to the potential that the people have and reminded me of why I chose to volunteer ten months ago.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Mildred Chirwa
 
I volunteer at a local secondary school in my community and as the form four graduation was fast approaching I was approached to take care of the decoration for the event. Coming together with the GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Club, we made decoration items for the event from waste plastic bottles and pieces of chitenje. 
 
It was fun doing this with the girls and they were very excited to learn some skills on how they can reuse waste plastics in their community. Most of the girls showed interest to make artistic items from the plastic waste and I shared some videos on this topic with them. I believe this will be a fun way of managing the problem of poor plastic waste management in my community and surrounding areas.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Chancy Simba
 
How do we find ourselves? We do so by going "within." We get to know ourselves first and then we get to know others. We understand how we are made and how others are made, and then we learn about their lives, we live it, and become a part of the community. 
 
As a volunteer I understand my community, what it is, and how it works. From that I explore, learn and live it. For quite a long time during my service in Mzimba I thought I was just going to help my community develop, I thought it was my job to always think of development on a bigger scale, help a lot of people and be responsible for a bigger change. 
 
Although I have been successful with some of the projects I’ve implemented with my community members, some have not turned out quite as I expected. I sat down one day and thought to myself why some projects or proposed ones turned out the way they did. I had to explore and learn from my mistakes, and even change the approach. 
 
Every time my community’s Village Development Committee (VDC) and I wanted to do something, we thought big. We were always thinking of helping five villages or more. 
 
During one of the recent meetings with my VDC, which I called to discuss other potential projects, the problem was still the same - they were thinking only of the big projects. After hearing what kind of projects they wanted to bring to their community I asked them some questions. 
 
“How many here have children in primary school upper classes and in secondary school who know how to use a computer?” I asked. To my surprise, all five members of the VDC present at that meeting that day responded by saying that their children do not know how to use a computer. With that response I proposed a small project for them; have five of their children come to my house for a few hours so I could help and teach them how to use a computer. Immediately a project was born.
 
From this I learnt a lot. You do not need to have a building built, bring a clinic, or do something for the whole community, for you to know you’re making a difference in a person’s life. I believe starting small and using your knowledge well to help others will change someone’s life little by little. With the knowledge I have in computers I believe I will help some fine young men and women to obtain the same knowledge I received in college and I know they will not be the same again.
 
Impacting someone’s life comes in different ways and I have chosen to give all I can to help my community. I believe this is how I can give back to the community that is taking care of me on a daily basis. One person at a time and change will come eventually. I am the young person this community has been waiting for. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Caroline Luka

Living in a community with people of different cultures and beliefs can be tricky. The secret to making it work and not feeling like an outsider is to adapt. Blend in like that chameleon. Find that person in the community that is always there asking you questions and making sure that you do not feel out of place. Yes, that woman or man who keeps coming to your house and constantly asking you if you’re alright. That one is your angel in disguise. Well, at least for me she is. 

This month I would like to gloat about my amazing neighbor. Not everyone was as lucky as I was to meet such a beautiful soul. At first, I thought she was bothering me by always checking up on me all the time, but then I realized that she was trying to make my transition easier. So, I opened my arms and embraced her kindness and boy did it pay off. She has taught me a lot of things I did not know. We basically do a lot of things together. Some of the things she has taught me is the language used in my community. My community speaks Chichewa mixed with Chisenga. When I first got there I wouldn’t understand anything. I asked her to teach me the basic words and 6 months down the line I actually understand most of it. Some of the words I learned in Chisenga are: 

• Mwachomatyani,meaning how are you
• Tachoma bwino, which means I am fine
• Zungo,meaning noise
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My neighbor is practically my best friend in the community. She has shown me how she keeps her family together as well as used farming as her main source of income. This woman works so hard it’s impressive. From going to the farm in the early morning, to fetching water, doing household chores and preparing food, and it’s all done before noon. She grows maize, beans, soybeans, sunflower and groundnuts. I did say she was impressive right? 

When I was going through the most difficult moment of my service she was there for me. I confided in her and she was there for me. She offered to stay with me so that I did not feel alone. As thoughts of quitting crept in my head, she reminded me of why I was here in the first place and gave me reasons why leaving at that time was not the best idea. I gambled with myself on whether I should quit or continue with my service. With her hand pulling me out of that lake so that I should not drown, I realized that my time was not yet up. I got back up, and slowly with her help, I was back on my feet.
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My neighbor has grown on me and I know my service would have been difficult if it wasn’t for her. Through thick and thin we’ve been there for each other. I found me a gem!

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. James Matipwiri

While in the past it would take generations, now it is a common phenomenon to be hit by dry spells every couple of years. Apparently, experts say that it is due to climate change and according to them it is a very challenging thing to fight or reverse. Climate change has caused many to suffer from food and water shortages and others health problems. However, viable solutions are being implemented from all sectors, at all levels, and in different approaches. But what is my community doing about it? Meet the Kachindamoto Food Bank.
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Built in the year 2008 with the help from The Hunger Project Malawi (THP). The food bank was designed to reach 38,000 people in the catchment area consisting of 28 villages. It is the backbone for the community's nutrition and a source of economy for the Epicentre. But how does it operate? Who runs it? What are its successes and challenges? Well, in search for these answers I had a chat with one prominent member of the food bank committee. She quenched my curiosity in a 10 minute interview summarized below.

Me: So, tell me about yourself.
Elube: I am Elube Phiri from group village Sunduzeni. I hold the position of vice treasurer in the committee for the food bank.

Me: Why did you build the Food bank and who's idea was it?
Elube: It was built by the community with help from THP. Back in 2006 the T/A Kachindamoto instructed two village head men to mold bricks for development works in the community. The exercise took two years and then construction of the Epicentre commenced. The food bank you see is one of the buildings making the Epicentre.

Me: How do you do your work? 
Elube: Well, due to food shortages we have been facing in the past, THP came to us with a solution. It was agreed that farmers be provided with farm inputs, particularly fertilizers. In return we pay part of our produce (maize) to the Epicentre. The food bank is what houses the grains collected from around the two communities. So, if one gets a bag of fertilizer he/she is expected to pay back nine bags of maize to the food bank. The maize is treated so that it is protected from weevils and other common grain insects. In times of need, the maize is sold back to the community at a cheaper price. The revenue generated is used to purchase farm inputs for the next growing season.

Me: Who runs it?
Elube: The food bank is run by dedicated volunteers. The community selects individuals that have undoubtedly good leadership skills.

Me: What are your successes and challenges so far?
Elube: We have been able to survive on our own during times of food shortages because of this food bank. Inside it we can keep over 50 metric tons. So far, the big challenge is the amount of space we have for storage. This restricts us to focusing on maize only; I wish we had the capacity to store other grains like rice and beans. Another challenge is that not all people are able to pay back the debt in full. But anyway, that is always expected.

Me: It was nice having a chat with you Mrs. Phiri.
Elube: Thank you Alangizi (Supervisor).

That is how my brief interview with Mrs. Elube Phiri, the food bank vice treasurer went.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Silvester Kunkeyani
 
The month is June. A cold season in most parts of Malawi and along the shores of Lake Malawi, often deemed as the goldmine of the lakeshore people. It is this season of the year that the fishing industry booms. At my site in Nkhata Bay District, businessmen from all parts of the country have flocked here to patronise this season. The most common type of fish caught include usipa, batala, bombe and chambo.
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If you go to the lake at any time of the day you will see fishermen loading off fish on the shores and a lot of business people bargaining prices. On a good day, a local fisherman makes MWK 250,000 which is about (340$). On the shores you will see a lot of fishing racks that are used to dry the fish, especially usipa. The fishing business in my community has helped to uplift many peoples’ lives and alleviated poverty of those people in the process. Many people have fishing boats, which they use to catch the fish for their own businesses, while others prefer to rent out their boats to business men who pay the boat owners a certain commission depending on the catch.

​Due to many fishing activities taking place around my community, Recognizing Individual Potential and Promoting Local Education in Africa (Ripple), a local organization, has introduced fishing by-laws designed to curb overfishing and conserve fish species in Lake Malawi. The project is being funded by this United Kingdom registered charity, whose focus is to work towards the improvement of local education, healthcare, and the environment in Malawi. The by-laws are under the organization’s fish conservation project, which aims to protect stocks in Nkhata Bay by making communities along the lake shore understand the problems and solutions concerning fish stocks.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Khwima Nyirenda 
 
My first thought of my community eight months ago was, "this is the middle of nowhere." This was because it is far from what you and I know to be a normal community. My community is, or was, what most describe as an area "forgotten" by the government of Malawi. 
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The infamous Embangweni area is roughly seven kilometers from Emchakachakeni, but the difference among education structures in these communities is appalling. Embangweni has eight well-funded schools (funded by the CCAP mission and the government of Malawi), while Emchakachakeni on the other hand has a primary school with dirt floors and community day secondary school (CDSS) without decent accommodation for teachers, any type of laboratory and no library. The CDSS is a small school, with two blocks and an office, but does have a beautiful basketball court donated by National Basketball Association Africa. This school serves 98 villages in Emchakachakeni, Thoza, and many other areas.

It was not hard to start serving in my community because everyone had already agreed that the two schools needed intervention way before I was placed in the community. So far, I have worked on two projects with the two schools in my community. The first project is the construction of four teachers' houses for both the primary and secondary school. Two of the four houses are almost ready for teachers to move in. The second project I am working on is a make-shift solar library for the secondary school. Emchakachakeni has no ESCOM power, with few households that can afford solar power. My project aimed to install solar power at the school so that students have light to study in the evening. Even though there is no structure for a library, the community identified a classroom block as an asset that could be used as a library after school hours, and now the students are currently using solar power to study for their MSCE exams.

People outside Emchakachakeni have now started paying attention to the transformation in the community. Recently Emchakachakeni hosted a sports tournament with five schools participating. The large crowd in attendance was amazed by the solar power and the beautiful teachers' houses at the school. They asked and found out CorpsAfrica is working with Emchakachakeni community and now they want their own CorpsAfrica Volunteer in their community. For what used to be the middle of nowhere, Emchakachakeni is now the middle of somewhere.

Produced by CorpsAfrica Exchange Volunteers Mr. Mostafa Essalai and Mr. Mouhiddine Hamma

CorpsAfrica has so many supporters from all around the world. These individuals are from different countries, live in different cultures, and speak different languages. This video goes out to them! Thank you to everyone who participated to make this video possible, we appreciate your support.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Wezi Kayira

“Literature is the gateway to the world,” so my professor said. I agree with him wholeheartedly. As I read writers like Nawal El Saadawi, Buchi Emacheta, Khalid Hosseini, Mariama Ba and many more, I appreciate how I am more sensitive to the plight of women and girls in our society.

Drawing water one day at the borehole, I witnessed a fight between a young girl and boy. What shocked me was how the women rebuked the girl for answering back to the boy. They asked the girl, “Why are you fighting with the boy?” and then, “Why not just leave him alone?” The girl fearlessly answered, “If he insults me, must I just watch in silence?” And then she proudly took her pail and went off leaving the rest of the women talking about her “rudeness.” I must say, this girl made me proud. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to talk to her, but hopefully I will meet her again at the borehole soon.

According to Louis Althusser, culture is one of the ideological state apparatuses. Being this, it plays a big role in perpetuating women subjugation. As culture shapes our norms and gives each gender its distinct role, it altogether enforces gender inequality. As El Sadawi puts it in her book, The Hidden Face of Eve, “a woman, by her very nature, is unfit to shoulder the responsibilities of men.” A clear lesson derived from the many books of culture. It is therefore not surprising when we hear older women tell young girls to respect their young male counterparts simply because he will be a bread winner someday. I call this absolute madness.

So why is it surprising when we see women and girls resolve to silence? When they accept being victims of gender-based violence and opt to live with their oppressors in peace? My heart broke when one of the women in my community told me how at the age of 15 a son of a family friend raped her. The saddest part is that the son was HIV positive. In the early 2000’s, being a young girl, living in a patriarchal society, bearing in mind that society at this time labelled anyone who was HIV positive disabled and unwanted, she never told anyone what had happened and resolved to living in silence. In 2004, her greatest fear came to life when she was told she was HIV positive. Scared of her own society, she continued to live in silence until 2007 when she became critically ill and doctors advised her guardians that she get tested.

Well it’s a good thing that now she lives in peace, she’s on medication, and she’s trying to patch her life together. I asked her some of the challenges she faced after the incident and she said, “because of the critical illness I had in 2007, I had to drop out of school. It is also hard to find a serious man who wants to marry me. Lastly the silent stigma society gives limits me to enhance my capabilities.”

Now I compare the woman’s story to how the young girl acted to her oppressor. The differences are extreme. I feel sorry for the many women who went through devastating experiences and due to discrimination at that time, opted for silence as a survival mechanism. However, I smile to the power and self-assertion our young girls have today. I am delighted by how this young girl questioned the women who believed were teaching her manners. It might take a while to change, deconstruct, and abandon the dogmatic thinking culture has instilled, but I think the future looks promising.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Twambilire Kalolokesya
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When I came to my site, the first thing I was told was that I need to help out at the school with English. At the moment their priority problem was that the kids had poor English writing and speaking skills. Once I started interacting with the students I noticed that it was really a problem, so I started helping at the nursery school and teaching English songs and some vocabulary. The impact was good, and kids learnt how to introduce themselves in English within a short period of time. However, the problem of poor English skills was not only in kindergarten, but also in secondary school. Secondary school students were more scared to speak English than my kindergarteners, so much that even answering English exam questions was a problem. Since these kids were already learning English in class we had to think about another way for them to improve their English skills.  

To solve this issue, and to allow for students to practice their English outside of the classroom, a debate club was suggested. I thought this was a great idea, but the problem was that it was viewed as an extracurricular activity, which are not allowed at this campus. To make the debate club happen we had to have talks with the authorities about how it might benefit the kids to improve their English skills. After these talks, the authorities gave us a chance to start a debate club and see if it really helped the kids. When we started the club, a lot of students were interested and excited about the debate club. A lot of students attended on the first day, on the second meeting the numbers decreased, but now other students have also started coming to join.

At first the kids were having difficulties to discuss a debate topic freely; they were shy and they did not know what to research on a topic. Since then these kids have improved their English greatly, and so far, we have discussed three topics. The students listened to all of the feedback given after the debates and incorporated whatever they were told to do into their other assignments. And they do their best to use the little information they have access to just to make a debate interesting. They have also started showing results of improvement in their critical thinking skills.

It is very pleasing that in a very small amount of time the kids have already started improving. A small thing like a debate club has helped students who were not good at speaking English, who were having problems to research a topic, and were finding it difficult to rebut another team’s point, now do all these things. The kids were not only excited but were determined to benefit from this club and made it worthwhile. We have even chosen leaders in the club who are learning how to lead a debate club after I leave. Their excitement and determination is very encouraging. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Shyreen Kossam
 
My site lies in the eastern side of Dedza District. It is headed by Group Village Headman, Sunduzeni, under Traditional Authority (T/A), Kachindamoto, with a population of 901,444 people, spread across 24 villages. Four (4) kilometers from my house is a small portion of Lake Malawi which makes fishing a major business for my community members. People in my community also practice irrigation farming and harvest crops throughout the year. Rice is the major cash crop grown in my community, whereas maize is grown as a staple food. It happens that my site produces the best quality of rice, though at a small scale. The area under T/A Kachindamoto experiences very hot weather, which different from the cold weather that is usually associated with Dedza District.
 
My site is an area of the Ngoni Tribe, which means people believe in keeping a large number of livestock as a source of wealth and prestige. Most people in my community depend on livestock for their economic upkeep. They also enjoy most roasted meat along together with beer. Most people believe in extended families and practice polygamy. The community is also blessed with a variety of fruits, which include baobab, mangoes, cucumbers, manoni, and masawu (small berry-like fruits).
 
People in my community are very open to development, with the Hunger Project working in their area, as my partner organization. The Hunger Project Epicenter consists of the clinic, the hall, the nursery school, the loan department, the food bank, the library, as well as the moringa processing unit. Apart from other activities like teaching, mentoring the girls, working with the youth, and playing with the nursery school children, this is where I spend most of my time. 
 
There are a lot of things that I enjoy at my site; eating fresh fish almost every day which is sold at a cheap price, is one of the best. I'm so blessed to have such an amazing community to serve as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer and I really enjoy working with these people. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Ruth Chamangwana

My house attracts a lot of visitors, but there are some that never leave making them permanent residents. Actually, some of them move around my house like they own it. Maybe they do. I am probably the annoying visitor that doesn't want to go back home. Anyway, since I try to be a good person, I decided to embrace my visitors and before I knew it, they were my housemates!

First on the list, the lizards. I was scared of them at first, but I‘ve realized that they can't bite me, so we are now good friends. As long as all my pots are closed - in case they decide to taste my food - then I am good. There are just too many of them, so I haven’t been able to name them all individually, but Thom can do for now. They will all be called Thom. 

The rat! She only comes during the night, kicking my pots and causing all sorts of noise as she searches for food that she only sometimes finds. I never knew that rats could eat uncooked Irish potatoes. Georgina does that, she eats my Irish potatoes and leaves her tiny teeth marks everywhere. 

Phil and Patty are the two bats that reside by my veranda. As per nature, they only greet me in the evenings as I am enjoying my cool breeze. At least they are polite enough to say hello. In a synchronized fashion, they fly above my head twice - could it be a ritual? - then off they go to search for food. 

Since my house is filled with fantastic creatures, we need protection. We need a guard! So let me introduce Billy, my neighbor's dog. He comes to my place during lunch and dinner, gets himself a share of nsima and bones, and off he goes, back to my neighbor's house. The audacity Billy! At least he makes his appearance, and someone out there probably thinks I own a dog. 
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I guess everybody wants to be housemates with a CorpsAfrica Volunteer. Here in Chipoka, we are living happily ever after!

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Ireen Kanjala
 
When a Volunteer is placed in a new environment, with new faces, it is not shocking to feel alone in places full of unfamiliar people. As days go by, the connections that we build with community members and other organizations working in our placement communities help us integrate easier into our communities. I was lucky to be placed in a community that had already established a relationship, with not only one, but two partner organizations; Child Legacy International and Centre for Concerned Youth in Development.

Child Legacy International (CLI) is an organization sited in my community with a mission to build sustainable communities to end poverty. The organization has over 200 employees from the surrounding area who bring back the methods learnt from CLI to develop their own communities. The organization’s hospital provides free healthcare on routine vaccinations, child labour and delivery, as well as surgical procedures. It also aims at increasing accessibility to safe water by repairing broken boreholes for communities in need. I have worked with CLI on community projects like afforestation, Grassroot Soccer interventions, and school health and nutrition. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Exchange Volunteer Mr. Alpha Ba
 
Although they are refugees or asylum seekers, the men, women and youth of Dzaleka Refugee Camp have come together through Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to provide solutions to the problems they face day and night. Currently, there are more than 50 CBOs in the camp and operating in several areas such as health, education, the economy, and the environment.

Having joined this community, I am working with many of them as part of their activities. Hope Youth Work is one of them that involves sewing. They also have environment activities that they periodically organize in partnership with other local organizations. By collaborating with them in this field, I’ve transferred my knowledge, especially my experiences with my first service in Senegal where the project of my community was about waste management. We must promote in this community the words from this famous quote: "A healthy body in a healthy environment."

It must be said that even if one is in a refugee camp, one needs to live in good health and the basic infrastructures must be implanted there. Although local organizations and the government have built a health center, this is still not enough for medical coverage for more than 39,000 refugees, asylum seekers, and surrounding villages that come to heal. So, some individuals have had the foresight to open pharmacies to come in support. This is the case of the CBO Home-Based Care, which is a very dynamic organization, which started working for almost 3 years within the community by providing medical products such as drugs through their pharmacy. They also organize trainings on sexual and gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, and peer education.

My favorite CBO at Dzaleka is called Dzaleka Adzimayi Union (DAU), which means the Women's Union of Dzaleka. In fact, it was born out of a group that felt the effects of sexual violence, HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, and all kind of reproductive health problems. Meeting these women was really emotional, especially when two program recipients exposed the problems they experienced. Although they are young, single, widowed, mothers, they come together as an organization to find solutions. Their activities revolve around capacity-building and mobilization, where seminars and workshops on various issues of gender, women's empowerment, and a special focus on disability are conducted. They also have an advocacy program and the social action program. 

The last CBO comes to facilitate the start of the life of women. Also they provide material, technical and psychosocial support to individuals and families.

The socio-economic activities are key elements at Dzaleka refugee camp that allow refugees and asylum seekers to find occupations and meet their individual or collective needs. These CBOs are clear examples of this, and creating them shows that they are also able to participate in the development and changes of their environment no matter where they are.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Caroline Luka

Malawi being an agriculture-based country relies on agriculture for its economy, as well as household consumption. Every farming season, community members work from as early as 4:00am in their fields just so they have bumper yields at the end of the season. Growing season starts in November and goes through April. I was deployed to my site as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer in November 2017 and have had the privilege to be part of this entire experience in my community. Harvesting normally starts in April and goes through June depending on when the crops were planted. It is during this time where “waulesi amaonekera” (the lazy man’s work is revealed). The ones that invested their time, money, and energy on their farms have smirks on their faces as they collect their yields for consumption as well as surplus for sale.
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The most common crops grown in my community are maize, soybeans, groundnuts, and sweet potatoes. Most people in my community start harvesting soybeans first in their fields. They bring the harvests to their homes using an ox-cart or carry bags full on their heads and then start threshing. Once the threshing is done, they separate it from the pods and put them in bags. Normally this is not a one-man job. Luckily in my community, we have the youth club members who are willing to provide labour for a little something in return. 

After they have put the soybeans in the bags to store them, they then go back to their fields and harvest groundnuts. Since groundnuts are an underground crop, they first must uproot them from the ground. They use hoes to dig up the groundnuts and put them in piles in the fields. Once the digging is complete, they then have to start plucking the groundnuts one by one until they finish the entire field. The plucking takes a couple of days as it takes a lot of time. After completing plucking, they bag the groundnuts and store them for food or for sale. Some sell fresh groundnuts while others wait until they are dry to sell. Selling also differs in terms of shelled and unshelled. Unshelled groundnuts are cheaper than shelled. 

Maize is harvested last for those who planted more than one crop. During harvesting of maize, they first pile the maize stalks together and start removing the cobs. Once all the cobs have been removed, they put them in an ox-cart to carry home, or for those with fields near their homes they carry the maize on their heads in sacks. In my community, when the maize is transported home, they put them in a nkhokwe (granary) for storage. The nkhokwe can store the maize for months until the owner is ready to shell and put them in bags. ​

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Silvester Kunkeyani
 
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call of action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Human-Centered Design (HCD), on the other hand considers human factors—taking into account human needs, capacity, perception, and culture to design solutions in partnership with the communities that designers serve.
 
Over the years, most of Malawi’s development projects to date have too often overemphasized top-down approaches that ignore local conditions leading to an abundance of misplaced projects. As a result, abandoned schools, half-built wells, and empty health clinics are scattered across the developing world. 
 
Human-Centered Design does not make assumptions about the needs and capacities of developing communities. Instead HCD stresses the need to empathize and listen, understand experiences through research, observe people and their behavior, ask communities and people the right questions, ideate on how to effectively consider these human factors when designing a solution, prototype proposed solutions, repeatedly test the effectiveness, and finally implement the solution. 
 
This approach enables agencies to address complex human problems and visualize solutions in a way that most effectively addresses human needs. This stems from the recognition of local populations as being more active in the development process, rather than simply passive recipients of benefits. 

An HCD approach also helps agencies become more accountable and credible to the communities by incorporating a participatory, bottom-up process that gives community members a central voice and role in how they achieve their own growth. In my opinion, this is the basis for successful and sustainable development. Without such approaches, the world may never achieve the SDGs, let alone partial progress within the next 15 years. These attempts are not always successful, but they do indicate the increasing recognition of the important role of local populations in rural development and poverty alleviation.
 
Participatory approaches can directly address marginalization and powerlessness that underpin development and are more effective than professional-led services. All communities have assets that can contribute to the positive development and wellbeing of its members, including the skills, knowledge, social competence and commitment of individual community members’ friendships, inter-generational solidarity, community cohesion, and neighborliness. 
 
HCD problem-solving that addresses the actual needs of communities may seem intuitive, but they are often not included in international development efforts. Across the developing world, beneficiaries are often the last people to be consulted about efforts that are meant to affect their lives. As nations work to eliminate extreme poverty and increase prosperity, they should rely on an HCD approach as the key to achieving the SDGs.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Mildred Chirwa
 
The 28th May of every year is World Menstrual Hygiene Day. The aim of this day is to encourage people around the world to promote activities that ensure menstruation is met with hygienic conditions to avoid diseases, but also to normalize and spread a positive message about menstruation.
 
Researchers have found that menstruation it is one of the contributing factors to low school enrollment, high rates of absenteeism from school, and school drop-out rates among girls and young women in low income areas. As such, it is of great importance that we sensitize communities to observe menstrual hygiene by making sure that sanitary menstrual materials are accessible to girls and young women.
 
In some cultures, girls are sexually exploited due to the lack of information on menstruation. For instance, the myth that menstrual pains can be cured by having unprotected sex with a man, demonstrates the lack of information that I am stressing on. This practice can lead to unplanned pregnancies, early marriages and eventually, dropping out of school. I believe that when issues of menstruation are freely talked about, in our families and communities, inaccurate information on menstruation can be avoided, leading to one more girl realizing her full potential, and one more dream coming true.
 
However, due to the nature of our culture and religion in Malawi, menstrual matters are not well discussed, and girls and young women do not have enough information concerning this subject. In many places in Malawi, menstruation is taken as a taboo and people live throughout their lives pretending that it does not exist. This is the reason why I organized a meeting with my GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Club members where we discussed how to stay hygienic during menstruation. We also had an information session where we played informative games with the idea of clearing out some taboos around menstruation. For one of the games we did ‘truth or dare’, and ‘I wish’. At the end of it all, GLOW members discussed questions raised on some topics concerning menstruation in general.

​“Menstrual hygiene matters and we need to work together to end the taboos surrounding menstruation in Malawi. Girls and women should be able to live with a positive attitude around their menses.”

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Ruth Chamangwana 
 
Six months at my site has been a rollercoaster; thrilling, stressful, but overall enlightening. I love moving around in my community, visiting community members, going to the lake, going to church, and going to the market. In all these trips, there are five things that I carry with me. These things go everywhere I go; they are my little best friends. 
 
1) Mobile phone. My cell phone is my ultimate best friend. Apart from using it as a communication tool, it is my source of entertainment using the social media apps that I have. My community has awesome network reception, and this makes it easy to communicate with friends and receive communication from CorpsAfrica staff. Happiness! 

​2) Umbrella. My community is literally the warm heart of Malawi. My community members are funny, but the temperatures are ridiculously high most times. Because of the scorching heat, an umbrella is always important to block the sun and make my walk through the community bearable and fun.
 
3) Chitenje (a Malawi wrap). Now that I am part of my community, it is paramount that I dress modestly and in line with the Malawian culture. A chitenje shows that a traditional woman has self-respect and dignity. If I am not wearing my chitenje, I always remember to pack it in my bag and take it on my trip.
 
4) Bottle of water. Unless you want to get a headache from dehydration caused by the scorching heat, travelling with a bottle of water is a necessity. I try my best to be as hydrated as possible which helps me prevent unnecessary health issues.

​5) Smile. My community is arguably the warm heart of Malawi because of the high temperatures and the warm greetings that my community members give each other. It is no surprise that I move everywhere with my smile. Nothing beats a beautiful smile and a warm greeting as one walks around with beads of sweat on the forehead in my beautiful community. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Dingaan Kafundu 
 
Come to my site any day and at first glance it will seem like a deserted little community. You will see houses, little groceries, and shops, but hardly any people in sight. You might see a young shepherd protégé with his sheep passing in the street, a lady with her source of water firmly placed on her head, or a few distant deep voices of men sharing a laugh over a game of Bawo, but that’s about it. You will soon learn that most of the people here spend their times at their Munda and Dambo (out in their field). That is unless, of course, you decide to come on a Friday. 
 
On a Friday, it’s like a whole different place. My small and quiet community suddenly turns into the hustle and bustle of big city-esque community. You are woken up before the first cock's crow, by the sounds of worn out truck engines coming to drop vendors and hopeful salesmen off, voices of women rushing to secure their 'spot' on the vegetable stalls, and little boys and girls choosing to skip school to spend the whole day in makeshift cinemas watching their favorite actors in loosely translated Chichewa versions of their favorite movies. It’s Friday market day. 

​Walking in the street to and from the market, your mind is immediately in awe at all the different colors, people, and items on display. What was a quiet deserted road is suddenly filled and packed to the brim. On your left you have clothes of all sizes and to your right are local hand-woven mats at the most affordable of prices. You walk further into the market and you have butchers taking center stage with pork, beef, and lamb at your mercy. Meat comes once a week, so it is no wonder it pulls the largest crowd. By 12:00pm, the butchers pack their knives up, because they’re sold out of meat. 

​It is a pretty remarkable sight. And as the last truckload of people and unsold goodies depart around 9:00pm, the peaceful calm and quiet makes its way back home to my deserted community. In the morning, it is as though nothing happened the day before, the market is back to a single stall of a few tomatoes and the people go about their business. But inside we are all waiting for Friday to come again.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Khwima Nyirenda
 
One day, on a regular Tuesday in my community, I stumbled upon perhaps the most valuable economic activity in my community. I was walking to Mavungwe Primary School with my partner to facilitate our girls' club activities. The walk is through a big beautiful natural forest called Thoza. The walk through this forest is as therapeutic as it can be. I walk through it with great chance in seeing a new kind of bird, leverets, orange snakes, and many other small animals. 
 
On this particular Tuesday, I saw a foot path that leads into the other side of the forest and I wondered where it leads to. My partner, who has been in the community longer than myself, casually said " rumor has it that foot path leads to a mine." I was shocked because under normal circumstances if there is a mine in an area it is one of the first things you hear about and I was just finding out after a 6-month stay in the community. 
 
As an economist, it is natural for me to be overly curious about any activity that is crucial to the economy of a community, let alone a whole country. Instantly, I set a time to pay the mine a visit. I needed something interesting to do. It took my partner and I ten minutes to get to the mine and we did not find anyone working on it. The mine is a big hole, deep in the forest, with a lot of beautiful stones and shiny particles all round it (but not diamonds). It is clearly a small scale mine where the community uses shovels and sieves to mine. And the good news is that it is a legal mine.
 
The mine has a mysterious twist to it. It has no name, and when I asked around what exactly is being mined in the forest, nobody seemed to be certain. A reliable source in the community said the precious stone being mined is called “Blue Sky” and the main market is in the neighboring Zambia. I tried to Google what “Blue Sky” is but I could not find the information. Whatever Blue Sky is, it sounds beautiful. I am looking forward to the day I find the miners in action and seeing a Blue Sky. The mine is now my favorite place to visit in my community. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Ireen Kanjala
 
A wide variety of crops are grown during the hot and wet seasons in Malawi (November to April) and then harvested as well as stored in the cool dry season (May to July).  The most commonly grown crops in my community include maize, groundnuts, cassava, and sweet potatoes. The uneven distribution of rain earlier in the season caused moisture stress and resulted in crops wilting - in some cases permanently wilting - and lowering crop yield. Rainfall distribution improved later in the season, benefiting the late-planted crops and late maturity crops.

Although, there’s been an onset of poor rains, local farmers are harvesting their produce and selling in the local markets. One of the joys of being a Volunteer is eating with the seasons and helping cultivate a more resilient, sustainable food system. When we purchase food that's in season from local farmers, we're supporting both local farmers and the local economy. Buying seasonal food from local sources means that the food has spent less shelf life in traveling and in storage, which can significantly cut back on environmental impacts. 

It is not only about the crops, but insects too. My favourite seasonal protein source has been the flying termites which are locally known as Ngumbi.Ngumbiis from the termite family and the insect makes homes in anthills. These incredibly delicious insects come out during the rainy season but can be stored for consumption during the dry season. Catching Ngumbi is a unique art, especially if you want to catch more than enough for the whole family. One needs to master how to catch these lazy insects, keeping in mind that you only have one season of rain to get these tasty crunchy proteins.
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Flying termite swarms mark the start of termite season. They are mainly attracted to light, which makes catching them in my community even more interesting because of our lack of electricity. Some community members use homemade lamps made from tins, while others trap the flying termites straight on the ant hill.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Hope Mawerenga
 
Recently there's been discussions on a controversial issue; a church in Malawi spoke strongly against polygamy. This did not sit well with the people in the part of Northern Malawi that I’m staying because it is their tradition to marry more than one wife. Some people agree with the idea of abolishing polygamy, but these are fewer than the people in support of it. A chief in the area even said the church could leave his land if they keep at it. Because most people here really respect what their chiefs say, people supported his proposition. 
 
One day I decided to have a  local chicken meal at a restaurant where I noticed two men inside seated together. I sat in the corner and ordered my food. I badly wanted rice with local chicken, but the two men had just ordered the last rice that was available. So, I settled for nsima. As I waited for my meal, four more men entered the restaurant and sat close to the other men. I can't really recall how it started, but I just heard one man say, "one wife is not enough to satisfy me, she gets tired and I need to relieve all this strength I have". Immediately I was interested, but also very uncomfortable in the restaurant. However, I was also hungry, so I sat and ate my nsima.
 
The friend of the first man who spoke refuted the statement and said, "that's a selfish mentality, do you always have strength for your woman or do you sometimes get tired and she understands?" Very quickly all the men got into a heated debate about whether it is justifiable for a man to have side pieces just because his woman is sometimes tired from all the work she has to do in the home. The first man insisted that sometimes you don't need to marry this second woman, but you can just call her up when you're really pressed. The five men disagreed quickly, and one man even gave an example of men who are rapists. He asked, "would you just have your way with a woman you are walking past just because you have that itch?" To my utter shock, the first man said yes.
 
After hearing that statement, I forgot my food and turned my full attention to these men.
 
His friends were just as shocked as I was and called him weak. One said, "only weak men go out to look for other women, it is only weak men who can't control their need for sex and such men do not deserve a wife to begin with." 
 
I couldn't join in the conversation, but I was so impressed at the five men who felt that it is disrespectful to leave your home and wife and go find another woman. The first man, after their long debate, looked ashamed that he was rebuked by his fellow friends in a restaurant. I can only hope he has a changed mentality due to this conversation. The risk he would put his wife, family, and himself in by having multiple partners is not worth it. 
 
I may never see those men again, but I was happy to be in that restaurant at that time and witness something I feel is so rare.