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

​The Journey Begins, Walk With Me!

8/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Chauncey Simba - from November 2017 

I arrived at Pre-Service Training in Dedza together with four other Trainees from Lilongwe about a month ago. I was so excited about changing my life and I believed this opportunity to be a Volunteer came timely. I thought to myself that this was a chance for me to prove to myself how helpful I could be and was an opportunity to change the life of someone in a rural community. 
 
Now Pre-Service Training is over. Volunteers had a great time together, spent a month learning everything like how life will be in their host communities. We made good relationships and we believed we were a great team.
Picture
​After our Swear-In Ceremony, Volunteers had to leave for their perspective sites. The journey begins now, work awaits in the field, and it was time to experience the real world. I was excited and at the same time afraid of what the community would be like - and the fact that I couldn't sleep the night before I left for my site made it worse. I was thinking and imaging how my community would be, how they would treat me, and how they would work with me. 
 
I arrived at my site together with fellow Mzimba Volunteers - Hope and Khwima - with excitement, a good feeling, and nothing but love for my new community. We were warmly welcomed by the chiefs, the school teachers and our host families. It was an exciting moment and I felt to myself that I was indeed the young man this community has been waiting for.
Picture
A few days later, after I was settled, it was time for me to face reality. I had never been to this side of the country and actually stay here, had never spoken the Chitumbuka language before, and I had no option but learn the language. I became to feel overwhelmed, upset, and irritated much of my first days in my new community; I had no idea it would be this hard. What made it hard was the language, I only knew how to greet someone, and I was embarrassed to talk to people around. This was an unfamiliar environment for me where language ruled.
 
Well, things changed dramatically for me when one of my landlord's sons showed up on my door one day and greeted me with a language I grew up with (Chichewa). He came to check if I needed anything. And yes, this was my opportunity. He was a guy who could help me learn the language and my way around here. I found a best friend that day, and although I had felt frustrated for a couple of days this day I felt so excited and hopeful. 
​
Since meeting my landlord’s son I have felt at home and I love that I'm learning the language. It is making my work easier, and I'm so grateful for that because now I can understand and speak a little bit. The journey has just begun, walk with me!
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

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    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