“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many lives…” – Clarence, It’s A Wonderful Life
Picture this. You and your buddy are off to a sunny, new, lakeshore destination. Endless beaches with glorious white sand. The whole lot. It doesn’t stop there though. You get to live in a pretty big 4 bedroom house that’s just a 5 minute walk from your white beach haven. And work? Well, you get to change the lives of people in ways they will never forget, in just your vest, shorts and a pretty cool pair of flip-flops. Sounds like the life, right?....right?
The people at my site are a very proud group of Malawians, as are any people from the village. Proud of their heritage, proud of their language, proud of their culture, and the list goes on and on. As much as this is extremely admirable, it does pose a challenge or two being an outsider coming in. Because of their level of pride, trying to educate them on changing their basic way of living for the betterment of their lives is definitely not easy. But, is life ever easy? The challenge to help is huge but so is the desire, in both the volunteer (me) and the community.
With this being said, the community is looking forward to the start of our project. The few people that have committed themselves are showing that they want to be the change they can be. Very few things in the life of a CorpsAfrica Volunteer bring as much joy as hard-working community members. The community and I know that with the dedication promised, it will be the success they deserve.