Volunteer Voices

Explore stories of service, connection, and transformation directly from CorpsAfrica Volunteers across the continent.

Featured Volunteer Voices

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First Month in the North!

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Hope Matilda Mawerenga I am Hope Matilda Mawerenga, and welcome to my journey of volunteerism as a CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer for the next year. When I received my site announcement, I...

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A Young Man with a Heart for Development

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Chancy Simba Life in the community has begun. Every day seems to be a learning day and yes learning never stops. Most Volunteers would agree that the second month of...

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‘A Girl Has No Name’

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Ruth Chamangwana I have always believed that I am a strong person who can endure anything life brings my way, but on November 15th tables turned. For the first time...

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Discovering New Pearls

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Wezi Kayira The 15th of November marked a whole new beginning for me. This new chapter involved leaving all the things that were so close to my heart. Family, electricity,...

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On A Stranger’s Land- Kalolini Wakwa Kaluza-Mchinji

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Caroline Luka Imagine waking up in a place where no one knows who you are or your reasons for being there. That tight knot in your stomach, sweaty palms, and...

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The Journey Begins, Walk with Me!

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Chancy Simba 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...

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A Stop to Water Wars; Ending Water Woes in Chitete

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Emas Potolani Today the 22nd of March is World Water Day. The day was proposed and established by the United Nations during one of its Conferences on Environment and Development...

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Crossing the Finish Line

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Vanessa Chimutu When I first came to my site in February 2016, I was nervous, taking myself for my family and friends. It was so hard in the beginning to...

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I Was Here

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Lucy Chihana I always wanted to Volunteer. Leave home, be on my own, meet new people, and learn a new language. It was in September 2015 when I saw the...

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Goodbye

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Lusekelo Simwela The hills are alive again. It is green everywhere, from the endless fields of maize to the miombo trees covering the slopes, to the grass both long and...

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Final Hurrah

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Limbani Kumanga Reposted from Tobiyasi in Chiradzulu “There is no forgiveness when one who claims a superiority falls below the standard” – Frantz Fanon “We would be out of our...

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What’s Cheaper, Fishing Rods or Fish?

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Tusayiwe Sikwese My last activity as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer was to train the girls in my community in how to make reusable sanitary pads. This was well after I had...

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Full Memories

Written by CorpsAfrica/Senegal Volunteer Mr. Hameth Ndoye Cabrousse, Sénégal 2016- 2017 Good things take time. Great things take a lot of time. The best things take the longest time. It took one month to train...

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Solar Installation Training

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Sarah Kazira This year’s Christmas season was a bit different from all other years. I spent most of the season at a training with Age Africa and it was as...

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The Final Stage

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Aissatu Pongolani It has been my awesome pleasure and great time living in the Kadewere community and working with community members. It seemed like I was going on a very...

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Chickens for Better Life!

Written by CorpsAfrica/Senegal Exchange Volunteer Mr. Adnane Sounni Nowadays many philanthropists and people interested in the development discuss how raising chicken can be a solution for people who live on less than $ 2 a...

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Little Children Need Love Too

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Vanessa Chimutu Now that I have about a month to finish my service as a Volunteer with CorpsAfrica, I sat down and started to reflect on everything that has happened...

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War on Illiteracy Part 2

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Limbani Kumanga Me: Uli ndi zaka zingati ndipo uli standard chani? (How old are you and what grade are you?) Him: Ndili ndi zaka 14 ndipo ndili mu standard 5....

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Stove Revolution in Chitete

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Emas Potolani In June this year, I embarked on a project to empower the women of my community in a socioeconomic development endeavor hoping to transform as many lives of...

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International Volunteers Day

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Sarah Kazira December 5th is International Volunteers Day, and this year’s theme was “Global Applause: Give Volunteers a Hand”. This year’s International Volunteers Day was eye-opening for me as I...

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How and Why

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Assiatu Pongolani The title above, itself, gives a person thousands and thousands of questions on how and why things happen or have been done, especially when we are talking of...

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So Little Time So Much To Do

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Tusayiwe Sikwese I must admit, it was quite a transition from the All-Country-Conference in Morocco (I will not dwell on this as a lot has already been said by my...

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A Bachelor

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Lusekelo Simwela The name Lusekelo is hard to pronounce. So her choice of names for me was either, ‘inu'(you) or ‘abatchala’ (bachelor). I particularly hated the latter, but as she...

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When Every Summer Day is a Celebration Day…

Written by CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteer Ms. Hafssa Ait Tabamoute People on my site “Tiouchi” had a very busy and outstanding summer time. It was a very special part of the year for locals to celebrate their...

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More Than Just a Desks Project

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Deborah Kamanga Before joining CorpsAfrica, I always had several questions in my mind about the prevalence of poverty in Malawi. I still do. Having gone through the pre-service training and...

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The Main Project

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Limbani Kumanga “Usually (villagers) know exactly what the (stranger) wants to hear them say, and they say it in the exact manner that the (stranger) expects them to say it....

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Sometimes Things Just Don’t Work Out

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Lucy Chihana I think we all want to make a difference somehow, we all want to be remembered for something once we are gone. Gone not just because of death...

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A Little Adventure in the High Atlas

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Vanessa Chimutu Never would I have thought that I would hike the High Atlas mountains of Morocco, but thanks to the All County Conference held in Morocco this happened. Firstly,...

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A Cross-Country Community-Led Sanitation Project Blog

Written by CorpsAfrica Volunteers Ms. Ndeye Awa Gueye (Senegal), Mr. Lahcen Chanchaf (Morocco), and Mr. Emas Potolani (Malawi) Hello Dear Readers, This is our first cross-country blog done by three CorpsAfrica Volunteers, Emas Potolani (Malawi),...

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Three Ways to Have a Mango

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Sarah Kazira Mango season has just begun all over Malawi and it couldn’t have come at a better time. My community was blessed with a lot of mango trees, all...

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Citizen Engagement of Youth: CorpsAfrica Encourages the Young People of Ndieulbert and Plants Fruit Trees in the Village

Written by CorpsAfrica/Senegal Volunteer Mr. Boubacar Diallo From Friday, September 16 to Sunday 18, the village youth grouped as part of the l’Association Socio-culturelle pour l’Union et la Solidarité des Jeunes de Ndieulbert (ASCUS-JN) to...

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Filling My Time

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Deborah Kamanga Samuel Johnson once said, “Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent.” For the past two...

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Home Is Where The Heart Is

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Limbani Kumanga “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” -Ibn Battuta As I insinuated in my previous post, the entire 15-member CorpsAfrica Malawi team left...

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As I Volunteer

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Emas Potolani “Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion toward men and toward objective things” Albert Einstein...

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One Love for “Nsima”

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Lucy Chihana I have always been slim and tiny. I don’t remember at any point in my life weighing much or being tall. Am just me. I am not exactly...

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Summer is Here, But Where is My Mphasa?

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Limbani Kumanga “We are not here to take part. We are here to take over” -Conor McGregor ​I am writing this piece while seated on the veranda of my tiny...

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