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Zizwa Mwafulirwa, CorpsAfrica/Malawi Alum

3/29/2019

What made you apply to be a CorpsAfrica Volunteer?
I wanted to gain a better understanding of rural health needs and to give back to rural community because I was raised in rural village myself.

What is your biggest dream for your own life? For your country? For the world?
My life’s passion is to help build a strong and thriving healthcare system in Malawi. I would like to contribute towards health equity in Malawi by building a health system that responds to the health needs of all including those in rural areas. I also want to build networks of health providers connecting Malawi to the broader world so we in Malawi are not working alone and isolated from health providers elsewhere; I want to know how we might connect to services virtually and directly as partners in global health.

Success means... "we made it" and not "I made it."

What is one piece of advice you would give to incoming CorpsAfrica Volunteers?
To make most of their service. I took my service as a privilege and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve my country and also for my personal development. The more you commit yourself to service the more you gain.

What is a piece of wisdom or quote that inspires you?
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

Who is your role model and why?
Dr. Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners in Health. His dedication, integrity and commitment to service as a medical doctor is very inspiring.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
I'm a good cook and I coach a local soccer team in my village.

What is a favorite memory you have from your time as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer?
The members of the support group singing and dancing when World Connect awarded us a grant for the piggery farm project. The chairman of the support group walked to me and gave me a very tight hug.

What do you regard as the most beautiful word in your native language? What does it mean? Umoza means togetherness.

What's something you're most proud of accomplishing during your service?
My piggery farm project for the HIV support group which works to improve nutrition and bolster household income.

How has CorpsAfrica changed your life or perspective?
My experience with CorpsAfrica has inspired me to work hard for my people. I'm able to find simple and effective solutions to problems in my community by facilitating mindset change from a need-based to an asset-based approach.

CorpsAfrica is...a channel through which passionate African youth have an incredible opportunity to help combat poverty and empower communities in their country.

What are you working on now?
Upon returning to my village in August 2018, I created and manage two sports teams: a soccer team for boys and a netball team for girls. This helps to keep teens from engaging in risky behaviour and provides a healthy activity for youth and a great platform for me to promote safe sexual reproductive health and substance abuse prevention. I have also worked with my netball team on reusable menstrual pad making projects to promote menstrual hygiene in primary schools around my village. This helps to keep girls in school during the time that they have their menses.

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Mourad Abdennebi, CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteer

3/29/2019

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Mourad served in a small village located in the Azzaden Valley situated in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Read his exciting dialogue below!

What inspired you to first join CorpsAfrica?
“What inspired you to join CorpsAfrica?” is a question that everyone who joins CorpsAfrica will be asked from the day they first decide to apply and probably for the rest of their lives. For me, the inspiration began with my interest in development in general, and voluntary work in particular. During my undergraduate studies, I took a broad range of exciting courses, which related to culture and media to tackle the broader issues of international development as well as local development in Morocco. One of these courses, “Representation,” helped me to acquire a deeper understanding of certain significant concepts such as human rights, servant leadership, poverty, and cross-cultural communication. This track inspired me to pursue a career working in non-governmental organizations with a focus on these issues. When I graduated from my university, I thought that I would pursue studies at the graduate level to further enrich my academic profile; therefore, I was looking for an opportunity to apply for graduate school scholarships. I went to an American cultural center to inquire about graduate scholarship applications but found that the deadline had already passed. Before leaving the center, I walked around looking at brochures for other opportunities available for students and recent graduates. My eyes fell upon an opportunity for Moroccan young people to serve as volunteers. I read the pamphlet, and I instantly became fascinated with the idea of volunteering with CorpsAfrica.

This organization provides the opportunity for African young people, like myself, to volunteer in their own countries to help find solutions to poverty through working at the community level. By working directly with poverty-stricken communities, volunteers can assist in the search for solutions to a problem that the community has chosen. In my opinion, the concept of CorpsAfrica came to redefine the historical concept of development and volunteering, which is often associated with Western volunteers who come to African countries with little knowledge of the country, language or culture. However, to do justice to Africans, it is necessary that we find ways to reconcile our complicated history, widely characterized by imperialism and exploitation, with the necessity of the search for solutions to improve the futures of our countries. To do this, it is necessary to promote the independence of Africans who are, in reality, the ideal group to discover innovative solutions to the problems facing their countries.

I was fascinated by the idea and realized that this is in fact what I want to do. I want to volunteer and serve my country, develop myself and have an impact on my community.

What was/were the project(s) you worked on with your community?
After an extended period of community meetings and discussions, the village that I was stationed at decided that the issue of poor water quality and supply was the village’s top priority to solve. Therefore, CorpsAfrica collaborated with the members of the community as well as with some charitable organizations throughout Morocco to complete a project that would establish a new and more efficient water supply system in the village. With the help of CorpAfrica and other NGO’s, we were able to provide the villagers with new pipes as well as a new water infrastructure. The villagers contributed and did the labor work and installed the new water infrastructure with the help of a water expert, which solved the issue of high pressure and limited access to water. Now as a second phase of the project we want to find a solution to the limestone that the water contains and provide the villagers with water that is clean and filtered. Therefore, I am working with People to People water committee students at the Casablanca American School and an organization that is called H2OpenDoors to collaborate on the second phase of the project which is finding a viable solution to the issue of limestone.

You can also watch this infield documentary about the water issue in the village for more information.

What part of your service did you enjoy most?
I enjoyed teaching the kids and conducting different fun activities and workshops with them. Even though things were hard at the beginning because there is no school in the village, I just gathered students in a small house; brought some chairs and a board and we start the fun lesson. They were all smart and eager to learn. I remember even when sometimes it was snowing in the village; they would come and knock on my door asking me if we will have a lesson today or if we will play soccer in the valley. After spending some time with the young students, I realized that using teaching methods that encouraged the students to have fun and release their energy would be the most productive learning environment. Through using the Total Physical Response to teach vocabulary, the students were able to scream, jump, sing and dance inside the classroom while learning action vocabulary. What is fascinating is that the students never forgot the vocabulary that they have learned. Teaching with kids in the village taught me to be more flexible, and to think quickly and creatively and this part of my service that I will cherish throughout my entire life.

What is your favorite memory from your service?
In fact, they were many favorite memories, but since I spent a lot of time with children in my village, I remembered the memory of the first day in which snow fell in the village. I gathered kids around me and taught them how to build a snowman. We worked on it all together, and divided tasks; some brought shovels, some went looking a carrot for the nose and walnuts for the eyes. A lot of villagers stopped to observe what we did! The children and I had never built anything with snow and were excited to find out how our snowman would look. I rolled a big ball of snow for the head, and one of the children stuck the carrot and walnuts to make the face and wrapped a red scarf around his neck. I felt amazing moments of joy with the kids. I felt happy when I saw all of them wanting to take pictures with the snowman, talking to him, kissing him, and dancing around him.

What do you miss the most about living in your host site?
I miss everything about living in my host site especially the villagers. The villagers, younger or older, men or women, were like a family to me. They embraced me and welcomed me to their small little world. I developed an excellent relationship with them based on trust, love and mutual respect. They helped me throughout my service since the first day I came until the last one. I experienced challenging days as well as good days, but they were on my side in both ways. Integrating with my community wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. Despite the obstacle of language at first, despite the rain and the cold weather, the villagers’ helpful attitudes and kindness made me feel warm and cozy inside! I feel like I belong to the community and that I became one of them. I learned something from every interaction and had profound realization. Everyone was my teacher, from the younger kids to the elderly. It feels good to belong to this small community of people who genuinely care about each other’s well-being and the development of their village. I will also miss my loving host family that took good care of me and offered me a comfortable place. I will miss going down to the river playing music, soccer or just having fun activities with the kids. I will miss those moments when I used to hike up the mountains and to contemplate about its beauty, and that of the valley. I will miss taking the truck on the twisted roads to go to the weekly souk. I will miss meeting other volunteers and having a free range chicken tour (Read my blog to know more). I will miss every single thing about my site and service, and I will try to come back whenever it is possible.

How has your CorpsAfrica experience changed your personal perspective?
I believe that volunteering shapes a person's heart, mind and soul completely. The chance to share the humble resources I possessed with the community which I eventually considered my home was an incomparable opportunity. By simply opening your eyes and heart to the culture of a new place, you can have an entirely beneficial, life-changing experience.

I also started counting my blessings twice. The lack of resources and the poverty lead me to be more thankful and grateful of what I had, and the struggling and fighting of others around me taught me to stay positive and motivated to keep going. I find myself a more understanding, compassionate, and empathetic person simply by having contributed my time and hard work for the benefit of others. I realized that sharing the struggles of those in need will help a person become less judgmental towards others.

I appreciated experiencing a different way of life. Living a completely new and different way of life helped me to get out of my comfort zone, get to know people from all over the region (and globe), learn a new local language and become a more adaptable person who is able to overcome challenges much more easily.

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Nadia Kamra, CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteer

3/29/2019

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What inspired you to first join CorpsAfrica?
I was first attracted to the idea of trying a new experience far away from my family and my town. When I started reading the blogs of former CorpsAfrica volunteers, I realized how priceless their experience was to each one of them. Aside from my passion for volunteerism and giving back to the community, I was also eager to change myself and inspire people around me.

What was/were the project(s) you worked on with your community?
My first activity was organizing soccer matches for the kids and participating during the weekend. Although this activity seemed very simple at first, I quickly realized that as I got to know the kids, I needed to figure out ways to make soccer a learning tool for them, and this was particularly valuable since most of them seemed to lack communication, discipline, and teamwork skills. I later found that soccer was a game that brought them together, and it was so good to think of it as a communicative mean. Watching them apologizing to each other, working in teams, or simply giving a hand when someone falls was enough proof for me to stay motivated.

The second activity was directed to women. Illiteracy is one of the main dominant issues in my site especially amongst women. Initially, it was not easy for me to get their approval and their involvement in such a conservative community that didn’t encourage that. So I came up with the idea of health care awareness sessions with the aim of raising awareness about sicknesses and hygiene, and encouraging them to ask “embarrassing” questions regarding these matters. After guaranteeing their attendance through these sessions, I proposed the illiteracy program. There were 19 women who began attending, 6 girls among them who dropped out of school. I never imagined this will make the huge impact that it did for them and for me as well; they were ambitious, motivated learners and the women eventually surpassed the insecurities they recognized.

The last project was the renovation of a preschool that was built by former CorpsAfrica Volunteer, Hiba Tazi, and the community. To guarantee the sustainability of the project, we hired a new preschool teacher for the kids for the new school year. In addition, we worked on renovating the classroom from the inside due to the humidity and mold that has pasted on the walls and thus made the classroom an unhealthy environment for the students. Moreover, the classroom didn’t look too inviting, so we decided to implement a few changes by removing the paint off the four concrete walls and bathroom and repainting them again using thick humidity-resistant paint, before painting colorful murals and cartoons on the walls. After, we gathered and encouraged the kids in the village to participate in a cleaning campaign around the school.
I also took part of other small activities with kids, such as homework tutoring, cleaning campaigns around the school, and different craft workshops.

What part of your service did you enjoy most?
I have enjoyed every moment of my service, even the sad ones. Each day at my site thought me to be more patient, strong, satisfied, and innovative. Looking back, I reminisce on my first few days at my site, when I spent many nights crying, but later realized that that was a first step to strength myself. Lastly, I enjoyed all the challenges and scary moments, including driving up the dangerous road up the village, which helped me get better at facing my fears.

What is your favorite memory from your service?
The best memory that I still hold dearly is looking into the eyes of the preschool children who race to the school every morning to participate in our daily tasks. We would find them ready and eagerly waiting for us to open the door and help us in painting and such activities. It was a real motivation for me to give all I have in making the preschool look great for the little students.

What will you miss the most from living in your host site?
I will miss the kids mostly - that jovial time we spent, creating teams, playing soccer and chatting with each other by the river. I will miss hiking the road that lead to my house that taught me how to be patient and strong. I will miss my host family, particularly my host mom and her playful complains and gossip. Lastly, I will miss the women in my site and chatting with the older people.

How has your CorpsAfrica experience changed your personal perspective?
I believe that volunteering shapes a person's heart, mind and soul completely. The chance to share the humble resources I possessed with the community which I eventually considered my home was an incomparable opportunity. By simply opening your eyes and heart to the culture of a new place, you can have an entirely beneficial, life changing experience.

I also started counting my blessings twice. The lack of resources and the poverty lead me to be more thankful and grateful of what I had, and the struggling and fighting of others around me taught me to stay positive and motivated to keep going.

I became more understanding. I found myself a more understanding, compassionate, and empathetic person simply by having contributed my time and hard work for the benefit of others. I realized that sharing the struggles of those in need will help a person become less judgmental towards others.

I appreciated experiencing a different way of life. Living a completely new and different way of life helped me to get out of my comfort zone, get to know people from all over the region (and globe), learn a new local language and become a more adaptable person who is able to overcome challenges much more easily.

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Emas Potolani, CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer

3/29/2019

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What inspired you to first join CorpsAfrica?
To me CorpsAfrica never existed. I never knew of CorpsAfrica before, never heard of it until one day a former classmate shared a link to CorpsAfrica’s website where there was a call for applications. I didn’t even bother to open the link or read what it was about. A week later, I was browsing some stuff on the web and I bumped into the CorpsAfrica call for applications for Malawi Volunteers and without a second thought, I ignored it once more. It was all forgotten and since I didn’t open the link I never knew what the organization was all about. The following week, a close friend forwarded an email from Liz Fanning highlighting an opportunity for Malawian young leaders to apply to be in the first cohort of CorpsAfrica in Malawi. This time I gave it shot and I went on to read more on the CorpsAfrica webpage where I understood it in depth. I was unhappy with myself for a second because I was ignoring something I have always desired to do; to serve my country, my community and contribute to developing the lives of my own people. What caught my attention was CorpsAfrica’s unique model; placing young leaders in high-poverty communities within their own countries, plus the idea of locals helping locals. CorpsAfrica for me was the rejected stone that later became the capstone that would build me professionally and help me become who I am today. I knew I had found the right platform to focus on a community and invest my time, knowledge, skills and my life in helping my fellow Malawians. By joining CorpsAfrica, I was convinced I was part of a team committed to selflessly contributing to the transformation of people’s lives in my country.

What was/were the project(s) you worked on with your community?
The Human Centered Design training that we received during the Pre Service Training helped me to entirely focus on the people in my host community. When I joined the Paterson/ Chitete Community, I had no idea of what projects I would end up doing. Observing community needs was tedious work and what was more challenging was narrowing the needs as we prioritized them together with my community before deciding on actual projects to be done. Below are some of the projects that I managed to do in my community:

Stove Project: In this project I worked with women in my community and together we learned and developed two prototypes for two kinds of improved stoves; the stationed and movable stoves. Before embarking on this project, I never had any prior knowledge or skills whatsoever in stove production but challenged myself to learn and practice with the women in my community. Today, I can confidently tell you that I know how to make stoves, train others who later become trainers themselves, and the experience has been amazing. It is fulfilling to see women in my community make stoves and use them in their kitchens and sell them so they earn a little something for themselves and families. These stoves have a lot of advantages for the environment since they consume less firewood and keep and retain heat as they are being used-meaning the women spend less time to cook food, produce less smoke, creating a cleaner environment for women to cook their food. This means that there’s a considerable reduction in the number of trees cut for cooking - resulting in protecting the environment.
Water Provision and Sanitation Project: During one of the meetings I had with the community members, one of the main issues that people talked about was the issue of lack of clean water in one part of the community. This side of my community, people didn’t have any source of clean and safe water nearby, forcing them to be drinking from the nearest river, the Shire River. I remember during my first visit to the households residing in this part of the community, I heard touching stories of how some people were attacked and devoured by crocodiles during some water drawing routines at the river.

We agreed to embark on this project although my community thought that it will take ages for this project to be a success, they knew we needed a lot of finances to make it come to pass. I am glad to say that for the very first time in the lives of the people of the Paterson village residing near the Shire River, they stopped drinking from the unsafe and dangerous Shire River and are now drawing clean water from a borehole, which we finished last December 2016. Today, the people have clean water, and worry no more about water borne diseases, not to speak of the deadly crocodile attacks.

These are my main projects that I can share with you, there are also a lot of trainings that I conducted with leaders in my community among many other things.

What part of your service did you enjoy most?
I enjoyed interacting and teaching kids at Chitete Primary School. I enjoyed teaching them how to read and do mathematics. It was heartbreaking to see how many kids failed to read and write despite their age and class as compared to their equals in other parts of the country, especially urban schools. Teaching these kids read and learn to speak English felt awesome.

What do you miss the most about living in your host site?
I will miss my kids at Chitete Primary School. I can tell you that I spent more time with these kids than any other group of people in my community - no wonder I decided to adopt the kids in the class I was teaching. The other things I will miss are the meals I used to eat in my community and the chickens the people used to give me occasionally. I will surely miss my host community, but I will be coming to see them. I am their son and I will be there to walk and work with them wherever necessary.

How has your CorpsAfrica experience changed your personal perspective?
CorpsAfrica gave me an opportunity to serve my country and my community; for this I am forever grateful. This experience has challenged my perspective about life in general. There are things we take for granted in this life, yet there are people elsewhere suffering and dying for the very things we take for granted in our lives. There’s a lot of work to do in our communities and instead of waiting for others to come and develop our communities, ourselves as locals have a candid obligation to develop our very communities - it begins with us. The little efforts we can collectively put together towards improving lives in these communities will result into much greater positive impacts we can never imagine.

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Zizwa Mwafulirwa, CorpsAfrica/Malawi Alum

Mourad Abdennebi, CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteer

Nadia Kamra, CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteer

Emas Potolani, CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer

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