After my first few weeks in Malawi, I took a step back to look at how I was spending my days. I'm enjoying the work I'm doing at UNC Project, but I realized just how much time I was spending on my computer. Between sending emails, making spreadsheets and analyzing data, a lot of my time was being spent at a desk staring at the same screen I've stared at for the past four years. I didn't come to Malawi to just sit at UNC Project headquarters, though.
After doing some googling, I came across Urunji Child-Care Trust, and NGO based in Lilongwe. After exploring their website and meeting with the staff, it seemed like a great fit for me - an organization that would give me the opportunity to connect more with Malawian communities. In particular, Urunji works with children, but they also do a lot of work with female empowerment. Between child health and women's issues, you essentially have many of my interests in a nutshell...
For the past several weeks, I've been volunteering with Urunji one morning each week. Around 8:30, I head out in their car with two Malawian women and an Indian woman who has just moved to Lilongwe to work for Urunji. The drive down to Nathanje, a village south of Lilongwe, takes about 45 minutes down M1, the major highway that runs the length of Malawi.
Each time we've gone, we've started by dropping off bags of food at the local school. Urunji has feeding programs set up at various schools around Lilongwe to ensure that the students get at least one good meal each school day. One day, we also dropped off notebooks and pencils for the youngest group, which was just starting classes.
While the children are at school, the staff of Urunji works with the women in the village on various skills and a savings program. Urunji provides micro loans to the women, who have formed dozens of small groups to keep each other accountable. The first morning, Mary Charles taught us how to make soap out of crushed egg shells and how to make beads out of old magazines. Having a pair of earrings made out of those kinds of beads, myself, it was pretty cool to learn how to make them along with the women. For one necklace made out of the beads, the women can make 1,500 kwacha, or roughly $3.
After doing some googling, I came across Urunji Child-Care Trust, and NGO based in Lilongwe. After exploring their website and meeting with the staff, it seemed like a great fit for me - an organization that would give me the opportunity to connect more with Malawian communities. In particular, Urunji works with children, but they also do a lot of work with female empowerment. Between child health and women's issues, you essentially have many of my interests in a nutshell...
For the past several weeks, I've been volunteering with Urunji one morning each week. Around 8:30, I head out in their car with two Malawian women and an Indian woman who has just moved to Lilongwe to work for Urunji. The drive down to Nathanje, a village south of Lilongwe, takes about 45 minutes down M1, the major highway that runs the length of Malawi.
Each time we've gone, we've started by dropping off bags of food at the local school. Urunji has feeding programs set up at various schools around Lilongwe to ensure that the students get at least one good meal each school day. One day, we also dropped off notebooks and pencils for the youngest group, which was just starting classes.
While the children are at school, the staff of Urunji works with the women in the village on various skills and a savings program. Urunji provides micro loans to the women, who have formed dozens of small groups to keep each other accountable. The first morning, Mary Charles taught us how to make soap out of crushed egg shells and how to make beads out of old magazines. Having a pair of earrings made out of those kinds of beads, myself, it was pretty cool to learn how to make them along with the women. For one necklace made out of the beads, the women can make 1,500 kwacha, or roughly $3.
For the next week, the staff had asked me to prepare a presentation on HIV prevention. For 30 minutes, I discussed the importance of safe sex and frequent testing with the women, who had many good questions to ask afterwards. It was a pretty powerful experience for me to get to discuss an issue that is so important to me personally and to the women of the village. I may have to work a bit longer on my work for UNC Project on the days that I volunteer, but it's well worth it to get to learn from members of the local community.