Exchanging knowledge and wisdom at the VSL women’s group.

By Aisha Balde

An 8:30am office start on a Wednesday morning may seem like a push for most people in the UK, but here in Malawi this can be easily achieved with a lie-in and a reading session leisurely done beforehand.  Most days I awake happily by 5:50am to the sound of pots clanging, the radio on full blast, and there is a coal stove that’s been burning for over an hour. Life begins early here in Dedza, so setting off from home at 8am after a hearty breakfast of chips, eggs and avocado is made easier by the light that accompanies you from a morning of music, conversation and laughter.

Today, we plan to visit the VSL women’s group in Ntakataka. The volunteers come to the office one by one, all hoping that they are not the last to arrive, for a fate riddled in embarrassment awaits the last person; they must wear the chicken hat for the rest of the day. Accidentally, this ritual has meant that we are almost always on time. This has given me some insight into how embarrassment can really work as motivation (noted for any future project management ventures).

The white van awaits in the corner of the office compound, with just enough seats for each team member. We bundle into the van one by one and no later than the door clangs shut, the driver reverses and speeds straight out of the gates – we drive through Dedza and then begin to navigate a path up and over a mountain. The driver moves from the left lane to the right lane with an intuition and respect for the mountain’s path. A wisdom which has the flavour of many of the interactions I have seen between people in Dedza and the natural world.

We arrive in Ntakataka, after we painted the mountain with the scents of traditional Malawian music, cheesy 80s hits and afro-house beats. We stop by the market and buy some snacks, namely biscuits, crisps, peanuts and bananas before finally arriving at the VSL women’s group. The women are sat on mats woven from the bark of trees they harvested from the forest. They are sat in a crescent shape with legs wrapped in coloured cloth extended before them. They welcome us with smiles and handshakes, beckoning us to sit with them.

The women sit patiently awaiting the knowledge International service volunteers and the CYECE partner organisation have brought them on how to start and sustain businesses. We begin by demonstrating how to make long-lasting charcoal using water, charcoal and sand. We then go on to demonstrate how to make cow-pea balls (delicious!) made of a bean called cow-peas, onion, garlic, paprika, chilli and eggs. The ingredients are all pounded in an Mtondo (which looks like a very big pestle and mortar) and fried until it is the consistency of burgers. After we share the cow-pea burgers, a CYECE team member leads a session on how these delicious burgers can be turned into a profitable business product. He notes the price of each ingredient and facilitates the women in calculating basic profit margins from selling the burgers in the local market.

As the women are sat, taking in the ideas about how they can improve their livelihood through small businesses, I myself felt thirsty. At this moment I remembered a conversation I had with my host mother, Hazel, she said that we are all illiterate in different ways – that I myself may be literate in English but I am illiterate in agriculture, something which 80% of Malawians are literate in.

I see around me how these women and their families have used their knowledge of agriculture to create homes, mats and nutrition. I find myself thirsting for the wisdom that means these women wake with the sun each morning to create their 6ams abundant in laughter, music and community. I thirst for the wisdom of our driver who can navigate the mountain with an intuition which I cannot help but trust. I thirst for the knowledge of these female creators who grow maize, sweet potatoes, guavas, and bananas and from these plants create meals for their families or sell them and use the money to buy their children’s school clothes.

I look at these creators and hope that the knowledge International service volunteers and CYECE have brought will be combined and mixed with their wisdom to create something that we have never dreamed it would or could create.

As I sit with the women of the VSL group, with my legs wrapped in a brown cloth dotted with red and blue, I contemplate the knowledge and wisdom I have already gained and am still to gain from the people I meet here in this district of Dedza, Malawi.

Week 1

Our first week was very rewarding but challenging. The mornings were spent with the women's groups and the afternoon were spent delivering presentations/workshops in primary and secondary schools.

Our aim in the morning was to share sustainable business ideas with local business women. in order to enable them to make more profitable and long-lasting businesses.

 We were able to do this so effectively due to the fast rapport that was built between both us the ICS volunteers and the individuals in the women's groups.  Thus we were able to share a plethora of ideas from  making plantain crisps to using candle wax in polish. It was also great to see the women sharing ideas with one another to improve the sustainability of each other's businesses.

Following from the sessions we as the I CS volunteers came up with new and innovative ideas to go to the women in the women's groups.

We aim to produce practical models and representations of the ideas that we came up with in the session.  We are going to make a book with instructions on how to make all of the various Products.

Although the overall or session in the women's group went well we did find a number of issues to address. Some of which included the language barrier, which hindered the fluidness of the session, and the ICS volunteers didn't feel like they could participate fully because they weren't sure what was being said.

To address this issue we, as a group decided that  each ICV volunteer would sit next to an  ICS volunteer in order to translate what was being said throughout the sessions. So all volunteers could contribute to the session.


Following on from this in the afternoons we went to primary and secondary schools to teach them about important issues such as self awareness, sexual health, drugs and substance misuse and bullying.

Each of the sessions were planned to be one hour long  and the aim was to inform, educate and entertain the children so they were fully receptive to the information that was being given to them.
I thought it was really outstanding that we all delivered our presentations so confidently, taking into account the fact that none of us had had prior experience of public speaking. The issues were more evident at the start of the week because we were all new to the process, however I saw a drastic change and improvement to all of our deliveries by the end of the first week.

 Some of the issues in the first week were coming up with enough material to fill a one hour presentation. Another issue was keeping the students engaged and interactive throughout the session.

The  last issue was there was not enough translations between ICV  volunteer and ICS volunteer, so both could not work together as a cohesive unit. Which made the session stilted at times.

That said, by the end of the week these issues were less evident due to the volunteers becoming more comfortable and confident public speakers. The volunteer is felt much better after the first session due to the constructive criticism or advice that was given to improve their performance is to make the sessions more engaging for the students.

All in all it was a great week it allowed us to develop a range of transferable skill such as problem solving and team working.  Although there were issue we were all in agreement of constructive ways to overcome and  resolve them.

As above, so below: Dissertation, Mandela fever and conspiring to wage nonviolence

By Asher Gammon

I have a chapter to bring to a close between now and my graduation. A final task which lies ahead. Just talking of it summons apprehension. Dissertation. The sounds of the word is slightly sinister. Dissertation. As if a snake would be best suit to say it. Dissertation. Satire aside however; I am also looking forward to spending time reading and writing about; human rights, food security and social justice movements. In the corners of peaceful, antiquated British libraries. Dissertation. In charming British parks with the most hospitable British climate. Dissertation. Drinking tea on smooth running, commuter trains through that nice picture of Britain.

I must confess that I, a young man, considered of half Euro descent, who ecently I have been falling up a path of informal research, and my praxis is gradually solidifyingstruggles to express himself in the proper English tongue, studies the legacies of colonialism, wrongful wars (all wars) and has generally been uninterested in British culture; is both shocked and healed to realise that he sincerely longs for that quaint Little Britain and his tranquil Yorkshire, from his temporary home in the Warm Heart of Africa.

Recently I have been falling up a path of informal research, and my praxis is gradually solidifying within (if solidifying is that which this praxis thing does?). However, recently listening to an audio recording of ‘A Long Walk to Freedom’ (Mandela’s autobiography), I prefer the term “political awakening” rather than praxis. I should confess I am in the midst of a sort of Mandela complex and have caught the Mandela fever, as have many other young people before me. His autobiography has given me to a new role model and inspiration, for Mandela is a person who never let bureaucracy put him on hold, and chose pacifism over violence. Mandela!

Whilst I’m thinking about how cultural identities inform praxis, I am also thinking how awakening politically can further enhance cultural identity. For instance, I have begun conducting informal research about the perspectives and understandings of empowerment, simultaneously I am being charged by the power of other people and my own identity is transformed.

To be even more explicit about the transformation; as my Mandela Complex develops, I mean praxis, I have found myself identifying as first and foremost an activist, secondarily a volunteer here. Whilst my placement here will end one day, and I shall be released back to the antiquated and imaginary rose gardens of Little Britain, the activist part of me will remain. That is if, my activism is earthed by ethical reasoning, then it will always be retained in my consciousness; I am an activist, and a happy one.

This does not to subtract from how much I value and respect my placement here. For I sincerely believe that civil societies need individuals who are first and foremost activists and are also students or workers secondarily. Whilst I have previously described myself as a student activist, I foresee this placement will leave me an activist student. This is more than just semantics, or semantics are more than we think, for it changes my very nature to even to write of this.

When I report back indirectly to DFiD (and other stakeholders directly) about the placement; I’ll have the opportunity to tell them how my placement, has transformed me into an empowered activist student, as opposed to the student activist I once was. I'll have to explain about how this is a very different thing indeed, and if anyone has doubts I'll start talking about Nelson Mandela, then everyone will applaud.

How I prioritise my identity, will be in the best interest of the donors if their best interest is that of the oppressed or marginalised (but I shall not call them poor) communities we are empowering and also defending. Furthermore, it is in the best interest for all if activists are both nonviolent and compassionate throughout their action and research.

Coincidentally, 'activist' is a title I would have previously denied myself because of a lack of theoretical understanding of social causes, and a concern about what impression it would have on potential future employers and peers (like DFiD).

At the same time, I have not been absence from activism and at times, I have been found very close to the heart of some campaigns. I just couldn't stay away. True however, I felt out of place in such central positions, since I was unconscious of the extent of ethical grounds and praxis behind movements; I would be unconfident in an argument trying to defend the causes if challenged. Although since I've started studying again, I have begun to understand in more depth those ethical grounds. However I still had to come here to Malawi; to know first-hand what it is that informs the ethics of social activists? (For those of you who get me; I will now be able to grow into a spiral of investigation; what comes first the ethics or the oppression?).

Now, I feel ready to pick up where I left off and start waging nonviolence, this time more consciously. Any institution, group or corporation which defends or writes the global constitution which enshrines a global apartheid for all; I will challenge with words at least, nonviolent action where necessary, and summon the feeling of empathy from within them in which they will metaphorically choke, which can emerge from even the most myopic, lead hardened hearts! That'll be a last resort.

Becoming a big sister for the first time

By Becca Morrison

A number of weeks have passed since we jumped on a flight from Heathrow to Lilongwe, and how so many things have changed. Now separated from the Salima team, we find ourselves slowly integrating into the Malawian culture. Something that’s so close but so far apart from the western ways we are used to. For me, trying to fit into my host home has been a personal struggle, one that others don’t exactly understand.

My host family consists of a single working woman named Hazel and her adopted 4-month-old daughter Zoyolo. The baby was abandoned by her mother at 3 days old in the hospital, Hazel could never have a child of her own so took Zoyolo in as her own. Since she works in Lilongwe Monday to Friday, she has 3 house maids that are relatives who cook, clean and help out.

My host sister on her 4 month birthday

My daily life consists of having my breakfast prepared for me every morning, when I return from work there is a cup of tea waiting and then dinner is served with one place mat for me. The first struggle is how comfortable this way of living is compared to our friends in Salima as well as half of Malawians, living under the poverty line.

How can I live like this when the children I’m going to visit share beds with their siblings and barely eat enough to sustain them till morning?

Overtime I’ve come to realise is this just the way that development works but if we all learn to live with it, then nothing changes. My host mother is very clued into the development system as she currently works for an NGO planting trees in Malawi to help agriculture. She’s trying to make a difference to a very misunderstood country, as Malawi is often portrayed as one of the poorest countries. Despite this, they have a never-ending amount of motivation and hope as well as passion to change their country.

Miso Isabel, our neighbour, helping with the washing

The culture shock takes time to really settle in but once you look at the differences between Malawi and the UK, it’s really quite strange. Whilst they are way more welcoming than many people in the UK, the addition of white skin in their community is difficult to comprehend. We know this from the song the kids sing at the house next door as we walk past, “azungu-bye” which literally translates to “white people bye”. However, it’s become a nice welcome home every lunch time, you can’t be mad at children for being intrigued by the colour of my skin.

The walk home every day after work

Five weeks in and it’s getting easier to live this way after I expressed my concerns to my host mother. She replied very quickly by saying that by me living here, I am making a difference to each of them. Each of the maids is being paid extra to cater for me every day, which means they can save more money to buy a house of their own. I am also teaching Vitu some more English, so he can excel at school and get a good job in the future. Lastly, as Hazel reminds me constantly, I have given Zoyolo the sister she needs and not to mention the sister I have always wanted. I came to Malawi to experience culture and to make a difference but I’ll be leaving with a second family.



Follow @cyece.dedza on Instagram for more updates!

Team S.H.E

Our cohort - Team S.H.E (Sexual Health Empowerment) - arrived in February, and are working with CYECE in Dedza. Our project concerns sexual & reproductive health rights, as well as empowering girls and women.

We started the project with two team leaders, Asher and Comfort, however Comfort left to pursue a job in Zomba. Our new team leader is a previous volunteer, Jack, from Lilongwe.

Jack and Asher on Dedza mountain

Asher is a postgraduate student from Yorkshire; he has decided to suspend his studies in Peace and Global Development to have this experience working in the development field. In accompaniment to his studies, Asher has done a lot of youth work and community work in the UK and abroad. This has included sports coaching, educational projects and campaigns for social justice. His hobbies include reading, writing and photography. His ideal career after graduating will be working in a job which involved documenting, written journalism and helping others, preferably for an INGO. For Asher, his placement as a Team Leader is an opportunity to help marginalised communities, contextualise his studies and practice the art of documenting through film photography, writing and listening to others.

Becca is a UKV on a gap year after finishing A-levels in Religious Studies and Business Studies. She is a loud character sometimes, who loves trying new things and travelling. This project is exciting to her as she is passionate about gender rights and women’s empowerment. One thing she wish she had brought is a hairbrush, as it’s notoriously hard to find one in the Malawian market shops compared to the excess of Crocs.

Sam is another of the UKV's, also taking a gap year before going to study mathematics at university. He wanted to do something more meaningful than a generic South East Asian backpacking trip. Sam is nervous regarding his lack of background knowledge regarding the work, however he is more so excited by the opportunity to learn. He is also very interested in linguistics and is excelling at the local language; Chichewa. His communication with the host family is regularly accompanied by them laughing at his mispronunciations and accent, however they are enjoying his tenacity to learn!

Emily is a UKV from Leeds and has previously studied History. Her first graduate job was in finance. Since, she has sought a career change which led her towards apply for an ICS placement. 

Emily is happy with life in Dedza, and accounts this to the warm welcome of her host family. She has bonded with them over learning about how to cook; the Malawian way, which prescribes a portion size larger than which we are familiarised with in the UK! She is aiming to build her confidence, and develop her leadership approach which she can use in a better suited career for herself after the placement.

Honor is a UKV from Saltburn, in North East England. Like many other volunteers in the team, she has chosen to undertake this placement during a year out. In September, she will begin studying Politics at London School of Economics. With previous experience in UK Politics, community-based volunteering and campaigning, Honor hopes that she will be able to learn more about global affairs, and a human-rights based approach to development. Her initial thoughts of Malawi and the first few weeks here have been varied; there are fewer cultural differences than expected, however, many aspects of life, such as the food, have still come as a shock to her.

Sungani is an ICV and has a degree in Journalism from the Malawi Institute. She has worked for Love FM Radio station as a reporter and presenter from January 2017, until she applied for ICS. She is excited to build a strong inter-cultural team, and expects that together we can contribute to tackling the challenges that the communities are facing. Sungani is excited to develop the knowledge about the communities and cultures involved in the project.

Selina, Loyce, Becca and Asher 

Loyce is an ICV from Blantyre. She studied medical laboratory sciences at University and is a mother to 2 young children. She accredits her love for working with children from being a mother. By the end of the volunteer ICS programme, she is hoping to have more knowledge on SRHR and the capacity to demonstrate to others how to be a positive active citizen.

Maximo is one of our ICV’s, born in Blantyre but raised in Lilongwe. He has a degree in Accountancy from a university in Lilongwe. Maximo is fluent in English due to his father studying in the UK, which comes in useful in translating for the UKV’s. From the first day, he realised that as young citizens we are one in the same; we listen to the same music, like similar food and all sleep pretty late. One thing is clear though and that is the fact we all want to help in the development of Malawi. Hopefully through the program we can work towards achieving the common goal.

Selina is a UKV with a degree in Social Work. Before starting the project, she was working in a retail outlet and also doing some volunteering with children. Africa is a place in which she has wanted to see since she was a little child, and she has now realised that it is different to the way it is shown on the media. She enjoys the cooler weather in Dedza and still managed to get an amazing tan! Selina has had a few phobias to overcome in the past week such as the state of the toilets and the amount of cockroaches. One main thing Selina would like to gain from this experience is to be able to familiarise herself with people from different walks of life. 

Edward is an ICV, and has just finished an advanced diploma in ICT and is a freelancing computer technician. He joined the ICS Volunteer project as a chance to reach out to communities who don’t know about the importance of SRHR and at the same time building a portfolio for the job market. As a tech personnel working in the tech industry he believes awareness on health related issues together with technology education will secure Malawian youth against sexual transmitted diseases and joblessness.

Scarlette is a UKV and has just finished studying psychology, geography and English last year. She decided to apply for ICS to further her knowledge and understand the challenges faced by people in other countries, on a first person basis. After this, she hopes to pursue a career in human rights after attending university to do a human rights law degree. At the moment, she is struggling to fit into the Malawian way of life as the food is very different to her vegetarian diet. She wishes she brought more sun cream as well as British tea bags! However she is keeping an open mind on how the next 3 months can go.

Follow @cyece.dedza on Instagram for more updates!

Asher, Sam, Maxi and Scarlette facilitating an anti-bullying session

International Women's Day 2018: what does it mean to be a woman in Malawi?

By Honor Wilkinson-Bell

As a woman from the UK, International Women’s Day for me involves celebrating the efforts that have been made towards achieving equality, and raising awareness of the prevailing challenges for women in the UK today. In Malawi, however, there is less to be celebrated. Whilst women have achieved some level of equality with the introduction of various government policies designed to encourage representation and participation, there are still several problems, which leave many women unable to achieve their full potential.

Girls are particularly at risk of being isolated in many communities. Traditional attitudes, and a lack of education surrounding sexual health, have led to a high level of school drop outs, leaving many girls without access to education. According to MISC 2006, around 67% of women in Malawi are literate, compared with 77% of men. There is also a lack of role models within Malawian society, for example in Parliament, just 32 members, out of 193, are female. School environments can fail to be conducive for many girls, and a lack of accessibility to health facilities and support can leave girls vulnerable to teenage pregancy, STIs and child marriage.

I wanted to find out more about their personal experiences of these challenges, and if these estimations of life as a woman in Malawi are true. First of all, I asked my counterpart, Loyce, who fought to stay in education after she had her first child, aged 19. We also spent the day at a Girls Only Club in Golomoti, and had the opportunity to speak to one woman, Bertha*, 18, who had a 1 year old child, about the challenges they face and how they see the future.

Their opinions differ on the matter of opportunities for women in Malawi. Whilst Loyce feels there are many opportunities as a woman, many of the women at the Girls Only Club stated the employment openings for them were informal, and mainly involved manual labour. This is a worrying prospect, as it is an unsustainable form of income and many work in harmful environments, such as on tobacco farms. What’s more, many professional workplaces mostly employ men, and fail to represent women. According to Loyce, what prevents women being represented is that the jobs tend to be inaccessible to women. This is an issue which can be changed, provided girls are encouraged to stay in education and commit to their futures.

On education, there is a general consensus that it is extremely important to all girls that they receive adequate teaching, and are encouraged to stay in school. Women at the Girls Only Club explained that the barriers preventing many from accessing education include; poverty, which disproportionately affects women; the exhaustion faced by many children as they are forced to work out of school hours; the school environment failing to be conducive. Some of the girls at the club complained that their school failed to provide sufficient sanitation facilities for girls. Loyce eloquently stressed the importance of participation in schools as “Education is more like my life. With education I can do what I want, and won’t have to rely on a man”.

Despite the fact that community by-laws have been introduced to combat the exploitation of girls and women in Malawi, in some cases, these have not been followed. Women at the Girls Only Club suggested that these laws failed to protect many girls, and cultural practices (such as Girls Camps, where young girls are sent to learn about sexual health, but are actually sexually exploited by older men) still exist. There has, according to one member of the Girls Only Club, been some effort made by community leaders to ensure girls return to school after pregnancies, but the voices of women, particularly younger women and survivors, need to be heard more, in order to effect local legislative change.

For all the challenges here in Malawi, women and girls remain refreshingly positive about the future. Equipped with existing role models of their own, these young women want to take equality a step further. Loyce looks up to her late Mother, who was the first Radiographer in Malawi. She says it is up to everyone in society, especially women, to challenge cultural norms and act as role models for future generations. Women at the Girls Only Club want to achieve higher literacy rates and improve education for girls, as well as see more women working in offices, particularly as CEOs. For Bertha, her role model is a woman from her village, Linda*, who also went through a pregnancy during her teenage years, and is now a school teacher. Through the support of CYECE, Bertha has been encouraged to continue education and will return to school when her child is 3. Raising her child, with the support of her parents, is important in the here and now, but she hopes to become a nurse, and then go on to be a role model for other girls her age.

*Names have been changed.

From ruins to riches: transforming a burnt down school with Inspire Malawi

Volunteering as a concept seems like a package deal. You get to go abroad, spending weeks, months and sometimes years in hot countries working with all types of new people to do 'good'. However, it's not without flaws. Countless NGOs working in some of the poorest countries across the globe fly out volunteers in the hope of doing 'good' but often they fail to cater to the needs of the communities they work in. Building hospitals or schools that become unwanted or unsustainable as the cost to run the services are just too high. The previous team visited a village where a hospital had been built 15 years ago - and never opened. At the time of their visit, a maternity wing was being added to the same hospital. 

Our team artist, Keri, drawing and painting pictures from a Malawian textbook on a classroom wall.
Photo: Meka Beresford

International Servics keeps sustainability at the heart of its projects and recognises the importance of adapting to the needs of the communities it works in. In Dedza, the team have been working on designing sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) and anti-bullying sessions after the last cohort identified the issues local children faced through a baseline survey. We have been delivering these sessions in schools and Molima Family Home to equip young children with knowledge about their human rights and empowering them to complete their education.

Despite some initial delays in starting our planned activities, we identified and researched other opportunities to help in the community to fill our time. That's where Inspire Malawi enters. Similarly to International Service, the 2010 registered charity listens to the needs of the communities it works in and places great emphasis on sustainability to ensure that it's work can continue long after the charity has left. Founded by Michelle Rowe, Inspire Malawi strives to build schools in areas where children cannot access state schools without having to walk great distances and in a survey we carried out in our local community recently, we identified that this is common. The previous team in Dedza had also identified that a major reason why children drop out of school in the area surveyed was due to a 'lack of interest' - almost 20% in fact. You only have to see the inside of some Malawian schools to understand why and the teachers here have a daily struggle of trying to engage scores of children in an environment that is not very engaging at all. At Banda Hill, Inspire Malawi are working hard to change that.

  

Michelle Rowe, Inspire Malawi
Photo: Meka Beresford

We joined Michelle and her team to help paint the inside of Banda Hill, a school located in Dedza that reached out to Inspire Malawi after the wooden classrooms they built in 2014 were burnt down by vandals. Locals had built and registered the school as local children had to walk for over an hour to reach the closest school. 

A student looks on whilst Jason, Dan and Archie discuss painting strategy...
Photo: Meka Beresford

"There was no roof, the walls were charred black and the children were sitting on rocks," Michelle said of the first time she visited the school. "It was very upsetting."

Banda Hill Primary School Classroom
Photo: Meka Beresford

Since that first visit, Michelle has worked with various donors and fundraised to completely transform the school which now stands as two proud blocks. Inside the classes Michelle has plastered the walls with educational images from textbooks that teach about various topics from agriculture to the digestive system. 

A classroom is certainly more engaging once the Inspire Malawi team and locals work their magic.
Photo: Meka Beresford

The 34-year-old isn't just in the business of building classrooms! She has worked with Banda Hill to bring better sanitary facilities to help girls stay in school during menstruation, built a "tippy tap" to promote hand washing and combat illness, and developed a perma-culture garden - one of her proudest ventures yet.

"Food security here is a big problem and Malawians grow a lot of maize but maize is not endemic to Malawi and they struggle," Michelle said. "So diversifying their food source and also creating better, more modern growing techniques that work with the environment was important."

The crops that are grown in the garden are managed by the students as part of their curriculum agriculture lessons. Whatever is grown is then sold by the children to teach entrepreneur skills. This money is subsequently used to buy books, pens, pencils and chalk.

The gardens are a new direction for the charity, but have proved more than successful as Michelle explained that she has seen similar methods being adopted by the families of students.

She said: "It makes me very happy, as I walk around this area I see that people have recreated these ideas. Little by little we're having an impact." She moved to Malawi permanently in 2016 to work at an International school in Lilongwe and hopes that the second class block we helped to paint will be open by January. However, she still has plans to continue working with Banda Hill to build a library and house hundreds of donated books that the school has received because of Inspire Malawi.

"We work hand in hand with the community and this community have been very motivated. I think it's an exciting environment to be in," she said.

Photo: Meka Beresford

Michelle explained that since starting work at Banda Hill the number of students has increased and for her, that's what drives her work - to make sure every child has a good education.

"The enrolment has actually risen since we've built these classrooms which is good. The teachers are more inspired to work harder. I think in Malawi unless you have a good education it doesn't lead to much," she added.

Written by Meka Beresford