World Camp Club: Liwera

“The more we increase the active participation and partnership with young people, the better we serve them. … And the more comprehensively we work with them as service partners, the more we increase our public value to the entire community.”

- Carmen Martinez, U.S. Diplomat

In seeking the active participation of young people World Camp started a World Camp Club at each of the schools we visited this summer. World Camp Clubs are after-school groups that focus on civic engagement and improving community improvement.

Cyrus Jenda, beloved Field Staff and now World Camp Club Mentor, developed the idea for World Camp Clubs and created guidelines for each of our 11 partner primary schools in the Malikha Primary School Zone. Cyrus was instrumental in planning and carrying out World Camp’s first student activism follow-up project this summer.

Liwera Full Primary School was the first we visited during this year’s summer session, staying there from July 10^th through the 13^th. We were struck by the school’s warmness and desire to introduce us to Malawi. We were given sugar cane, taught to make nsima and relish, started a fire, saw our first Gule Wam Kulu (traditional dancers), received Chichewa names, played with our kids well into the dark, and truly felt like part of our host family.

Before leaving Liwera, we set up our second ever World Camp Club (the first was started at Mkhoma Full Primary School this January with hugely successful student-led reforestation projects). The school’s headmaster appointed a matron and patron of the club, and the student body was left with materials to create their own banner. And they surpassed all of our expectations with the end result!

Just two weeks later, in the end of July, we returned to Liwera to hold a quiz competition, challenge students to recall what they’d learned at camp, and dare them to apply what they’d learned to more challenging questions and topics.

The entire WC team was close to tears at the reception we got upon our arrival. The kids were cheering, dancing, jumping, yelling, waving. The Club did their school cheer and the enthusiasm during group songs was infectious. What was even more impressive, though, was the critical thinking and creative responses they provided during the actual quiz. Not only did the students remember how HIV affects the body and how to protect themselves, they knew how to care for someone living with HIV. Perhaps most importantly for a World Camp Club, they could articulate tangible differences they could make in their own community in the fight against HIV!

Zikomo Kwambiri Liwera World Camp Club!!

You impressed us all with your hard work, knowledge, activism, and dedication.
We can’t wait to work with you again!

From Brooklyn to Asheville :: meet Emily Stallings

At World Camp, we're passionate about reinventing development strategies through innovation in education. Our team is working every day to explore new strategies that will help communities in Malawi overcome issues surrounding poverty and disease. We have always been driven by a small, nimble team, and it's not uncommon for past volunteers to end up working with us in the field or as in this case, heading up our U.S. office.

Emily Stallings

She's been dreaming of joining a non-profit and applying her masters degree - now that's exactly what she'll be doing for us as our new Managing Director! Emily is a veteran when it comes to World Camp, first volunteering in Malawi in 2005 and later working as a Program Coordinator for our pilot programs in Honduras in 2008.

We're growing and exited to have a new addition to our already outstanding team.

Emily Stallings :: Managing Director

Tell us where you're from? 

"I'm from Ohio originally, then attended the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in Pittsburgh, PA. I studied International Development there. I just moved down here (Asheville, NC) from Brooklyn, NY."

How did you first hear about World Camp?

"I've been familiar with WC since 2004. I volunteered with WC during a January session in 2005. I had just graduated from undergrad and wanted a challenging and rewarding experience in a place unlike any where I'd ever been. I'd volunteered with a camp for children impacted by HIV/AIDS and was interested in continuing that sort of work so WC was a perfect fit!"

Where’s the coolest place you’ve ever traveled?

"Malawi is up there! But I also really loved Morocco and Cuba. I just got back from a trip to Greece that was wonderful!"

What’s your favorite Olympic sporting event to watch?

"I like swimming, diving and gymnastics. I didn't get to see that much of the Olympics this year, though."

What are you looking forward to most in Asheville?

"I am really excited about the job itself! But, I'm excited about trying new restaurants, finding new music spots, and playing in the mountains."

What are you going to miss the most about New York?

"I'm going to miss my friends the most. There is a lot to miss about New York, though! I will miss the museums and parks, music venues and never ending flow of acts coming through. There is also an endless array of restaurants and people - that's fun."

What do you like to do while you’re not in the office?

"I like to spend time with my friends and boyfriend. I like to enjoy a beer, knit, see live music, go on weekend trips to new places, eat and cook."

How would you like to see World Camp grow and evolve?

"I am excited to help WC continue to grow the new SchoolsWork programs - they are not directly related to the volunteer programs (though it is close to my heart!), but are more inline with my interests for sustainable development. I am hoping that my time in New York will help me lead WC in a way that's ahead of the curve on trends in programming and funding."

What is one fun/interesting fact about yourself?

"I've driven across the country 3 times and count Alaska, North Dakota and Rhode Island as the only states I have yet to visit."

We're always looking to welcome more incredibly talented people to get involved with our programs. If you want to volunteer in Malawi and help change the lives of thousands of people then World Camp is a great place to start - who knows, one day you might even work here!

in the field: last goodbyes

As our last week comes to a close there is an odd mix of emotions stirring in the World Camp house. It feels like the house itself is emitting an emotion of its own, as if it is sad to see us go yet it is still full of energy. The feeling that is the most prominent while everyone is rushing to pack their things and do last minute shopping is eerily similar to our first week in the house when everyone was in, trying to learn as much as they could while getting used to each other, the house, and the environment.  It almost seems as if we have come full circle, except instead of ten strangers trying to get to know each other it is ten close friends saying their last goodbyes to everything that only a short time ago was completely foreign. As a group, we have gone through more together in these four weeks than most friends do in years. Living in confined quarters for an extended period of time with nine people you have never met before is no easy task, now add homestays, teaching, and minibus rides into the mix.

I unfortunately did not book the same return flight as everyone else and am staying a day later. This resulted in a completely unexpected feeling as I watched a group that I have come to know and love leave as I return to an empty house. It was as if the house that just moments before had been filled with so much life was drained of it. The house was quite, startlingly quite. It felt almost unnatural. This only serves to amplify how great our time here in Malawi was. It serves as a reflection - time to think about all of our experiences that we have had together. I feel honored that I was able to participate in this wonderful program with nine phenomenal people. I will cherish the moments we have all had together for a lifetime and I do believe all of us will be lifelong friends.

I’m feeling magical!

- Maysam

in the field: Meet Layne!

Hi everyone! My name is Layne Schwab and I’m a World Camp intern hailing from
South Burlington, Vermont. I am a rising senior at Colby College in Waterville,
Maine with a double major in Government and Global Studies. I’m interested in
pursuing a career in international development and in the past have interned
with the International Disability and Development Consortium and the Women’s
Microfinance Initiative. I absolutely love exploring new places so I’ve been lucky
enough to have a year filled with traveling. I spent this past spring studying the
European Union in Brussels, Belgium. At Colby, I’m a member of the cross-country,
indoor, and outdoor track teams, and serve on the Student Advisory Board of the
Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement and as co-president of
Colby Social Entrepreneurs. I chose to intern with World Camp because I wanted
to learn more about this region of Africa and HIV/AIDS, and to try teaching. I’m so
happy to have spent the last few weeks in Malawi as an intern with World Camp; I
have had such an incredible experience so far and have met so many people that I
will never forget. Malawi truly deserves its title as the “Warm Heart of Africa.”

It’s amazing how fast time flies here. We spent last weekend at South Luwanga
National Park in Zambia camping with hippos and chasing leopards. No kidding!
Our safari trip managed to exceed my already VERY high expectations. We arrived
at the park Friday afternoon. We proceeded to pitch tents – a new skill for some
- while keeping an eye on the food we brought in case the dozens of baboons and
monkeys hanging around the campsite should try anything! Bright and early the
next morning we went on our first group ride in the park. It was an absolutely
beautiful morning despite a little wind. Before we had even arrived at the park,
we had the chance to see elephants and giraffes in the brush. Seeing a giraffe try to
gather his long, wobbly legs and try to break into a run was priceless. As soon as we
entered the park, we had our first lion sighting on the far side of the river. Later on
we also had the chance to see a warthog searching for some lady warthogs and to
stop our car among a heard of impalas who seemed to accept us. We took a break
at the river to drink coffee and tea and watch the sunrise amidst a lovely chorus
of hippo grunts and groans. My personal favorite part of this trip was watching a
leopard casually cracking a baboon skull with her teeth on a tree branch not all that
far above our car. The Saturday evening drive was also awesome. We had a driver
who was willing to go a bit off the road so we could get extremely close to groups of
giraffes and elephants from several angles.

Besides the two drives on Saturday, many of us chose to go on a second morning or
night drive on Sunday. Laura, Andrew, Wynndee, and Maysam all chose to go on
the Sunday morning drive and returned pumped about seeing two male elephants
bashing their tusks (helping each other with some strength training!). For both the
morning and night drives on Sunday we had a very detail-oriented driver Joseph,
who entertained us with fun facts about EVERYTHING that we saw (Did you know
that hyenas are terrible hunters? Or that hares eat their own feces? We didn’t
either). Andrew, Wynndee, Maysam, Windy, Karen, Laura, Donna, and I all went
on the Sunday night drive. I think we can agree that having a leopard crawl under

our car, posing with her head sticking out long enough for us to snap some pictures
before casually sauntering to the middle of the road to lie down in front of us, is an
experience they’ll we’ll forget.

We were fortunate enough to see every animal that we were hoping to see and from
much closer than we thought we would ever be to them. There really is no other
way to describe the experience than as once-in-a-lifetime. However, as much as I
loved Zambia, I was definitely excited to get started with our third group of learners
and to meet our latest homestay families back in Malawi!