Staff Story: Lessons in International Business from 12 Year Old Girls

Nikhil, Field Assistant, with Hinal and
friends from RBRC. 

One of my fondest memories of WC 2008 is the time I was translating with Natasha and Katey for an all girls class. We were heading into the sex education and empowerment curriculum portions on Day 2. There had never been a male translator in a female empowerment group before. We all were a little apprehensive about the potential awkwardness that might arise during the discussion because I was translating. It was a crucial first point of contact with 12 year old girls, who were on the cusp of womanhood. 

But the Coordinators, Katey and Price, decided that we should not change anything and move ahead with confidence. The girls had been so receptive to me throughout the camp. Honestly I was a little apprehensive myself, studying in an all boys school till high school. Both Katey and Natasha were awesome. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that, not only were we able to provide a lot of good information to the girls, but we were bombarded with questions and we had to actually disappoint some of the girls, as we could not answer all their questions because of lack of time.

The group was great and the girls bonded quickly. Their presentation to the community the next day even centered on being a strong system of support for one another. 

When I look back in retrospect I realize its not the language you speak or the color of your skin but a positive approach and body language that helps in building trust, be it personal of professional meetings. I try to still learn from the experience. Little did I know it would be so helpful in my international business studies and doing business, globally.

Nikhil, Natasha (volunteer), and Katy with empowerment group
at RBRC Girls Secondary School.

The girls felt completely comfortable and loved working
with Nikhil, WC Field Assistant. 

Coordinator Katy with girls at presentations.

Submitted by: Nikhil Agarwal, Field Assistant, India 2008

*Part II in our Staff series. Check back for more reflections and updates from our in-country staff! Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org 

A World Camp Thanksgiving

There's a lot to be grateful for this holiday season...

I am obviously very grateful for all of the translators giving us the gift of communication! I think mostly I’m grateful for the entire experience. I learned more in the 6 weeks with WC than I have ever learned or will ever learn in a classroom so I am more than grateful for all of the invaluable experiences and lessons learned. :)

-Mollie Hunter, Malawi 2010 volunteer
I am grateful for Nali, Africa's Hottest Peri-Peri sauce and for it's namesake, my beautiful puppy.
-Pete Goff, Malawi volunteer 2004, Y2Y Coordinator, Board Member


“I am thankful for the sweet shades Kendall-Madam shared with me during our adventurous car rides to camp.”
-Prerna Arora, India 2010 Field Assistant


I am thankful for my fellow World Camp volunteers in India and Malawi, who helped me make sense of my own experience teaching and traveling through their thoughts, stories, and reflections.
-Sylvia Mendez, India 2008 & Malawi 2008 volunteer


I'm grateful for the incredible people I met daily in Malawi, be it the World Camp staff who treated me as family from day one, or the numerous courageous Malawians who shared their lives and their stories to mere strangers.  I'm grateful for everything.
-Jon Haas, World Camp friend


I'm grateful for all spontaneous dancing and singing circles at the schools!
-Gretchen Visser, Malawi 2009 volunteer


Thankful for the experience of being part of a female empowerment group and for how what I learned from a group of 12 year old girls has helped my work in  international business.
-Nikhil Agarwal, India 2008 Field Assistant


I’m thankful for the world view World Camp gave me, as well as the discussions and debates our volunteer group had about what it really means to ‘help.’ And specifically, for an interesting conversation Baker Henson initiated at an orphan care center regarding these issues.

-Caitlin Steiger, Malawi 2005 volunteer

For Chris Gondwe’s enthusiasm for camp on days he’s not working. Jay Brollier’s strength and trust during his final empowerment group. Knowing that, how one person makes someone feel has an impact, by the way all Malawi talks about Mary Walker. The aburdity/ awesomeness of singing the Banana Song with 200 people. The Lion Game (especially Andrew Beckman & Bishakha Shome). African skies. John’s curry. Ngoni’s facial haircuts. Chai stands and bright colors.... Most of all I am grateful for the people who have come into my life, challenging me to keep moving and making me laugh on even the worst of days.

-Katy Lackey, Malawi 2005 volunteer, India & Malawi Coordinator


I am grateful for the first day we went in to Chakhala, Dowa. I had never been with World Camp before and wasn't quite sure what it is they do. As soon as we starting flinging the ball on the parachute and singing songs I felt a grin stretching toward the back of my head. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun...oh yea the last time I was in camp. When I was 10. It felt so good to go back to camp again.
-Andrew Finn Magill, World Camp friend


I am thankful for spending time in Malawi the year before becoming a parent. It was great perspective of how resilient and creative children are and how they don't need all that STUFF. I am also thankful for having the opportunity to look into John Chizimba's eyes and know deep in my heart that he knows God and to feel his comfort and peace in that knowledge.
-Catherine Scantilin, Malawi Coordinator, Board Member


I am thankful for Cyrus saving the day when someone drove into our bus, for Jaren's oh so fine chocolate chip banana muffins, for the most amazing safari trip, and for Chickabachi's wisdom.
-Elizabeth Smith, Malawi 2010 volunteer


I am thankful for meeting some on the most incredible human beings on this earth, who inspire me to do better everyday.
-Amie Garrett, Malawi 2009 volunteer

Blessings. (Photo by: Katie Sacca)

I have a picture hanging up on my wall that I took during my first home-stay in Malawi when I was a volunteer. I see it pretty much every day, and every day it brings me back to the moment that I took it.  I was documenting a very energetic early morning session of the banana song (led by my homestay buddy Charlotte Castle) at our homestay family's house when I looked over and saw one of our students from class, Blessings, sitting away from the other kids. Blessings was sitting by himself, wearing his red AIDS ribbon and focusing intently on his World Camp homework that we had assigned to him the day before. In that moment, I realized just how important it is for kids to be empowered and educated about AIDS, and I won’t ever forget it. I’m thankful for Blessings, who made me realize what a difference one person can make.
-Katie Sacca, Malawi 2007 volunteer, Malawi Coordinator

While contemplating what I’m thankful for this holiday season, I can’t help but reminisce about the warm heart.  Although I am most certainly thankful for friends and family here in the states (not to mention turkey, no power outages, and a wardrobe other than khaki skirts & WC tees), Malawi is on my mind often these days, and I remember all the wonderful things I am missing; the things that became part of my daily routine and I am ashamed to say I may have taken for granted, i.e. the things I am thankful for the most this Thanksgiving (in no particular order):

• John Chizimba's cooking (bet you saw that one coming)
• Camera chargers left at the WC house (so that I may document safari again and again)
• The women at Total, who always manage to remember my name. And the fact that I owe them a bottle.
• Field staff, and their many Facebook requests…
• Fellow coordinators that put up with my incessant eating, music playing, and at times even dancing
• Fanta floats
• DENNIS! (and Ngoni, Mr. Vito, and all of the staff – mostly the amayis faces when I try to make nsima)… “sure.”
• Volunteer squeals the first time they see animals on safari. Even if it just another darn monkey (I will admit I do NOT miss them)
• Huts. And a stomach that can handle it.
• Being appreciated.
• The WC founders.  Where would we all be without you?
•  Laughs, health, and the ABC clinic dealing with all of our ailments
• Did I mention John Chizimba?

-Rachel Dudasik, Malawi 2009 volunteer, Malawi Coordinator

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at World Camp!!

Staff Story: Reflections on a Summer in India

Working as a Field Assistant for World Camp has been the experience of a lifetime! It was a collection of teaching, managing, leading, learning and most of all, serving humankind. 

Kendall Strautman, volunteer, and Prerna Arora, field
assistant, lead the Human Knot at
 PTC Teacher's Training College. 

As I begin to recollect the times spent with my wonderful, naughty co-ordinators, and sweet, innocent kids, I fall short of words to describe the amazing experiences we had! One particular picture that can never go off my mind was the first school we went to - Vishwabharti. We were there for two days and towards the end of camp, while we waved the kids bye, this one girl came forward and gave me a peck on the cheek. I was amazed; I never knew I'd ever bond with some stranger in just a couple of hours! It was truly touching. 

I really like the way World Camp is creating awareness of issues like AIDS and environmental concerns, and at a level where it is required the most. Most of all its amazingly beautiful how each co-ordinator puts forward their ideas in a different language and is still able to get the kids to learn. Not to forget the wonderful lunches and gatherings we had with our co-ordinators and the celebrations of their birthdays. 


I had a great time and I truly miss each one! Katy, Kendall, Rina, Sadie and Amanda - you have been great. I've had a wonderfull time with each one of you and thank you sooo much for the wonderful card you guys made. I will preserve it forever! Wishing a very good luck to all my co-ordinators for their future endeavors and a big thumbs up to World Camp and all its doings. I really wish to work with World Camp again soon.

The WC India 2010 crew! (from back left): Prachee Shah, Kendall Strautman, Amanda Waldrop,
Deepak Gohel, Prerna Arora, Sadie McCleary, Rina Kojima, Katy Lackey, Naini Chokshi, and Manali Shah

Submitted by: Prerna Arora, Field Assistant, India 2010


*Part I in our Staff series. Check back for more reflections and updates from our in-country staff! Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org 

A Volunteer's Story: One in Five

These faces represent the children of Malawi, children who are living in one of the poorest nations of Africa. One in five Malawians will have contracted HIV by the time they reach adulthood — if something doesn’t change. One in five sounds like a lot, but when you begin to put faces with the numbers, your perception of the statistic changes.With faces, just one feels like a lot; just one is too many. One in five is incomprehensible.

In Summer 2005, I spent ten weeks doing HIV/AIDS and environmental education in Malawi through a program as we all know to be, World Camp. My hope was that I might help my students avoid becoming one of the statistics. I left for Malawi wanting to experience a part of Africa, learn about public health, and give what I could of myself to the struggle against theHIV/AIDS pandemic. In high school I had raised money and awareness for an organization for children in Memphis infected with HIV/AIDS. That summer I went to Malawi ready to take a different angle on the issue and work for prevention of transmission.

Malawi has one of the highest HIV prevale

nce rates in the world. Close to one million people in Malawi are living with HIV/AIDS. Rather than discouraging me, these facts motivated me to work even harder. Every day, when I was teaching, I put everything I had into it. These faces were looking up at me, and I knew that if I could educate them about HIV, then I would be giving them information that could save their lives. Every day the number rang in my head, and I would think that one-fifth of my class would contract HIV by the time they reached adulthood. While I was teaching the children, they also were teaching me.

It wasn’t until I returned home that I even began realizing how much my experience in Malawi taught me. It is one thing to watch the news and see famine and poverty or to learn about the conditions in developing nations in a college class. It is completely and utterly different to witness it yourself, to know that the child you hold in your arms is among the poorest children of the world. Teaching these children allowed me to learn where they were coming from, what misconceptions they held about HIV, and what the situation there is truly like, not just what I see on the news or learn about in class.

Before I went to Malawi, the HIV/AIDS problem in Africa was not a concrete thing to me. Everyone knows that it is a huge problem, but being in Malawi and seeing things first hand gave me an understanding that I could never have attained otherwise. Now, when I think of HIV/AIDS in Africa, I think of the peoplein Malawi, of the children I played with. I remember the children in each of these pictures. Before I went to Malawi, HIV/AIDS in Africa didn’t have any faces; or, rather, it had too many faces to comprehend at once. The issue is now a tangible thing to me. I understand it, and I feel its consequences even more deeply than I did before I went. The interest I’ve had in fighting HIV/AIDS since I was in high school was multiplied a million times over during my time in Malawi. I returned to the United States a stronger, more educated person. I returned with a renewed vision of my passion, and with the faces of the children ingrained in my memory. These faces are my inspiration.

Catilin Steiger, volunteer, with Frank the Tank, Fatsima, and others from Chisomo Street Shelter in Lilongwe, Malawi

Submitted by: Caitlin Steiger, Volunteer-Malawi 2005

**Part VI in a series of reflections on how we internalize what we learn abroad into who we are back home. Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org orkaty@worldcampforkids.org. Articles, thoughts, poems, quotes, pictures, etc. are welcome!*

90% of all children affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty receive support from Community Based Organizations.

It is hard to believe that this will be one of our final field updates before we say goodbye to everyone at Mchezi and begin our journey home. As you read these final notes we urge you to consider the significance of our work and the necessity for supporting World Camp's initiatives to support CBO efforts to launch sustainable and effective responses to community needs. Many CBOs, like Mchezi, operate on extremely limited funds, little or no training and rely on volunteer efforts. Consider that these groups are a child's greatest source of support and their meager resources are being exhausted. World Camp is working to create sustainable solutions that will enable groups like Mchezi CBO to succeed on their own and provide the services their communities need.

Since the beginning of our time here, the two OVC coordinators, Austin and William, have always wanted to take us deep into Mchezi to visit a few of the nursery schools they have started. Today was that day and with over 2,000 TOM’s shoes still left to distribute we brought along a few boxes. Just after the cock-a-doodles ended and the sun was high enough to burn off Darren’s skin, we headed out on a 5 km (felt like15) walk to the North.

As we neared the first nursery school (mind you, there was no building, just a patch of dirt), we heard what could have been mistaken for an American nursery school: songs in English about the days of the week, months of the year, alphabet and body parts. It was very encouraging to see such young children learning English. We were given seats of honor, literally in a bush (only shade available) and were entertained by the 20 singing students and five volunteers before we distributed the shoes.

We said our goodbyes and headed towards the next school. Again, as we came into earshot we were greeted with the same songs, a few more students, a few more volunteers, and the village headman. Here too, we were treated like royalty and given comfortable chairs in the shade. This nursery school was a bit nicer: it was under a large and shady tree. They also had a portable chalkboard. After some brief introductions, we distributed the shoes and then watched the children eat porridge with their fingers while we (minus Molly because she’s “allergic) munched on some peanuts from the Chief’s garden.

A loooooonnnggg walk back home in the heat of the day produced back sweat like whoa and a terrible sunburn on every uncovered inch of Darren’s body. Nap time!

Class resumed today with a very thought-provoking conversation regarding the financial situation MCBO is facing as previous grants have grown exhausted.

Currently, MCBO has two offices. One is the headquarters near our house where goods are stored, vocational skills are taught, and OVC activities are held. The other office is 2 km away and is solely used for electricity. The majority of the costs for this office have been funded by an organization called Firelight. Now, MCBO may lose the satellite (electricity) office due to lack of funds. Therefore, we have proposed to outfit the headquarters with solar power, eliminating monthly utility costs and creating a more permanent office. We outlined a grant proposal that could be sent to a number of different organizations seeking help.

The reality of the hardships at Mchezi are played out every day in communities all across Malawi. We have seen impoverished communities, like Mchezi, organizing to fight for their future, and the power of their spirit is worth leveraging. It is easy to identify Malawi with its struggles while overlooking the countless strengths. We have seen firsthand with World Camp an opportunity to share in the astounding work that is being done at the community level in Mchezi and beyond.

As we say goodbye to our new friends we would like to applaud their courage to provide the services their community needs and hope that more people take notice of initiatives that will help strengthen the support for community based organizations that in turn provide the sustainable solutions to building healthier communities.

Tsalani Bwino! (stay well)

A volunteer's story: On Reaction, Discovery and Personal Evolution

In January 2006 I participated in World Camp, Malawi. Sandwiched between two trying semesters of Organic Chemistry at Middlebury College, a January term spent away from Vermont’s winter, had a remarkable impact on me. Allow me to share with you three specific examples:

1) A profound emotional reaction provoked

Recently I ran across an email I wrote to a friend about a month after finishing the Malawi session. Its reflections seem to capture the deep impact of my time in Africa.

"...So I have been having a hard time hopping on the focus train for my orgo exam. I just couldn't find the motivation. Tonight I watched The Constant Gardner though. As the children ran towards the car screaming “wazungu” and giving thumbs up, nostalgia overtook me...knowing the faces of the children on the screen, remembering those same big eyes and then watching them be denied proper medical attention...is the strongest illustration of why simply slipping back into our comfortable lives in the United States is unjustifiable.

On its own the movie presents a powerful message that needs to be told...it seems impossible to not feel emotions towards the situation. Alongside relevant personal experiencee, it resonates even deeper. When you know those children- “ring worm eye”, “home girl”, “hanging butt boy”- when you remember their genuine bliss in life and appreciation of what little they have, it is impossible to not imagine them as the victims- eventually suffering or dying as a result of the economically driven greed that is the western world.

It breaks my heart. And despite the requests by my friends to "go out ‘cause its a Friday night" I can't muster up the justification to simply push aside the first real opportunity in which I have felt a natural reflection on my time in Africa.”

2) Unknown skill sets uncovered

Although I was initially inspired to work with World Camp because of the clinical relevance of HIV/AIDS, the experience afforded me an opportunity to take on novel roles and employ more diverse skill set. As an intern with World Camp I was a: teacher, leader, friend and team member. I had to follow rules and structure, yet be creative. I had to perform small tasks and large, from packing supply bins to curriculum development. I had to constantly be surrounded by our work and my teammates, yet find ways for personal reflection. I had to live up to the long-standing World Camp reputation, but also help in creating a new legacy of outreach initiatives. I discovered that these experiences served me well when I began work at The Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC. I joined the company as chief of staff in a department conducting analyses and research required to develop strategic advice for hospitals. From here I became Manager of The Expert Center, where I managed all the research and expertise that the Advisory Board had acquired over the past thirty years. I supervised a team of research associates and the processes of connecting hospital executives with content experts. This position enabled me to have a direct impact on the organizational health of hospitals, and at the same time, employ and further cultivate the analytical, leadership, and team-based skills that World Camp first illuminated.

3) My definition of the “good physician” evolves

After two wonderful years in the professional world I decided to finally pursue my dream of becoming a physician. My experience at World Camp greatly influenced my applications and is still with me as I continue to chug through medical school in Maine. World Camp taught me that the role of health teacher and mentor to patients is intrinsic to a physician’s success. Despite the hurdles of language barriers and unconventional classrooms, the innate curiosity and interest in understanding tactics for prevention displayed by my students confirmed the power of accessible education in contributing to effective health care. Daily the medical school experience molds the physician I am becoming. In these moments, my time at World Camp persists as a primary influence in the type of physician I aspire to be - a physician who works with patients to make their health relatable and less daunting, and through the power of understanding, engages them in their own health maintenance.

*********************************************************************************

Overall, World Camp is an organization that I would recommend to anyone who is looking to build strong relationships with inspiring people, challenge their cultural experiences, learn to appreciate the benefits of prevention through education, build their own character and find that the most rewarding way to travel is to impress oneself in the community and culture.

My time at World Camp touched me personally and has prepared me for my time in corporate life and now for years of medical experiences yet to come.

Submitted by: Suvi Neukam, Volunteer - Malawi 2006

**Part V in a series of reflections on how we internalize what we learn abroad into who we are back home. Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org. Articles, thoughts, poems, quotes, pictures, etc. are welcome!*

A Volunteer's Story: Fight for every Malawian child that risks losing their happiness and hope.

Children have no idea how beautiful they are, or how hopeful. You do not see poverty living through their eyes, nor the struggle – all you can see is happiness. These children have no reason to be happy; they are malnourished, dehydrated, uneducated, and living in a country swarmed with disease and poverty. Everyday they live a struggle that few of us can even imagine, or dream to even bare ourselves. And yet, these children, they don’t ever give up. They walk miles to school, they help their parents on the farm, and they take care of their brothers and sisters. They don’t have playgrounds, real schools, or places for them to hangout and relax. They usually sleep in one room on the floor in their house with everyone else in their family, sometimes even the chickens. They sing, they dance, and radiate joy off of themselves. This is something that has always haunted me, how are the children of the 'third world' so happy, so cheerful – when children in the 'first world' struggle to deal with the simplest of things. Why can’t we always sing and dance and be happy?

Photography by Amie Garrett (copyright)

Can you Imagine a life where all you have is the hope of everyday happiness? Constantly facing the realities of living in New York City, working, and going to school, I feel like happiness is a far off dream located somewhere in the smiles that I left behind on my journey in Malawi, and that I am searching for everyday within the cold walls of the city. Some days I almost see it or feel it, but I am always searching for it. I am searching for it within my own purpose because I know one day I will return to these children, and I want to offer them more then I did last time. More education, more empowerment, and most important; more reasons to be happy. When I landed in Malawi last year I was forced to see past their happiness and exposed to the depths of their struggles. By experiencing first hand their hardships I saw the possibility for change, for the future, and for the hope that these children invoke within all of us. I know that change is going to come for them because it has to.

At the first school I visited in Malawi a young girl, no older then 16, named Monica asked me a question. She asked me what should she do if her teacher wants to have sex with her. I don’t remember how I answered Monica, but I remember feeling like I never wanted to have to answer that question ever again. But I did have to, many many times. Change has to come for Monica, and for every Malawian child that risks losing their happiness and hope."

Written by: Amie Garrett, Malawi volunteer Summer 2009

**Part IV in a series of reflections on how we internalize what we learn abroad into who we are back home. Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org. Articles, thoughts, poems, quotes, pictures, etc. are welcome!*

To BP or not to BP...

Murmurs of a gas crisis have been heard ever since we orginally crossed the border into Malawi. We thought we were invincible with our 80 liter tank and our two full 20 liter gerry-cans locked and loaded on the roof. We couldn’t imagine the crisis hitting the capital.

Yesterday we were proven wrong. We walked out of the World Camp house to see a (no exaggeration) kilometer long line of cars waiting to fill up with petrol. At this point we had under a quarter of a tank (+ 1 gerry-can) and we assumed that deliveries would be made. Again, we were proven wrong.

We headed into Lilongwe today with finding petrol as a priority. We are hoping to go to the lake this weekend with Momma Levitt.

As we reached the city, lines were forming at every gas station, but to our surprise, there was no gas. They were lining up in hopes that that station received the coveted petrol. We followed suit and parked our car in line at the BP in the government district. All the cars were abandoned; it seemed like the drivers went on with their daily activities and used the line as a parking lot.

We visited two of MCBO’s partners, Goods4Good and Theater for Change, within walking distance of the car to escape the heat and use Internet.
(Sidenote: We discovered that MCBO + Goods4Good are featured in November’s issue of Vogue…check it out!)

A few hours later, we had lost all hope. We gave up on gas and realized the Lake would not be a possible excursion this weekend. Minutes later, MCBO’s director, Chris, called to inform us that the BP on the drive out to Mchezi had just received a shipment of gas. We raced to the car in an attempt to make the cut.

It took only an hour until we were smiling and singing, with a full tank!

The remainder of the day was spent at MCBO where the volunteers distributed TOMs shoes to the OVCs. They looked so fashionable! Songs and soccer with the neighborhood gang until dark…and of course, beloved nsima. Its good to be home!

Block Party

Imagine this: You wake up to the cock-a-doodles of a rooster that is literally perched on your windowsill. If that didn’t wake you up completely, the buzzing of 2800 children heading to school certainly will. After your bucket bath and jam sandwich, you step out into the near 90 degree heat, hoping for the occasional gust of wind to keep you cool. Your destination lies 2 kms away through cornfields, over a bridge, past a maize mill, and up a hill. The entire walk is filled with children and adults chanting “wazungu,” “obama,” and any English words they may know. Expect tons of requests for pictures; wouldn’t you do the same if you never saw your reflection? You reach your destination twenty minutes later, complete with a back full of sweat and a swarm of children at your heels. Welcome to our morning routine!

We spent the rest of the a.m. teaching Christopher, the director, basic Excel skills and preparing an informational brochure about the CBO. Class was spent introducing a business/marketing plan to rejuvenate the scone baking business that had failed three years back. This was definitely their first time forming a cost-analysis of a future IGA… and hopefully it will break the cycle of past failures. Our main goal is to leave the CBO staff with some sustainable tools, such as budgeting and business planning, to avoid further failures.

Like every other day, a few children were waiting patiently outside the classroom for us to finish teaching. From the moment we dismissed class until the sun had fully set, hoards of children gathered outside of our house for Darren and Molly’s block party. Highlights included boys vs. girls keep away, jungle gym (on Darren), dancing, singing (“AIDs, AIDs, AIDs is a killer”), and karate. The kids were most pleased when Darren brought the camera out for a sunset photo shoot.

Exhausted, we used Momma Lillian as our scapegoat and sat down for a delicious nsima and niemba (beans) dinner.

Meet William Njovu

William Njovu had us over for dinner recently. Njovu means “Elephant” in Chichewa and we think that this is very appropriate since he is a wise old man who never forgets a face. Before retirement, William worked for a grain research firm here in Malawi. It was a good job, especially back then, and he never stops talking about when he was sent to Mexico in the 80’s on a research mission. There he bought lots of clothing and four pairs of the same leather shoes that he still wears to this day. We enjoy speaking in broken Spanish with him when our broken Chichewa and his broken English become tiring.

William married Selena, fitting for the wife of a Spanish speaking Malawian. Together they have 9 children. Chimwemwe (their youngest daughter) is pictured with them and her two children. Chimwemwe had her first daughter at the age of 17, out of wedlock, and William, to teach Chimwemwe a lesson, refused to let her finish school for 8 years. Chimwemwe is now 30 and is in Form 4 (12th Grade).

When William is not volunteering at MCBO, he helps out at the local church and also farms a patch of land where he grows delicious tomatoes and bananas. He is definitely one of our favorite students and always has something insightful to add to any conversation.

One of our favorite Malawian experiences thus far started with our visit to William’s church, where both the youth and womens’ choirs performed for us. It felt like we were listening to the Greek sirens; we didn’t want to leave. The African sunset served as the ideal backdrop while the women harmonized their voices and swayed their hips in sync. Darren had a field day snapping photos during this unreal opportunity for any photographer. We shared our gratitude (thanks to William’s translating) and left surrounded by a swarm of children.

From the church, we interrupted about five different soccer games on our way to dinner at William’s house. Once we arrived, we were introduced to the Njovuyalema clan, ranging in age from 95 to 5. How often do you get 8 people of four different generations living under one roof?!

The next two hours provided a first-hand look into the structure and culture of a Malawian family. Let’s just say… Men have it easy. As William’s daughter, Chimwemwe, prepared all the food, the men sat inside discussing Malawian politics over candlelight. Molly attempted to stir the nsima until she realized her arm muscles are awfully weak. Chimwemwe’s daughter was a huge help in preparing dinner. We were surprised to see how compliant she was in taking orders from her mother. There must not be a word for whine in Chichewa!

After we thanked Jesus for dinner, the guests and William were the first to eat. His children and wife all had to ask permission to join us….cultural difference #87.

William walked us home, guided by the light of the stars and our cell phone screens. We exchanged a dozen tomatoes for a handful of chocolate and thanked William for an amazing evening.

Another successful day in the lives of Chisomo and Napili (our Chichewa names)…