MALAWI

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to go to Africa. A magical mixture of The Butterfly Lion, BBC documentaries about the Serengeti and being imbued with the palpable passion of the African musicians at WOMAD, all added to the dream. As I grew older I realised that, although I would love to witness the majesty, beauty and music of Africa, I want to develop an understanding of the lives of people living in Africa today.

I realised that I should grasp the opportunity of having time and energy to volunteer in Africa. It was of the highest importance to me to find a legitimate project that would make a tangible positive difference. 

When I heard about International Citizens Service it felt like a bolt from the blue. ICS is a partially government funded scheme which sends 18-25 year old volunteers overseas to work alongside local volunteers to assist on projects which have specifically requested the help of a young team because they share ICS’s belief that, by creating a generation of global citizens, the world can be a better place. I was overwhelmed to be accepted on to a project run by ICS’s partner charity Lattitude Global Volunteering. 

On the 23rd of April I will board a plane to Malawi with four other UK volunteers to join our Malawian counterparts and start a 10 week project to assist the Mzuzu Youth Association Project to engage marginalised young people in the association’s range of extracurricular activities. Through becoming involved with the scheme children and young people from the city of Mzuzu and the outlying suburbs will receive health education and develop social and practical skills to aid them in their future lives.

I feel overwhelmed, nervous, incredibly excited. I'm honoured to have the opportunity to become a part of the local community in Mzuzu and to help local young people, through organising events, researching and developing a sustainable plan for the continuation of the project.

The next seven weeks will be a whirlwind of fundraising and preparing for the trip. I have lots of plans for fundraising from which I’m hoping to raise £800 for Lattitude Global Volunteering who will be overseeing the Mzuzu project. All funds raised will go straight to Lattitude.

If you would like to donate please click the link to my Just Giving page. I would be so very grateful and feel very excited to raise money to help the continuation of the good work of Lattitude.