The differences between a Malawian wedding and a British wedding are evident from the word go - beginning with the invites. There are no fancy invitations sent to specific individuals with an RSVP date, rather you are invited by default if you belong to the church that the couple attend. Us UK volunteers were all invited, even though I had only been to church once, and didn’t even know the name of the couple.
To some, going to a health clinic/hospital in a foreign country would be their worst nightmare. Reused needles and a lack of training are just two of the horror stories we hear about in hospitals within developing countries. However, the UK volunteers plus Thom (a national volunteer) braved this exact thing and were pleasantly surprised. At St John of God - Mzuzu, we found that not only were the staff knowledgeable but the whole centre was spotless.
We are ‘Team Tiwale’.
Or in English... ‘Let's Shine’.
Yesterday, our team had our first opportunity to live up to this name by visiting a nearby community and shedding some light on important issues pertaining to sexual and reproductive health.
Group dynamics have always interested me. In a group in which there are eight young women from the UK - all fairly feisty in our individual ways - and seven males (now six due to the national Team Leader being offered an exciting employment opportunity - we'll miss you Lomance! Keep doing your thing!), two coming from the UK and five from Malawi, it was quite inevitable that gender would be a bit of a hot topic.
It hasn’t been the smoothest initiation into a Malawian family but it’s certainly been quick.
My fellow UK volunteer Joseph and I have been rechristened with Chitumbuka Christian names and have adopted the family surname. You can call me Nchindi (meaning Respect) and you must now refer to my little brother Joseph as Vitumbiku (it means Blessings). Or just Vitu for short.
This was an emotional watershed moment but a far cry from four weeks earlier.
There are so many aspects to a placement that people are nervous about as it draws nearer to the departure date. I hope this gives you one less thing to worry about before going on your placement. There’s the first part, which is about a vegan diet, the second part is about a vegetarian diet and the third part is about a gluten-free diet.
Part 1 - Vegan diet
Progressio and Glasswing can be considered grassroots development charities who focus on working within communities to try and equip them with both the physical materials, but also the confidence and knowledge to tackle the key issues that they themselves have highlighted.
Encountering cultural myths
Within our team we are facing many challenges in the field to combat issues around gender equality, HIV and sexual reproductive health, in addition to disability rights, whilst all developing as individuals. We have already completed two awareness days and three outreach sessions. We are currently planning to deliver three peer education sessions and learning a lot along the way. It is safe to say we have our hands full.
Host homes
Living in a host home on your ICS placement is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable parts of the journey. Although daunting at first, after just two weeks, being part of a family is reducing my level of homesickness. It also enables you to get the full cultural exchange and feel part of the community, which would be extremely difficult under any other circumstances.
To think about what happens in the ICS programme, it is a great achievement. This programme really takes you to another level in life because of the confidence, skills and knowledge you can gain from taking part in ICS. The amazing and fantastic knowledge you gain by the end of the twelve weeks can contribute to big achievements in your life, as you may be more capable to pursue your own plans in life with the confidence and skills you gain from the ICS placement.
