Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Twambilire Kalolokesya

Two months have passed since I was placed at my site and during this period I have been busy trying to integrate into my community. In doing this I have had individual conversations with community members, had introductory meetings, and have been teaching at the nursery school. All of these activities have helped me a lot in the integration process, as well as with personal development for myself. I am grateful for this.

In my first blog post, I will share a meeting I had with the secondary school girls at the orphanage I work with. During our discussion, we talked about how the girls use their time on campus currently and what different activities the girls can do in the future. We also discussed the assets the orphanage has, and how they use them. The girls were divided into groups, determined by which asset they prioritized. They were so cooperative and after they chatted about how they could work with the asset of their group, they chose representatives to present the results. They did this with excitement and boldness.

Finally, we came up with ideas of projects using the resources the orphanage already has. Some of these included starting a debate club to improve English and build confidence to speak in the public, and to create a timetable for tutoring sessions for all the classes to help improve students’ academic performance.
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It was exciting to interact with these girls because they are full of laughter and enthusiasm. They also spoke what was on their minds on every topic of discussion, which I really appreciated.

With this kind of experience I look forward to more interaction with these adorable girls.