Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Blessings Manda

They say experience is a great teacher, I guess I can say that I am honored to be a part of this journey with CorpsAfrica. A journey that has landed me in a place full of beauty. By beauty, I mean the land itself and the people found within. Kabwatika site in Chikwawa, a place I now call home.

Describe, interpret, verify, and evaluate (DIVE), are some of the words that have guided me throughout the integration process with the people on my site and this is why the magnitude of surprise was not that huge when I came to realize that the people who seem incapable from a distance are the very same people that are full of skills and knowledge in several development aspects, just to mention a few examples, community members from my site are well-experienced beekeepers and cooperatives from across the country come to receive training from these bee farmers. People from my site year in and year out make huge profits from pigeon pea farming. 

Now, speaking of the power of unity to achieve greatness, I was left in awe after seeing what the people of the Tolish village, a community found within my site, were able to achieve. A village not made of a lot of members, a village whose members knew nothing but water from the river when it came to needing water for domestic use, they were able to say enough is enough, we will hold hands and make sure that we access clean water for us to use. It is true what they say, we can do so little; together we can do so much. Members from the Tolish village made contributions of all kinds to make sure that a borehole was drilled in their village. They made it a point to say that as long as you are a human being, you have something to offer. The women drew water for the drillers to use, they cooked for the workers, the men broke stones for quarry, they gathered sand and those skilled in construction were able to help out the builder in cementing the borehole surrounding.

All this is evidence that change starts from within, if a small group of individuals determined to achieve a goal come together and put to use all the resources that they have, greatness is what they will yield. Such being the case, I can proudly say that I am more than ready to continue on this journey with people on my site up to the end of my service because I strongly believe that the impact of the projects we are going to work on will act as an inspiration to those people who look down on themselves. Lastly, I know that these community members will personally help me become a better person as far as indulging with rural communities for development is concerned.