Program Reviews

My time here in Karonga was very meaningful. I worked on a project to bring reusable menstrual pads to primary school girls. Please feel free to reach out if you would like to chat about my experience as I am happy to.

We worked in Mwenilondo, which is an area near Karonga, in order to donate pads to girls and teach students of all genders about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. We raised money for the project using the Gofundme website, by sharing the project with those we know. A Mother Group in Mwenilondo (group of mothers who support the community) learned how to sew reusable pads from a local trainer. The goal is for the Mother Group to earn money from making reusable pads when in the future other institutions may want to buy them. The pads they made during/right after the training were donated to menstruating girls at two primary schools in Mwenilondo, and local health experts gave students of both genders education about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. We also built a changing room for one primary school so that girls would have a place to change pads and handle their periods while at school (girls often miss school when on their periods due to lack of pads and lack of a private place to change).

Within my first few days in Malawi, David (CEO) and I sat down and brainstormed what my options were for things to work on. I recommend chatting with him before you go about what they need help with, what interests you have, and what specific things you can do while there. Funding is a challenge as mentioned in his profile, and the organization didn't have much money when I came because there were no active grants. There are many important things you can do that are low/no cost, like playing sports with kids or getting wood and building hospital benches. You can also raise money for a project which is what I did. David shared the idea of a reusable menstrual pads project that he had already thought of and written a plan for, and I decided that was what I wanted to work on. We then set up a Gofundme to raise money to complete the project; I made the gofundme and then took out money to use for the project via ATMs in Karonga (my account's USD converted to Mwk) . We had used the google exchange rate which was not ideal in retrospect, because we could have gotten more Malawian money if we used a bank transfer since the bank exchange rate was higher. Note that if you do raise money in your home currency, make sure to check whether you will instead get a better exchange rate using money transfers/bank transfers. We then used the funds to do all of the activities I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

David is very passionate about community development and it's inspiring to see. He was very helpful with coordinating the many actions we needed to take to do the project like scheduling school meetings, arranging construction materials transportation, buying materials, contacting health experts, and finding a reusable pads trainer. He was really dedicated to monitoring the project too, and would go in the mornings by himself to make sure things were going well with construction of the changing room. He helped move things along a lot. For members doing the project, it was mainly me, David, and another board member named Verah working on the project.

I was the only international volunteer for almost all of my time there, so I got lonely sometimes since I didn't find it easy to make friends on my own in the beginning - but it was possible and I did make a couple - ask David for advice about making friends if you need to. If you like to go out to do things by yourself, talk to David about what you may want to do and he can share whether he thinks it will be safe.

Open communication with David during your stay is important, talk through any successes or difficulties you're experiencing. You may encounter challenges and it's important to be vocal about what you need while also being respectful.

I stayed with David and his family and they were so kind to me, I can't thank them enough. David was so helpful with showing me around Karonga. His dad always gave thorough information about any questions I had. His mom was so loving and caring to me, she really treated me like a daughter. She and Patience, their cousin, made amazing food and we had fun talks and they made me smile so much.

HUGE thanks to David and his wonderful family! Malawi is amazing!

This has been by far the best summer of my life, David and his family were extremly accomodating and nice. They provided me with 3 abundant meals a day, a king size bed to sleep on and an incredible oportunity to work in the district hospital and gain both personal and professional experience. Overall i cannot recommend this host enough. Although if you come to Malawi be aware, it has a very unique culture and being open minded and adventurous is a must, in my opinion, to truly get everything you can from this experience.

I recently spent the whole September in Malawi with the aim to support HYCF to bring their vision for their projects in Karonga further into reality to not just making a difference in the lives of the people there, but to enhance their capacity building as well. I had the priviledge of working on different impactful projects especially dedicated to empowering girls, boys and women in the Mwenilondo area in Karonga. My overall experience was nothing short of inspiring and transformative and I was also able to learn a lot of new things and gain new skills.

In the beginning of my stay David and I visited the local community in Karonga and had different conversations with the locals like Grace from the mother group in the Mwenilondo area as well as Gertrude the head teacher of the primary school there. In that way I could understand the current situation and challenges that they were facing better and also what successes have already been achieved with previous projects of HYCF. I was so incredibly impressed by the enthusiasm and determination of those women, who want to lead their community into a better future that I decided to support them with different projects.

Since HYCF is a smaller non profit organization they also rely on support from donations to implement their more extensive projects. That’s why I first started with fundraising – an experience that was at that time completely new to me. I’ve never set up a Gofundme campaign before, but David helped me a lot with that and his previous experiences. It was very important to share the campaign with all the people I knew and on different media especially in the beginning of the campaign to gain more attention for the good cause and I also gave updates during the progress of the projects. In that way we could raise enough money to buy materials for new reusable pads to exchange the old reusbale pads that were given to the menstruating girls 3 years ago in a previous project of the volunteer Brinda. We could also organize a one week sewing machine workshop for the women of the mother group with our trainer Tekla, so that they could learn to produce more reusable pads in an easier way and shorter time and without pain in their hands. What was a very touching moment for me in Karonga was that we were also able to use the funds to help an elderly lady in the Karonga community who had nothing to eat for several days. You could really see how grateful she was that she finally had her basic needs met again. That experience humbled me a lot and showed me one more time how important it is in a community to also help those people in need who are not able to help themselves.

Another highlight of the projects that I worked on for HYCF was a very successful sexual education workshop with the theme „It’s my choice – I have the power“ that we organized for the more adolescent girls and boys starting from age 11 at the Mwenilondo Primary school. For that workshop I’ve been working closely together with Tawemi, the monitoring and evaluation officer of HYCF who was transporting the important messages in the Tumbuka language to the pupils. It was a very enriching collaboration with her and we were putting our knowledge for the structure and content of the workshop together. I was also able to learn more about the Malawian culture in that way, for which I am very grateful.

During my time I’ve been the only international volunteer at HYCF, but in that way I was also working very closely together with David on my different projects. I got to know him as a very dedicated and hardworking person who is very passionate about helping his community with all his heart and having a positive long lasting impact there. That’s also why he always makes sure to include people from the community who function as role model into various projects so that especially the pupils can learn from their experiences and be empowered to follow their own unique path in life. Whenever I had questions about something or needed his help I could always ask him and communicate openly to him. David helped a lot when it was about buying the materials for the reusable pads on the local markets, scheduling meetings with the head teacher and mother group as well as finding the sewing machine trainer and translating when people were just able to speak their local language. He was also showing me around in Karonga so that I could not just get to know local places like the beach lodge, the gym, the market and other places, but also local people and spending a great time with them together. I could also visit places like Nkhata Bay and Chitipa.

During my time in Malawi I stayed with David and his family and had my own room with a comfortable bed and his mother Ruth always took care that there are 3 delicious meals per day available. It was a wonderful stay with them and I’m so grateful for the interesting and wonderful conversations I had with his mother and father. David’s family made me feel welcomed from the first minute and more like being part of the family. I also felt always very safe since the house is extra secured and also David and his family told me what is safe to do and what to take care of. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for having me at your place and making my stay so wonderful!

All in all, my time with HYCF was a very meaningful and fulfilling experience for me. David’s and the organization’s dedication to empowering girls, boys and women is commendable, and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such a noble cause. To do projects together with HYCF is not just about making a difference; it’s about being part of a movement that strives for equality, empowerment, and a brighter future for all. I wholeheartedly recommend to volunteer with HYCF to anyone passionate about creating positive lasting change in the lives of the people of the community in Karonga and instilling confidence, nurturing dreams, and creating a foundation for a brighter future.

Hi! I am Maria Vittoria and I am an Italian girl who loves Africa from many years, thanks to my parents who had brought me with them since I was a child. I have always dreamt to be a volunteer and do something that can make the difference.
In the middle of July I went to Malawi at David’s home. He is open minded, full of energy, he believes in many values and he has lot of purposes, which is something that I have always appreciated of him. His family was really kind with me and they were always ready to help me if I had problems or difficulties, they can explain you more about the culture and curiosities. They have always tried to do their best and we did lot of funny things together, go to a production studio and sing together, drink malawian beer and Five Cousins wine, drive a motorbike, listen to African music, chatting about our crazy stories of life.
I have traveled a lot in Africa and I can say that Malawi is wonderful but it’s not the fullest country of things to visit where I have been to. If you are an active person, like me, who wants always something to do during the day, maybe sometimes it can be a bit boring and you could want something different from the lake, which is for sure beautiful. You have to know that you will have lot of free time and so it's better to find something to do, if you don’t want to stay at home.
My volunteer experience was so short, I have teached mathematics in a primary school and I didn’t know, when I booked the travel, that the students at that time were on holidays… Most of the volunteers are required to create a fund for the organization to hold up their project, or to give a “small” amount of money for the same cause, because HYCF is a small organization which still has to grow a lot! It can be a problem for someone, also because you will spend more and more money than you could expect.
If you really want to live this experience you have to take into consideration the difficulties you’ll find, the loneliness, which was for me a big obstacle, the culture very different obviously, and you have to be absolutely open minded because this is the only way to discover Malawi! People are never in a hurry and there are always lot of delays and disorganization, like in most African's country, and sometimes it can be a little bit annoying.
In any case, you can really grow a lot with this experience, and understand more deeply some meanings of life.
The worm heart of Africa is in my heart.