Experience

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.