Welcome!

Hi Folks!

Welcome to the page that will serve as my attempt to communicate while I am in Malawi. I will be using this page to record what I learn, to tell the stories I hear/see, and to jot down any other thoughts I might have during my placement. Just to bring you up to speed, here is a little bit of background that hopefully answers some basic questions.

I am doing a 4-month Junior Fellow volunteer placement with Engineers Without Borders in Malawi, a beautiful country flanked by Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. EWB is a volunteer organization that focuses on human development using entrepreneurship and innovation, through outreach/education programs in Canada and development projects overseas. As most of you know, I have been involved with our in-Canada programs for about four years doing outreach and communications. I now have this incredible opportunity to work with a Malawian NGO to experience how development is implemented on the ground, and to learn more about the people in the communities that we are working in. I hope to bring back my learnings to Canada and share my experience with people back home. … hence this blog!

Some guidelines for surviving this blog:
1. A long-winded story will be identified with a “LWS” sign, so you can feel free to skip it and read the conclusions.
2. Any suggestions I have for actions you can take back home in Canada will be posted in orange ink.
3. I hope to use this blog as a two-way communication. So please post any questions you may have that you’d like me to investigate while I am here in Malawi – their political systems, water supply, culture, latrine structures…
4. Please remember that everything I say here is based on the small window I have into Malawian life based on what I see and where I am. To get a broader understanding of this great country, please check out the links on the right to the blogs by other volunteers.
5. If you have any feedback or comments please let me know through a post or email me at binnuinmalawi@gmail.com

Thanks and enjoy the read!
-Binnu
=)