Volunteers work at the local Government schools, at both the primary and the secondary level, which each present very different challenges. We enjoy strong working partnerships with all our placement schools, which have supported volunteers to work out their role in a variety of contexts inside and outside the classroom.

Volunteers are also placed with the following Non Formal Education (NFE) Placements: Mudzi Wathu Community Radio Station, TANARD (a national relief and development charity), World Vision (A youth training facility) and Chimteka Children's Support (which runs a wide range of community programmes). These placements offer volunteers a more strategic perspective on education and development in a diverse range of contexts, particularly focusing on art, drama, music and sport.

Previous volunteers have cited relationships built in schools and in their NFE placements, particularly their involvement in the community radio station, as the most valuable aspect of their project experience, along with gaining significant insight into Malawian culture. This project allows volunteers to experience true Malawian life through the diversity of the placements whilst living right at the heart of the local rural community.

Any questions? Then contact Kiran Horwich, Malawi and Swaziland Project Manager, email: kiran.horwich@tenteleni.org.uk.

Accommodation

Half of the volunteers will be accommodated together with the PC in the guest house in the Boma, and half will be living in homestay accommodation living amongst teachers at the Mchinji Mission Community Day Secondary. The homestay allows for greater integrated into Malawian culture and allows for great relationships to be developed between staff, the school and the community. Both houses are basic, but furnished, with running water and good security.

Food

The accommodation in both the Boma and at the CDSS is self catering and volunteers receive a daily food allowance, whilst cooking is shared within the group. Volunteers can visit the nearby markets to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables.

Transport

Volunteers in the homestay at the CDSS will be living on site less than 50m from their school placements . Volunteers living in the guest house in the Boma will be no more than a 10 minute walk from their school placements. All the non formal education placements are based in the Boma, volunteers living at the CDSS will take taxis to and from these placements, while volunteers living in the guest house will be able to walk.

Additional Information

The Boma has a busy, market selling fresh produce, groceries and second hand clothes, along with bottle shops and Malawian restaurants. This market is the culture hub of the district and volunteers can wonder around the markets talking and interacting with the local people. Some luxuries are available in Mchinji, though most Western goods will be found in Lilongwe, approximately 100km away and accessible by taxi.

The Lake of Stars festival is a great event not to be missed and falls on the third weekend in October. Volunteers get the opportunity to experience an authentic mix of Malawian and western music, right on the projects doorstep. Mchinji is located close to the Zambian border and volunteers can explore the beautiful South Luangwa National Park in Zambia on safari.

Volunteers will have the opportunity to engage further into the community by attending church with the local teachers. Culture and religion are very important to the Malawian people and play a large part in their daily lifestyles, volunteers will need to engage in local practices if necessary and be respectful of the local traditions and practices.

Formal Education Placements

Mchinji Mission Community Day Secondary School

Mchinji CDSS is the government secondary school, with around 350 pupils. Pupils here are rowdy and full of enthusiasm, and keen to achieve in their exams and progress with their secondary education. Many pupils stay onsite in hostels so that they can spend more time in school. Volunteers will also be accommodated in the staff housing at the school. The school is understaffed and under-resourced, and teachers welcome the support from volunteers, and the ideas they bring. Students also benefit from extra-curricular and life skills classes that volunteers can offer to supplement their academic education.

Mchinji Mission Primary School

Mchinji Mission is the government Primary School, and the biggest school with nearly 1,000 pupils. Enrolment to primary school has soared with the introduction of free primary education in 1994, and schools are still struggling to staff and resource schools adequately. Mchinji Mission School has a very poor infrastructure and is severely understaffed and overcrowded. Staff and student alike welcome the additional support from volunteers, who will need to use their own initiative and work creatively using locally available resources. This is a challenging but highly rewarding school placement with welcoming staff and students who are full of enthusiasm for their studies.

Non-Formal Education Placements

Mudzi Wathu Community Radio Station

Mudzi Wathu (‘Our Village’) is a community radio station run by Malawian volunteers, broadcasting shows on a wide range of development topics, from agriculture to women’s rights and education. Upon arrival, volunteers receive comprehensive training on their role. Volunteers will learn about recording, editing and producing radio programmes and will host their own shows. The aim of the placement is to link with the schools, boost the participation of young people in the radio station, and promote the agenda of youth issues and child rights. Volunteers get the chance to really engage with the local community through the creative art forms, and they become known as local ‘celebrities’ as their voices are often recognised by many listeners of the station.

Targeted National Relief and Development (TANARD)

TANARD is a national NGO running a range of programmes, including adult learning centres, an outreach programme which runs non-formal education programmes for children who have been trafficked and children and youth who have been taken out of school to work in agriculture. The NGO is also involved in community development programmes to try and relieve poverty and support the personal development of individuals. Previous volunteers have been involved in research into gender based violence and absenteeism in schools. This placement is ideal for volunteers with a degree in social science to contribute and develop their skills.

World Vision:

The global charity World Vision runs a youth training facility about 40km from Mchinji Boma, where young people who have not finished school, or who have had to drop out can go and gain qualification and skills that will help them to build a career. With courses in tailoring, agriculture, music, sport and various life skills clubs and activities there is a wide range of areas that volunteers can get involved with. This year volunteers have helped to organise the library and set up reading programmes to help young people that struggle with literacy. They also were assisting with music courses and holding a one of mega 'Mchinji Idol' where the kids put on their own talent show for friends and family. The placement is ideal for enthusiastic and imaginative volunteers who like to get their hands dirty.

Chimteka Children's Support:

Chimteka Children's Support is based in the Community Hall and is at the centre of a group of 23 villages. The hall is the base for a wide range of community programmes from sports clubs and training schemes, to a children's feeding programme and a centre for distributing ARV drugs to HIV patients. It also houses it very own primary school for kids aged between 6 and 14. Volunteers working here will be able to get involved with youth groups that focus on life skills activities, agricultural courses or the play school. The people involved in running the centre are very welcoming and open to new ideas so volunteers with innovative and imaginative suggestions will always be welcome.

The volunteer role is Education and Youth Support Volunteer. In practice this role involves a combination of the following activities:

• Assisting staff in the delivery of lessons in school
• Planning and carrying out lessons in school
• Facilitating small group learning to boost a target subject area
• Initiating extra-curricular activities such as sports, music or drama
• Initiating life skills activities
• Linking schools with other organisations to support educational opportunity and youth welfare
• Carrying out activities to assist non formal education placements with their weekly work
• Promoting education and youth welfare within the non formal education placements
• Assisting children at the school with their homework, and engaging in informal play activities

Additional Information

Volunteers are assigned to a school placement and a non formal education (NFE) placement. Volunteers spend most of their time in school, assisting with timetabled lessons, bringing imagination and creativity into the classroom, and engaging with students in life skills and extra-curricular activities. Upon their arrival, volunteers work with placement staff to work out a timetable which reflects their own skills and interests, and meets the specific needs of the school.

Volunteers will split their time between time spent in schools and in their non formal placements. Again they discuss with placement staff to see how their own interests and experience can be of benefit to the organisation, and they have a great deal of autonomy and creativity in how to work out their role. Previous volunteers have been involved in activities as diverse as designing research projects, general administration, training staff in IT skills, and facilitating workshops on youth issues including careers and behavioural change around HIV/AIDS.

Previous volunteers have described that the combination of these two roles has been a great learning experience, given them the opportunity to build a variety of relationships and a given a unique insight into community life in rural Malawi.

Quotes from past Volunteers

“I love the fact that Tenteleni is completely volunteer based, that people with as little experience as myself get such a wonderful experience, and that it links the UK and Malawi” Volunteer

“I have learned a lot about myself and how I deal with other people and lots about the Malawian culture and their attitudes to life. I have observed ways in which NGO's operate and the impact they have at grassroots level. What I saw most was the challenges faced by Malawian teachers and the challenges faced by the country in general due to educational problems.” Volunteer