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Dear Tikondwe Supporters

Welcome to the first issue of our newsletter!!

If you have supported us in anyway we thank you very much and if you are just coming across this newsletter by chance, we welcome you!

Background - Tikondwe Youth Organisation is located in Domasi, Malawi. The organisation’s main goal is to promote the welfare and empow-erment of its local communities. Malawian youth struggle against limited resources and lack of opportunities for improvement. We believe that empowering youth through education is the key resource for social change and a prerequisite in the broader fight against poverty. We hope you will help us in our fight.

Currently we have 18 villages under our care within the 18 villages we have seven community schools. Together both local and international volunteers work together teaching the children. We welcome all children to our schools and pro-vide them with the chance to have free educa-tion.

Tikondwe founder Joshua Mbozole started the organisation after he personally incurred many uphill struggles and financial difficulties attempt-ing to obtain his education as a child.

Updates - Our organisation has been established since 2000, however only recently, as of May 2011 have we had the pleasure of hosting inter-national volunteers. In this short time we are see-ing fast changing improvements within the local community, more English is spoken and under-stood in the villages and a strong bond is forming between locals and volunteers.

Tikondwe cares for more than 300 underprivi-leged children and orphans. We welcome child sponsorship for funding such things as school fees, uniforms, and food or crops for the families of the children. Thanks to private donations we also had a program whereby Tikondwe members and volunteers distributed blankets to all families and children in need.

In addition to education and our child sponsor-ship programs, Tikondwe has many new projects developing. By the end of 2012 we hope to have a fishery, beehive, maize (corn) mill, local gener-al supplies shop and vegetable garden. This not

only will provide local members of the commu-nity with more employment opportunities, but it also means they will have the chance to buy a new variety of goods that before were unavail-able due to distance from the villages.

We feel that because we have many new chang-es and many more developments are planned to occur in 2012 we want to spread the news and tell the world about Tikondwe and “what’s happening!”

If you’re an ex-volunteer we welcome your stories and experiences we would love to share them with others. If you’re a person interested in vol-unteering, donating or have ideas for fundraising programs in your country let us know. We wel-come ideas on ways we can improve the lives of the local people. We are growing every week and we welcome everyone and their ideas!

Kindly note – If you would like to receive this email and/or have friend that you know would be in-terested in learning more about Tikondwe please provide us with their e-mail address and we can add them to our list. We are a friendly organi-sation and we will not send you mass amounts of emails each month. This information will be confidential and we won’t share your e-mail with outsiders.

Thank you for taking the time to read our first newsletter! We hope you enjoy it!

Table of ContentsFrom the Editor 4

Volunteer Opportunities 4

My story 5 - 8

Word search 9

Living Positive 10

Poster 12 &13

Sports updates 14

We are looking forward to welcoming the fol-lowing volunteers to our project;

1st March 2012 - Agnes Lobb

2nd March 2012 - Roxanne Stromberg, Jessica Hemming, Hayley Clark. Sarah Ronaldson, Charlotte Brown

6th March 2012 - Danielle Sheldon, Holly More land, Rosie Hyman

11th March 2012 - Zoe Impey

15th March 2012 - Jenny Davy

16th March 2012 - Edwina Sencer

Here you can expect a big warm welcome from the moment you arrive. First you’ll meet the family and all the volunteers. There are sure to be plenty of children awaiting your arrival and wanting to ask your name.

Takulandirani, ndife osangalala.

Zikomo!!

Project updatesIntroductionCurrently we have our own shop which sells cold drinks and ice polls. These are sold to both locals and volunteers.

We also have a chicken program in which we raise 200 chickens to sell in the community and other towns this helps fund new projects.

Over the last few weeks we have been training local women and men in the village how to run a business providing them with resources such as flour for bread making, in some cases we have given small amounts of money as a start up capital.

Our maize mill machine house is currently also under construction and is moving along nice-ly, once completed it will provide local access to maize grinding, work for the locals and the money from the maize mill will help fund our schools and new projects.

We also are to set up a beehive in the village where we will be keeping bees. The honey pro-duced will be sold in the village and then we hope to expand and sell throughout Malawi.

As our adult learning classes are now up and running we have a long stay volunteer Eileen Murray supervising the classes. She will ensure all the classes are kept up and running smooth-ly, she will set up a curriculum/guide to provide the classes with structure and ensure the pupils progress in their learning. This will make things allot easier for any volunteer teaching a class and will make sure that all the schools are pro-viding the same level of teaching.

We will also be holding community health classes throughout the villages under our care, teaching basic skills such as the cleaning of wounds, the controlling of temperature, keep-ing hydrated etc. This hopefully will improve the general health of the village and build self esteem in the villagers.

The Dream Team

Joshua Jessica Emma

you can also find us on facebook

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We here at Tikondwe Youth Organisation we have great pleasure in introducing you to a new informative newsletter called ‘Tikondwe’ which simply means ‘Let us all be happy’

Tikondwe is a monthly newsletter with orphan stories, updates of activities at Tikondwe, a volunteers experience, calendar of events, puzzles, interesting facts about Malawi and much more…

‘Tikondwe’ will be emailed to all past volunteers, current volunteers, financial supporters, company sponsors, and those wishing to support us in the future. As a free newsletter you can help us by forwarding to people you think would be interested or providing us with email addresses of those who would like to be added to the contacts list. Tikondwe welcomes all readers and it is our goal to reach as many people as possible.

Firstly I would like to thank Emma Camm for her hard working efforts in making this publication possible. Also a big thanks to all contributors, Natalie Tempel for sharing great photos. Jessica Duvall, a Malawian in the US, though she’s thousands miles away, she’s always with Tikondwe in our hearts and on the computer. Last but not least thanks to all volunteers, donors and partners for supporting our project, without you this could have not been possible.

Should you have any photos, relevant exciting ideas, stories, fundraising projects or any other feelings that you would like to share about your time with Tikondwe please let us know and email us at joshua.tikondwe@yahoo.com

Until next time, Tionana, zikomo!

Chairman - Joshua MbozoleTel: +265 994 371 168 / +265 994 371 174Email: joshua.tikondwe@yahoo.com

Marketing Executive - Jessica DuvallEmail: jduval1384@gmail.com

News & Photos - Emma CammEmail: emma.tikwonde@gmail.com

We seek to fill a volunteer position for Graph-ic Designer.

Essential functions include (but not limited to)Designing and laying out of a newsletter• Web designing, updating infomation on • the organisatons websiteMaking sure all our documents are up to • dateAny other duties assigned by the man-• agement

Qualifications and RequirementsHe/she should have enough experience • in Web and Graphic DesigningAbility to work quickly and accurately and • meet deadlinesGood attetion to detail• Have good access to internet•

Interested qualified candidates are request-ed to submitt their applications together with at least two samples of their own work to; joshua.tikondwe@yahoo.com by 7th of Mach 2012

In your letter please state whether you would be interested staying in Domasi

Volunteer Opportunities

Starting from the day I made the decision to go to Malawi, I was so excited, as it has been my dream for the last few years

to volunteer, I found it very difficult to find a project in my home country, Spain. I knew it was going to be the time of my life and it was going to be much more about what they were going to teach me than what I could

offer to them and it was! I also have the feeling that by going out there and volunteering I made a difference and that was so rewarding. The children’s smiles and the friendliness of Malawian people alone made it worth it, when you are there you can’t help but feel at home from the first moment you

arrive.

Here is what happens once you arrive at Napwanga village. Firstly you meet Joshua’s family, Papa, Mama, Elube, Deborah, Blessings and Emanuel and they will happily greet you with a warm smile as they tell you that you are not at your second home and that you must feel as though this is your new home. Then all children from the village come, and will welcome you

by singing and asking your name and telling you their names.

The first thing Mama tells you when get to the village is: “I am your Malawian mother, I will take care of you from now on and I will cook for you our national meal tomorrow, you will like it, is called Nsima”. Papa, Mama’s husband, is the best example of a good Malawian fathers I have ever met in my two months

there, so wise and so warm-hearted. Any time you spend talking to him you will learn something new for sure. When I was leaving the village he didn’t have the chance to give his speech on my leaving party as he usually does with all the volunteers leaving, so he wrote me a letter saying thank you and expressing

I feel so lucky to have experienced ‘the warm heart of Africa’ in Domasi

By: Lourdes Benegas Cabezos

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his acknowledgment for what volunteers do for the project and their children.

During my stay at Napwanga village I stayed at Elube’s house, Joshua’s sister. I had so many wonderful memories especially at dinner time talking and exchanging our cultures. One more thing about my time living at Elube’s is that all the furniture in the whole house

was in my bedroom... yes al! They just put a mattress on the floor at night time for Elube and Matilda (her 3 year old daughter) but not for Effort ( her 9 year old son) and Moses (husband) as they slept on the Malawian bed, which is a bamboo mat, not very comfortable as you can guess. Elube became my Malawian sister.

Now on to the teaching, I was based at Mapanje School in Mapanje village, well more accurately under a mango tree! The school building was half built because they didn’t have money to complete the construction. During my stay, one of the volunteers was kind enough to make a donation to have the school completed. I really fell in love with the kids and the local teachers. The local teachers are also

volunteers working for free every single day to help educate the future generation. It was always a funny journey to school, when you arrived

at the school you had with you about 10 to 20 children who joined you on the way just because they love foreign volunteers and it is a motivation for them to go to school. They are so enthusiastic to learn and always want to come to the black board, even if they don’t know the answer. They are so cute, just the way they look at you and smile whilst holding

the stick and point to the black board, you just can’t not love them!!

Some of the hardest stories come from the orphans. Every Monday afternoon we used to visit the orphan families. There were some shocking stories like an 11 year old girl living with her 14 year old brother and then getting married to someone just to get out of extreme poverty, a disabled woman who had to look after her children and her sister’s children herself with no husband. Several of the orphans’ stories are related to HIV and AIDS.

I would like to praise all Malawian women, they are the pillar in the family, looking after the children, doing all the housework and working on the farm. Everyone works hard in Malawi, the boys help in the farm and girls help with the chores from a very young age.

Something fantastic that happened to me whilst I was there was celebrating my birthday, I am never going to forget it. Matilda, Elube’s daughter, was 3 years old on the same day so we celebrated it together. We had an awesome party with more than 100 people. I had 40 children on my notebook that were usually around my house, but that day 70 children came because of the party. Eventually everyone had food and a piece of cake. For most of them, including the adults it was the first time in their life to see a birthday cake. We

sang and danced the Malawian way. They all love singing and dancing...and are really good at it!

This brings to my mind a lunch I had with two other volunteers at our favourite “njinga” driver’s (bike taxi drivers) house. We brought some food and they cooked it for all of us. We brought pasta and when we were eating he said it tasted nice. It was the first time he and his family had pasta and he was 35.

The weekend gives volunteers a chance to travel and discover the country. There are beautiful places to visit like Zomba Plateau, Lliwonde National Park, and Cape MaCclear (Lake Malawi). The phrase ‘Warm Heart of Africa’ came from that part of the lake and is a paradise with its golden beaches, crystalline waters and the warmest people in Africa, apart from Domasi

The only thing that made me sad was the thought of the few opportunities to the children have to get a better future. In the conditions they live some of them can’t go to school because they can’t afford to pay for the school uniform (costing less than 5 pounds), because they don’t have washing powder to clean or just because they need to help at home. Some of them cannot even afford to eat every day.

The moment i got back to the United Kingdom where I am currently living, I started fundraising money for the project and found some generous people who donated for Malawi’s good cause. With the money raised, they can start a business to empower women and men in business .

“They are so cute, just the way they look at you and smile whilst holding the stick and point to the black board, you just can’t not love them!!”

Helping move bricks to build the Tikondwe school

Relaxing with Matilda on a Malwian bed

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There is also the possibility that the company I work for will fund the construction of an orphanage for Tikondwe.

When you come back from Malawi spread the word about Tikondwe, you will be amazed with the results.

Living in Malawi is not always easy but Malawians are extraordinary people and I am looking forward to the time I return and visit my Malawian family. Malawi is a wonderful country full of wonderful people that will change you forever. People say, in Malawi you find the meaning of life Go and prove it yourself.

Love and solidarity with Malawi

Birthday party with Matilda and Miriam

Having dinner (nsima the staple food in Ma-lawi) with my Malawian family

NsangeniMsosaMapanjeHayoNapwangaChilambeTikondeDomasiHildaUmar

ZombaGalimotoMuli BwaMaizeJekeEmmaNsimaNjingaMalosaKit

Do you know Tikondwe... find the words below to see how well you know the project

WORD SEARCH

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Elizabeth Rhoda Alli was born on the 24th of November 1965 and was diagnosed with HIV in September of 2007.

When Government organisations were visiting the village during routine checks they tested Elizabeth at her home. She was then given the devastating news that she was HIV

positive. In September 2009 Elizabeth started taking medication to control the affects of HIVafter being admitted to Zomba hospital with complaints of stomach pains.

Shortly after her first hospital visit she was admitted to St Luke’s hospital and when she was well enough to return home she would still have to make trips back to the hospital for her medication, which for her was quite a journey and although the medication was free, the cost of transport was not.

Elizabeth has taken four pills a day for the last two years, she now has access to her medication at Domasi hospital, which is within walking distance from her home, therefore saving her the travel expenses.

Elizabeth is a mother of five, at the time of being tested she was separated from her husband and so was unaware as to whether the father of her children had been tested. When asked how she felt after she had been diagnosed she said her first reaction was anger towards the father of the children because he may have passed the disease on to her but soon after the anger turned to fear. She worried for the future of her children because she would now struggle to support them as she was suffering the effects of HIV.

Through Tikondwe Elizabeth has had access to a support group for fellow sufferers, here she has been able to talk about what she is going through and relate with the other members of the group and find some kind of peace with the issue. These meeting occur once a month and welcome everyone in the surrounding area to meet with other men and women coping with the same condition. It has become a warm and safe place to discuss the same fears all the women have and gives them peace to know that they are not alone in their fight.

One of the main issues Elizabeth has come across in the past is that she has struggled to get food for herself and her children. Not only is this important for health and nutrition,

but for Elizabeth it is more important because she is supposed to take her medication with food. However due to a lack of money she struggles to provide food for herself and the family. As a side effect of not taking food, she is often too ill to work in the fields due to stomach problems, then adding to the vicious cycle of not producing crops to make money for her family.

Elizabeth told me; “the problem I and the support group have is paying school fees for our children, also food can be an issue as often one parent has been lost to HIV, therefore leaving the remaining parent struggling to support the family. The women would like help to set up small businesses. Also children are affected with HIV as it can be passed from birth. These children need extra support”.

At the time of this article there are 48 villagers suffering from HIV but figures are constantly rising as more people are being diagnosed.

We would like to offer a special thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her story with us. If you would like to help Elizabeth and her family, or would like to contact her to write letters of support please email us. Thank you.

Elizabeth’s life saving medication

By Emma Camm

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Shot of the month: Adams leaving party crowds the streetPhoto by Christon

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We are just in the process of setting up a sports day program for the children; this will be taking place every Thursday afternoon. It involves all the old school favourites such as sack races, wheelbarrow races, three legged races and high jump! We will have some of the schools attending the sports days at the same grounds and after a few weeks hope to have friendly competitions between the schools. We have limited sport resources at the moment but hope in the future to extend the range of games we play on the sports days. So if anybody has any old sports materials lying in their cupboard collecting dust and is thinking of coming out here we will gladly put them to use!

We had a practice sports day that involved the local teachers playing the games to demonstrate the rules. This turned out to be lots of fun and soon the children were following lead. We had sack races with Namalaka School coming first and then moved on to the wheelbarrow races where Hayo took the lead. Finally we had the high jump where Msosa proved best jumping impressive heights with no safety mat just the hard African soil.

We hope that the sports activities provided to the children help with fitness, improve self esteem and bring the schools closer together. Also we hope the program will encourage the children to continue these games outside of school hours therefore stopping them from using their free time to go to local cinemas where inappropriate films are being shown. It is this aim that has also encouraged us to set up football and netball teams in every school and we hope to have games arranged for every weekend again giving children something to do or watch that is fun and also good for them.

Two local teachers have been given the task of choosing the teams and organising the schedule of the games. There are 154 children for the seven football teams and 86 children for the netball teams. We expect that in the next week or so to have the games up and running. The games for the first few weeks will be friendly with the idea that once the children are fully committed we will begin a small competition between the schools. Then we have hopes to have a trophy that can be given to the winning school to keep until the next competition.

In every addition of the newsletter we will be updating you on the results of the games and any interesting snippets such as the best goals, best player and any unlucky home goals!!

Sports updates