On 9th October 2017, a fresh wave of volunteers descended on Lilongwe,
Malawi, meeting their new team mates for the next 10 weeks before travelling to
their locations in either Dedza, Salima, Ntcheu or Zomba.
The Dedza team is made up of 12 volunteers including Team Leaders Ernest
and Jason who arrived in July. The placement is a partnership between the UK
government's International Citizen Service (ICS) programme,
human rights organisation International Service based in York, England and the
Centre for Youth Empowerment and Civic Education (CYECE) based in Malawi.
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| Dan Lloyd being abducted by aliens as the team attempt one of those 'everyone do a silly jump in the air' photographs.. |
The focus of the programme is girls' education; the challenges faced by
girls and young women which prevent them from accessing or completing their
education. The Dedza team will deliver sessions in schools around sexual
reproductive health and rights (SRHR), so areas such as teenage pregnancy,
contraception, HIV/Aids and STIs, early marriage and the importance of
education. They will also focus on anti-bullying programmes, peer education sessions
and advocacy meetings with community stakeholders and duty bearers.
So let's meet the team!
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| Daniel Kapitaapa |
Daniel Kapitaapa, 23, lives in Lilongwe, Malawi and studied a BSc in
Seed Systems at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He
said, 'in seed systems, we strive to make sure that the farmers have the
guaranteed access to quality seeds at the right time, place and price. This is
achieved by employing the organised mechanisms in plant breeding, seed
production and seed use continuum. We ultimately look at the whole seed
value chain'. He likes reading novels in his free time. He also likes
watching football and is a big Arsenal fan! Dan said, 'I am a go-getter
sort of a person. I believe that dreams without action are worthless. The difference
lies in translating those dreams into tangible actions. And that's the only way
the heroes are made'. If you want an intelligent insight into anything, please
speak to Dan.
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| Keri Heffernan |
Keri Heffernan is a 25 year old Primary School teacher
from Brighton, England. She said, 'I chose to volunteer with International
Service because as a teacher, I believe that everyone deserves an equal chance
at education. I love my job in England, but I wanted to take some time to help
children in a more marginalised country, who may not have such easy access to a
free and full education'. In her spare time, Keri really enjoys painting
and hopes to capture some of the mountainous Dedza scenes in paint, when she
gets back to the UK!
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| Neil Raw |
Neil Raw, 23, from York U.K. studied International Development at
University before completing a masters in Applied Human Rights. Since
graduating he has volunteered for International Service before deciding
to apply for ICS in order to enhance his understanding of development and
contribute to making a difference in the field.
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| Emmanuela Tsirizeni |
Emmanuela Tsirizeni (aka Nana, aka Nafe) is the youngest member of
the team. She's 18 and recently wrote her MSCE. She is participating in the ICS
placement before going to college. When asked why she joined, she said,
'it's because I want to be one of the change makers in my country so
I saw this as the best start for my mission'. She likes dancing 'very
very much to the point that I don't care what people will say about me' and
mostly Afro song's. She described herself as friendly, likes making
friends and crazy.... as well as being confident, smart... and short.
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| Meka Beresford |
Meka Beresford, 21, from Brighton England, is a journalist in London.
She said, 'I chose the ICS programme because I've been in education non-stop
and jumped right into a job after graduation. I wanted a break from the UK and
to experience a different culture'. She has a keen interest in human rights and
is considering doing a masters in the topic. Meka said, 'I think ICS will help
me decide if I wanted to do that!'. In her spare time, she creates playlists -
with the largest taking nearly 30 hours to play through once...
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| Brave Kamanga |
Brave Kamanga is 23 and from Mzimba (Enukweni), Malawi.
He recently completed his MSCE and joined the ICS programme to gain
confidence, make a change in his life and 'extend my thinking capacity'. He
loves football and chatting with friends. He is also our resident DJ...
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| Dan Lloyd. Yes, hes wrapped in bubble wrap... |
Dan Lloyd, 23, is from London and studied human rights with a minor
in media and communications at Kingston University. He chose to do the ICS
programme as it is relevant to his degree area and was excited about the chance
to live and work in a country with an unimaginably different culture to his
own. He has previously worked in Budapest! Dan is the guy who always has
something memorable to say.
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| Ethel Waya |
Ethel Waya is 24 years old and a Registered Nurse & Midwife
from Dowa, Malawi. She joined the ICS programme as she has a passion
to serve people and said, 'the placement is about serving people in the
community, so I took the challenge to change my world'. She loves music
and singing as well as dancing, although she admits she's not very good!
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| Aarom Mkindawire |
Aaron Mkandawire is 23 and from Rumphi District in the Northern
region of Malawi. He was an intern at Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) before
volunteering with ICS. He achieved the Malawi School Certificate of
Education (MSCE) and also holds an Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management
which he acquired from the Staff Development Institute. He joined ICS as he
is passionate about youth development and woman’s empowerment. He said,
'as we are working with girls it means I am automatically empowering women which
is an exciting prospect for me as this is the area I feel most passionate
about'. He also said he's a big fan of football!
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| Archie Barber |
Archie Barber is a 22 year old Film Studies graduate from London. He
spent three months as a salesman on the streets of Glasgow, 'peddling gas and
lekky' after graduating from Sterling University. He said, 'I joined ICS to
have a positive impact on the global community and to experience life outside
the western world'.
And finally, Team Leaders Ernest Kasinja and Jason Lunn
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| Ernest (left) and Jason |
Ernest is 29 and studied a BSc in Education. Prior to joining the
programme as the in-country Team Leader, he taught for 9 years! It has always been his passion to
empower the marginalised; promoting their rights to education and access to
services. He said, 'the ICS programme is a platform to reach out to people in
the hard to reach areas and contribute to the development of our country and
the world at large'.
Jason Lunn is our UK Team Leader, a Business Studies Teacher from
Lincolnshire, UK. He has worked in a number of areas prior to becoming a
Teacher, from human resources, product development and marketing to sales, recruitment, logistics
and customer service management. He said, 'I'm not sure why but for a very long time I've had this
vision of volunteering in Africa and now it has become a
reality. I'm 35 so with ICS it was now or never! It is an eye opening experience in so
many ways'. He recently learned to ski in the Austrian and French Alps and
hopes to do more after he completes the placement.
Look out for our video interviews with the team coming soon!
