St Paul's Church Youth team visit Malawi

Team trips allow our supporters, volunteers and sponsors to learn more about Hope4Malawi’s work in rural Malawi, engage in educational projects, and experience the local culture.

The first visit by St Paul’s Church Youth in July will become a regular, bi-annual trip for students who have just completed A-levels or are in their first year of university. 

Hannah Senior, a member of the visiting team, shares her experience:

This summer, Hope4Malawi gave us, a group of youth/young adults from St Paul’s Howell Hill, the opportunity to travel to Malawi to volunteer in partner schools and meet the students they sponsor.

We ran a holiday club and lessons at Tapani Primary School, led lessons at Chipwepwete Primary School and Hope Secondary School, and got “stuck in” at Hope Skills Centre.

Hannah with sponsored student, Praise.

It was a wonderful opportunity for us to spend time focused on serving God and getting to know the Malawi team, as well as the Youth Development Programme (YDP) and the university students who enabled their work by translating.

We also assisted with Ufulu lessons (as part of Hope4Malawi’s physical, mental, reproductive health and wellbeing course for teenagers), helped with feeding programmes and joined the YDP students on community visits.

It was amazing to see the impact of these initiatives and to be a part of blessing the Malawians.

We felt welcomed by the locals, and by the end of the trip, we were cooking together, worshipping, praying, and playing music, as well as playing football and volleyball and having long conversations as friends, rather than foreigners.

Sharing and caring – meeting sponsored student, Culture

Ben meets Culture for the first time.

Ben Sindall, one of the St Paul’s Youth on the visit, had the opportunity to visit his family’s sponsored student, Culture Mandikissi, who is in Form 3 at Hope Secondary School.

Reflecting on this, Ben says: “I had the incredible honour and pleasure of meeting Culture, my family’s sponsored student.

“Every time we met, he would always be so eager to learn, pleased to see us, and always positive. And his attitude in school was one that any teacher would love for all students to exhibit!

“During the time we spent with him, he never asked for anything, complained, or said anything negative. When I saw his living conditions, I was particularly impacted. He has been living alone since the age of 14 (to enable him to go to Hope Secondary School), lives a 40-minute jog away and his "house" was a brick cuboid with an empty maize sack as a bed.

“I had seen similar houses earlier in the trip, but getting to know Culture first made it all the more impactful. I can learn a LOT from him about being grateful for what I have and not always seeking material possessions, and so I aspire to be as content and positive as he is. He has big dreams and a complimentary attitude that will take him far.”

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Can you help a child in Malawi?

Thanks to the support of our partners, sponsors, fundraisers and volunteers, Hope4Malawi's Youth Development programmes, school building projects, resourcing initiatives, and student sponsorships continue to provide life-changing opportunities for children in rural Blantyre.

For further information on how to get involved, please contact us.