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(NYASATIMES) Malawian volunteering project kicks-off this month

Malawian volunteering project kicks-off this month
By Nyasa Times
Published: November 6, 2009

Malawian Initiative for National Development (MIND) is to send ten 10 volunteering recruits this month to undertake various professional roles in Malawi following an assessment exercise the organisation has just carried out of Malawians living in the UK.

The ten will pilot the programme and this phase will last for periods ranging between four and six weeks.

“We are confident that we have recruited Malawians with positive commitment and compassion to volunteering,” said Malawi Ngwira, MIND executive Director (pictured).

“The volunteers are experienced in their fields of health and education, and have so far demonstrated the right volunteering dimensions such as good communication and facilitation skills, flexibility and adaptability, sensitivity to the needs of others, ability to work with others, as well as positive and realistic commitment to volunteering. We know that these are the essential qualities, skills, attitudes and behaviours that are essential for a successful volunteering initiative,” he said.

“The arrival in Malawi of the first cohort of pilot volunteers during the first week of November will mark the beginning of a new chapter of volunteering in Malawi. We feel MIND will provide the machinery for Malawians in Diaspora to contribute significantly to National Development in Malawi through Volunteering,” Ngwira said, adding “There is a large pool of Malawian professional skills in the United Kingdom which could benefit Malawi in various ways. We hope we will be able to tap from these skills.”

Based on the initial needs assessment, this first group of volunteers will work in close collaboration with the Director of Vocational Education and Training in the Ministry of Education, TEVETA and other key stakeholders in the Education Sector in Malawi.

The organisation aims at supporting current efforts on expanding vocational training access to rural areas and improving the provision for delivery of entrepreneurial courses to technical college students on campus as well as practising artisans.

MIND Diaspora volunteers will also work in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Malawi college of Health Sciences, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Bwaila Hospital and Kamuzu College of Nursing on issues of training and delivery of good quality health services.

The voluntary participation during this period will be guided by the existing national policies, plans and procedures and will be aimed at supporting such national and agency efforts.

Diaspora volunteers and host agencies participating in this partnership and program have an opportunity to learn from each other and maximize the use of resources, which will in turn improve the quality of education and health services to the intended beneficiaries and patients.

MIND is a Diaspora and Development charitable organisation whose mission is to formalize and coordinate volunteering efforts of UK-based Diaspora Malawians. It was officially launched in September 2008 in Aberdeen, Scotland by the Malawi High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Francis Moto and the function was also attended by Jack McConnell, MSP, the former First Minister for Scotland. In August 2009, MIND was officially registered as a Charity in Scotland.

During the past two years, MIND has developed working partnerships with the Scottish government, Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO), the Diaspora Volunteering Alliance (an alliance of 14 Diaspora Volunteering Organisations in the UK linked with VSO), the Scotland-Malawi Partnership (MSP) and the Malawi government.

MIND has also employed a coordinating officer in Malawi and plans are underway for the employment of a coordinating officer in Scotland.

MIND feels privileged to have the full support of VSO in London as well as fellow member organisations of the Diaspora Volunteering Alliance. In December 2008, MIND qualified for technical and financial support from VSO/DFID Fund for Diaspora Volunteering.

The organization held a planning workshop with technical help from two consultants from VSO London Office. The output of that workshop was a detailed Logical Framework which will guide MIND’s Programmes for the next 3-5 years.

MIND Executives have attended a number of courses organised by VSO in London on Diaspora and Volunteering, acquiring skills such on budgeting, project monitoring and evaluation. As a result, in December 2008, MIND carried out a comprehensive needs assessment, in Malawi including holding workshops with Government Officials, DFID and VSO Country Offices and other potential partners on the ground.

In addition to putting in place a Governance Structure, and developing the capacity of its members, MIND carried out a survey on Diaspora Volunteering in the United Kingdom. A large number of Malawians with varied professional skills living in the UK participated in the survey.

Consequent assessment exercises have been conducted from which ten Malawians living in the UK have been selected to volunteer in Malawi for a period of between four to six weeks

Labels: MIND (MALAWI)

posted by MrK @ 1:05 AM