Engaging the Community

Vincent

Contributor

“Growing up I wanted to be a public servant - maybe because I was surrounded by public servants in my family. I have a deep passion for community work. I grew up in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. I would say most of my life was privileged. Being the son of a teacher I had access to things like textbooks and support at home for school-related work. 

Going to college has given me the opportunity to be where I am today and I’m thankful for that. While I was in college I was an ambassador for a non-profit organization that reaches out to schools to help with mentoring students and providing guidance. I talked to students about how they can decide on a career and where to further their education after they finish high school. 

I’m a secondary school teacher by profession, but I just didn’t like the classroom setting where you meet with the exact same students every day in the same subjects. I learned that it wasn’t for me. I wanted to be fluid, to be out meeting different people every week and engaging them on different topics about their lives. Outside the classroom I’ve seen that a change in behaviour can happen very quickly when you are working one-on-one. But being in the teaching profession has given me that realization that the community relies upon its teachers to enlighten them on different issues in addition to the curriculum.

The biggest challenge that I’ve seen with young people is the lack of motivation. Most students go to school because they are told that they should. What do they want to achieve by going to school? They can’t seem to connect with the benefits of education. The second challenge they face is the lack of opportunities outside of the classroom. The only engagement they have during the day is with their teachers and other students. There is a lack of the extra-curricular activities that would spark new ideas and motivation for ideas beyond school. These opportunities outside of school are necessary to help develop them both mentally and physically. 

There are so many things that can be done to improve the situation. One of them is giving young people the space to explore other professions. For example, each day when they leave the classroom, most students go straight home. All they see is school and home. They need to go on field trips around Malawi. Of course it’s expensive, but it’s important to enlighten these students to other careers and possibilities. It would have to be an initiative of the teachers to give these students an idea of other professions and expose them to other areas of life outside of what they already know. 

Right now I’m interning at Arts and Global Health Centre in Zomba. The main goal is to have a community where everyone is free to be who they are. We aim to bring social change into the community and focus on action. We try to walk the talk.

We have an initiative to alleviate the suffering of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. One program we offer tries to develop new leaders from the colleges that we work with. The college students come up with different projects, mainly to properly educate others on the facts of HIV/AIDS. Another project is looking at HIV and discrimination. We try to eliminate discrimination through front line health care workers so that no one is left behind. The third program focuses on sustainable action where we engage with the community schools to have discussions, open up and act where they can to combat HIV epidemic through education of the youth. 

I hope to further my education so that I can increase my opportunities, broaden my knowledge and continue to grow as a community leader and public servant.”