When people ask what we did in Malawi, the easy answer to give them is, “We helped
build a school roof and a well wall.” Or, “We painted an orphanage.” But, truth be told, sharing my construction
skills with the people of Malawi was never
the purpose of the trip. I
went to 1) make a small impact on those I encountered—even if it was just making a Malawian child laugh at the silly
Americans doing the Hokey Pokey—and 2) I went to learn. About Malawi,
about myself, about my spirituality, and about service. And I believe I was successful in both of these goals. -Carolina
Fojo
As co-chair of Team Malawi, I was a leader in the fundraising of our
team. I played a role in each facet of our fundraising which included a trivia night, selling gift cards, and a pancake breakfast,
as well as providing information about our goals of the trip to community members of the Catholic Student Center.
On an individual basis, I had a letter writing campaign that was quite successful and paid for approximately half of my trip.
-Gregory Stock
This is serving by creating awareness – by having more and more people be conscious about the things that are happening
in Malawi and in the rest of the developing world, with the hopes that someday, I or those that I have talked to will be on
the right position from which to do something bigger and really reach out to those that are in need in so many places of the
world. -Jesús M. Figueroa
Our process of group presentations has probably been the most rewarding part of the trip for me. I have presented to groups at church, friends, and coworkers. I
have been so touched by people's interest and enthusiasm to learn. Some of the
people I presented to had little to no experience of the world outside the US, or even sometimes outside of St.
Louis. I have received so many blessings from the presentations as well as each one forces me to reflect
again on my feelings during and after the trip. Every time I tell an anecdote
from the trip to someone, I see it anew through their eyes; there's so much learning to be done from all of our experiences.
-Laura Riley
The trip raised so many questions for me—about what the people of Malawi need, what form service and aid should take, how to interact with
and provide aid for a culture so different from our own without hurting it, etc.—that I wouldn’t know where to
begin to best serve the people of Malawi. But what I can do and what I’ve been striving to do is share the stories of
the people we met, share what I saw and experienced in Malawi, keeping Malawi in mind when making decisions on political issues
that shape our world, and keeping Malawi in mind when making decisions in my own life—these are ways in which I can
do justice to my experience and the Malawian people everyday. -Mark Bartholomew
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