Please donate to my Team Dayā fundraising effort – all funds go directly to building schools. If you are curious about Building Change with Team Dayā, please contact our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen.
By Team Dayā member Vib Prasad
I returned from Malawi away humbled by my Team Dayā school building experience. But that wasn’t the real surprise. I had expected to be filled with gratitude for meeting with hard working people struggling to make life work in one of the poorest countries in the world. What I was not prepared for was the impact we would have on the community by showing up. The joy and gratitude the Nchetana community had for our efforts was authentic and contagious.
From the minute we arrived, we were serenaded by song and dance, and it seemed to follow us everywhere we went for the next week. That extended into our engagement with the community and beyond a surface level as our host families welcomed us into their homes and their lives.
Because we got our hands dirty and lived with the community, we were able to connect with them in a way I had not expected. As they told us, many people donate money, but few show up to walk a mile in their shoes.
Why did this matter? It taught all of us that we are more similar in what we want from our lives than we are different: men expressed a need to provide financially for their families, women expressed a need for greater equality while tirelessly working to care for their families and working at the same time. That commonality brought us closer together in a way I would have not experienced by simply writing a check.
Furthermore, the opportunity to spend time and get to know my Team Dayā teammates was a great way to make new friends and connections that will continue even after returning home. When the airlines lost my luggage, the rest of the team offered me clothes, toiletries, phones, and anything else I could imagine I needed from home.
Additionally, my host family, especially amayi (mother in Chichewa) taught me how to wash my one outfit everyday and survive like they did. Knowing I was surrounded by such generosity reinforced that I was with the right group of people who are looking to bring change one community at a time. That feeling of community and kinship is what makes me want to come back. I can’t wait for the next trip, I’m hoping to go to Nepal in the spring of 2024!
Please donate to my Team Dayā fundraising effort – all funds go directly to building schools. If you are curious about Building Change with Team Dayā, please contact our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen.
