Muli Bwanji! (Hello!) My name is Henry Mhango, from the Join My Village team in Malawi.

I am originally from Rumphi District, on the lake shores of Northern Malawi and am the 7th born in a family of 8 children. I completed my Malawi School Certificate of Education at Nyika Private Secondary School and then went to college, being the only child in my family to do so.

After spending two and half years at Natural Resources College, I graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture in 2008. I immediately joined CARE as an intern on the Improving Livestock Production for Income Enhancement (I-LINE) project. I joined CARE because I was impressed with the organisation’s mission to support the improvement of livelihoods and capacities of the poor and marginalised.

In 2009 I joined the Join My Village project as a Field Advisor. In this post my main duties were to work with the community as one of the front line staff in sensitising them about the importance of sending a girl child to school, helping them establish Village Savings and Loans Associations, facilitating the construction of female teachers’ houses and distributing reference materials to selected Primary Schools. I am thrilled to be a part of an exciting and innovative project such as Join My Village and am very proud to have recently been selected for the new position of Join My Village Media Officer!

Being a part of the Join My Village team gives me the opportunity to participate in real change in rural communities in Malawi. As Media Officer, I can take this further to link the communities we support with communities in the US. I am looking forward to sharing the successes of the project with people in other countries throughout this year, and to also telling you some more about what life is like here in Malawi!

This year we can expect many new successes. We will see more girls going to school, more women economically empowered and able to save, more reference materials being distributed and utilised in primary schools, more new female teachers’ houses being constructed and teachers being accommodated. Watch my blog for new postings each week to keep you updated on what is happening in our villages in Kasungu district, Malawi!