Meeting Malawi

My first time in Malawi  

   Hello friends of KATW, I'm so glad that you dropped by to see what your favorite altruistic knitting artist is up to! My name is Ashley Sullivan and I have the distinct pleasure of being Kelly's volunteer for her Malawi 2014 trip as well as her contributing blogger while I accompany her. We've been friends for 15 years now and getting to know this side of her has given me new insight into the woman she has become. I will never be able to thank her enough for a giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity. If you have the chance, I seriously recommend going on an exotic, spur of the moment trip, especially if a great friend is involved. 

   As many of you know KATW is a charity that works with organizations who provide services for people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi (and hopefully in the future many other countries). Although I knew what KATW did, I didn't fully understand the whole concept until I arrived here on Sunday afternoon. 

   Our arrival was met with a parade, dancing group, and the military honor guard dressed to the nines. Honestly it really was. Now it wasn't meant for us necessarily, it was actually for their newly elected president who was just arriving back home from the African summit being held at the White House. This small detail however did not dampen our spirits and we took the celebration as a great way to be greeted to Malawi. This being my inaugural visit, I seized the opportunity to wave my most presidential wave as others looked on wondering who this strange and rather egotistic girl was. I'm sure many just chalked it up to jet lag.
   We then proceeded thru customs with little problem. The only odd part being we had our temperature taken before we got to the line to have our passports stamped, I'm sure as a precaution due to the current Ebola epidemic. Kelly and I picked up our bags with no problem and proceeded to exchange some of our money. Now I am far from poor, broke yes, poor no and exchanging money here made me feel quite blessed to have been born in a country, that while struggles, still is far ahead in its economic stability than a lot of countries, Malawi included. This point was driven home while we waited for our arranged ride to pick up his other passenger.

   We had our stuff brought to the car by men who were very eager, pushy even to help us, they of course wanted tips. I thought to myself sure, they work for him (our driver) then I realized that they were not his helpers, only aggressive helpers that look for those who may have cash that they would part with easily. It's hard to say "no, sorry" when I see they're very worn but clean clothes and know they experience hunger much more than I, but I was advised that giving would cause more problems than help. Tough love I guess. The men left and we waited enjoying the sun, well I was enjoying the sun, and just absorbing all that I could.
   I watched people arrive and depart, listened to the cheers and music in the distance and then noticed a group of young children around 6-7 yrs. old wander about and walk past us. Now, Kelly and I are on one side of the vehicle, chatting and seemingly oblivious to what is around us. To keep the vehicle cool its windows were rolled down. The kids spot us and kept walking around the other side of the car. I think they pass, but can hear some giggling, so I turn and see the kids with their hands in the window attempting to open one of the pockets of my pack back. They see me spot them and all jump back with a look that a young one has when they've been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. The smallest ones' face changes quickly to a very adorable, angelic smile and says "you give me money, you buy me food". His expression tied with his thick Malawian accent, extremely shabby clothes and absolute sharp wit made me laugh so hard! I just stood their laughing at the absurdity that this is really happening to me right now, and not in some movie laden with African orphan archetypes. Shaking my head no and laughing, they ran off.
   Shortly after, our driver arrives apologizing for the wait. It is of course no problem and we all climb in and set off to our final destination. For Kelly and I it was World Camp. The drive was beautiful. The scenery was exactly what I expected, but incredibly more stunning in real life. Seeing the mountains in the distance, watching the people fly by on the side of the road kept my usual talkative self, very quiet. I wondered about the people, where they were going, how long it would take them and if they made the trek often. Lost in my thoughts I didn't realize we had arrived. Our ride was over before I was ready. Yet as soon as we dropped our bags in our room, my body, having only gotten a few hours of light napping, was ready to crash and I let it. This was my introduction to Malawi. 

   

  

Working hard for the Partnership

This morning we had an early meeting with NAPHAM which was very successful. I'm excited that we will be working together another year and I think we are growing a lot in our partnership. We have worked out some of the kinks of our program so that everything will be more efficient and very beneficial to both our organization and theirs. I love talking with other leaders of organizations to share mutual goals and really feed off each other's energy and enthusiasim to make the world a better place and I'm pleased that Knit Around the World is doing that. Today I learned that NAPHAM has even worked with Heifer International before so that is an avenue that I'm hoping to explore. Possibly we can work to get Heifer to give some support groups animals with fur or fiber that can be made into yarn or help with turning cotton into yarn. This effort would really support the community development drive of our organization. 

Here is a picture from the bridge on our walk to NAPHAM headquarters. Tomorrow we are excited about meeting with the Mtsiliza group to check on their progress and see how we can assist with their marketing and expansions.

Our Day at the Lighthouse Program

Ashley and I had an amazingly productive day. We met with the Executive Director, Sam Phiri (pictured below) of the Lighthouse Program (as mentioned in previous posts) as well as the Head Coordinator of the Home Base Care section, it is located at the Kamuzu Central Hospital. We got a wonderful tour of the facility which provides counseling, ARV's and care for people living with HIV/AIDS. It was great to learn so much about the benefits they offer. Here is their group education room: 

They discuss many topics such as how HIV is contracted, the importance about taking the ARV's, how to prevent further transmission, how to take care of yourself when living positively, and other guidance from NAPHAM and other organizations.

It was fantastic to speak with Daneck, the Head Coordinator of Home Base Care, about possible support groups we can work with as well as what the future goals of each orgnization are and how we can support each other to accomplish them. It was encouraging to see that we have similar goals we wish to achieve and I'm looking forward to working with some of their support groups. Feel free to check out their website to learn more about their organization: www.mwlighthouse.org. We also learned that the Lighthouse program was one of the first clinics to open in Malawi dedicated to helping individuals living with HIV/AIDS. They work with many international organizations (hopefully add our name to the list) such as the US CDC. I feel so reaffirmed in my committment to Knit Around the World and our goals. 

Tomorrow I'm meeting the Executive Director of NAPHAM, Master Mphande, to work out our new partnership agreement and check in with the groups' progress. 

While walking through town we also saw a sign of another HIV/AIDS organization that we will want to look into working with in the future, the Coalition of Women Living with HIV/AIDS. Maybe they will also prove to be a great organization to partner with in the future. 

Thanks for following us on this incredible journey.

Take me back to the Warm Heart of Africa, Malawi!

Once again I am on my way back to Malawi, the warm hear of Africa to work with HIV/AIDS individuals teaching them knitting as Knit Around the World. I'm very lucky to have a good friend join me on this trip, Ashley. This will be her first time in Africa so I'm sure it will be a very exciting and information adventure. Our day of traveling has been very exhausting, we were on the receiving end of a downpour in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia when switching planes. We have received a lot of donations of yarn and knitting needles which will be really helpful. We look foward to working with the groups this week and the next. As it is Sunday most shops are closed so we are enjoying some of the food that we brought with us. 

Tomorrow is a big day where we are going to meet with the Executive DIrector of the Lighthouse Program at Kamuzu Hospital (as mentioned in a previous post). Hopefully this meeting will turn out really well and will allow us to form a partnership and give us another chance to expand and work with more individuals. 

Here is a beautiful picture of the Malawi flag flying in the wind:

T minus 1 month!

There is only 1 month until I journey back to Malawi for 2 weeks to work with more groups. We've been doing a lot to prepare for this visit. I have a wonderful friend coming with me, Ashley, who is incredibly excited for her first trip to Malawi. I would love to hear about the types of stories you are looking forward to hearing about our trip, please leave a comment!

Last month I met with the owner of Gather Here in Boston, MA. If you are ever in the are I suggest a trip. Gather Here is a wonderful store that sells many crafting items such as yarn, fabric, buttons and offers many creative ideas, patterns and classes.

I hope that Gather Here can help us spread the word about our organization. 

This month we also applied to be a vendor at Crafty Bastards in Washington, DC this fall. If we are selected to be a vendor I hope that many of you will stop by to check out our items for sale. 

We are also looking into a monthly email newsletter but are still in the development phases, keep tuned for when we have more information.

Are you interested in helping spread the word about our organization? Please email us at info@knitaroundtheworld.org. We are always looking for people to reach out in their communities for support, donations and yarn drives. 

Anniversary Excitement!

Hey Everyone!!!
Thanks for checking up on our amazing updates, now you get to hear about the awesome stuff we are doing in May, our Anniversary Month!!!! We've been in existence for 2 years now and because of that we are offering a great deal on our KATW products for sale. If you haven't checked out our Etsy Shop, now is a great time to check out the knitted items for sale by our HIV/AIDS groups in Malawi because we are offering a 20% discount.When you are checking out just use the code 2YEAR to get the discount and use it soon, it's only for the month of May.
Another great thing that we are doing during our anniversary month is a raffle giveaway that will cost you nothing! Check out how to enter to win some awesome KATW logo ware, a mystery scarf and a picture and story book of our August 2013 trip to Malawi. This raffle ends on May 31, 2014 so make sure you check it out soon!

Here is a look at what our prize pack looks like!

If you don't want to enter the raffle we'd love to have your feedback of how you want to learn more about us and what types of products you'd want to purchase so please take a moment and fill out our Services Survey to let us know!
Thank you so much for your support and I can't wait to tell you more about our happenings in May! Don't forget to check out the updates on our website where we have provided you with more information about our organization!

We got our 501(c)(3) tax exemption!!!

Hey supporters!
I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their support over the past 2 years helping us get this amazing non-profit off the ground and we've made serious leaps and bounds! Over the next month there were be some great things happening at Knit Around the World. Currently we are working on updating our website with more information and we are planning some great surprises for May, our anniversary month! Please keep an eye towards our Facebook page and this blog for updates.
One thing we are planning is a weekly blog post (time permitting) where I keep you up to date with our plans and how you can help. I will also rolling out a survey for you to fill out to let us know what you are interested in seeing from us in terms of products, involvement and communication. There might even be prizes for filling out the survey!!!!

About 501(c)(3) Status

Due to the fact that we just recently received our change in status it is taking some time to make adjustments to make sure that anyone who donates gets a letter to verify their tax deduction, whether through mailing a check, paypal donation or knitting needles/yarn donations. There is a lot for us to learn so please be patient with us as we learn how to navigate through these new waters.

New Board Members!

I also wanted to mention that we have 2 new board members, Natasha Levinsohn and Kristin McGinnis. You may remember Natasha from our trip to Malawi last August. I'm very excited to welcome them to the board, I know they will bring refreshing ideas and perspectives.

Again, thank you for all your support!