I have been to Malawi with Villages in Partnership twice, in 2018 and 2020. The purpose of our trips was to teach beekeeping to those in the remote villages as a way to supplement their income. The villagers are mostly subsistence farmers and, due to climate change, they have been experiencing years of drought. Their is no safety net in Malawi. If their crops fail, they don't eat. I have seen first-hand the difference that VIP has made in the villagers' lives. In the last 10 years, doing God's work by providing clean water, building schools and medical clinics, and teaching conservation agriculture, VIP has made a huge impact on the villagers' lives, lifting many out of crushing poverty.
Villages in Partnership is an amazing organization. They seek to make sustainable changes in one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi. I have been volunteering with VIP since 2011 and even had the opportunity to travel to Malawi to witness the change first hand. Check out their webpage to see the approach and be sure to support their good work!
This is a beautiful organization that has committed to an area of some of the poorest people in the world in Malawi. They thoughtfully approach all the root causes of
extreme poverty together, with a long-term perspective. The best part of VIP is how they treat the villagers they serve with respect, love, and dignity. They provide expertise, education, and resources to help the villagers lift themselves out of poverty - a hand up, not a hand out. Check out VIP. You will be amazed and inspired.
I have been volunteering with Villages in Partnership (VIP), a mission partner of my church, since January 2020. VIP's mission - fighting extreme poverty in the rural villages of Malawi, Africa - is important, and the needs they serve are staggering. Since VIP incorporated in 2012 as a nonprofit, they have made a real difference in the lives of the over 19,000 residents in their 26 partner villages: for example, they have drilled 43 boreholes (for clean water for the villages), built a secondary school, taught conservation agriculture practices to farmers, introduced beekeeping and other trades to provide new revenue streams, lead biannual medical mission trips to treat thousands of villagers, and completed many other initiatives, working side-by-side with villagers.
My part in their work is small: I help with their annual report and other donor-focused communication, and participate in planning for various fund-raising events, but from my vantage point I see not only what they've accomplished, but also the respectful way they partner with the villages to identify and prioritize needs and determine how best to work together to address them. VIP also works with villages and Malawi government to assure sustainability of their projects, long after the nonprofit has moved on to other initiatives: for example, villagers are trained to maintain and repair borehole wells, and the government hires teaching staff for the school.
I can highly recommend this organization as a deeply committed team of professionals who are saving and changing lives in one of the most impoverished corners of the world.
My first interaction with VIP was when I attended a Friendship Trip to Malawi in 2017. It was a life changing experience for me. VIP staff in the United States and Malawi were professional, competent and caring. VIP has subject matter experts on the ground in Malawi to guide trip members in the rural villages to better understand issues of food security, water quality, economics, and education in a process that respects the Malawians that we visited. I highly recommend VIP.
Villages in Partnership lives out its mission and core values in all that it does. I'm proud to support and participate in its work.
I went to Malawi in 2012 with Villages in Partnership (VIP) and could not believe the impact that VIP was making on the lives of some of the poorest of the poor in our world. I became a Board member the next year and am still a Board member. I have watched the organization grow, adding a diversity of talent to the Board as well as to the staff both here in the U.S. and in Malawi. VIP's focus is all about sustainability - building schools, health clinics, wells, economic infrastructure, and knowledge - so that the villagers in Malawi can rise out of the lowest levels of poverty. It is truly an amazing organization.
I have been apart of VIP for 10 years. I have seen the impact they make on the daily lives of the villagers. Wells dug, schools built, farmer training, health care accessibility only to name some of the powerful impact it has had and continues to have.
My first experience with VIP was on a medical and dental mission trip. We were so impressed with how VIP was building sustainable projects within the villages and truly partnering with the villagers to understand their needs. Seven trips later and I am still learning and growing from my friends in Malawi!
Villages in Partnership has changed not only my life, but the life of thousands on the ground in Malawi. I have been involved with VIP for three years and have visited Malawi twice and seen so much progress in such a short time. The organization continues to grow and evolve, furthering the mission of expanding access to water, education, healthcare, food and financial security, and improved infrastructure for the villages in the catchment area.
The philosophy of VIP is different than that of so many other non-profits combatting poverty. Instead of giving the villages wells, food and money, VIP empowers people and teaches the villagers so that they can maintain their own wells and enhance their farming methods to increase production. This is what makes VIP such an amazing organization!
It is difficult to put into words how visiting Malawi impacted me. It was more than four years ago and the trips are not long yet it left something in me.
For one thing I realize more than ever how unjust the world economics are. We have so, so much while far more have so little and it becomes very real when you witness it. The poverty in Malawi is extreme and is very different from what you see on the news about 'slums'. There is no garbage or homes made from cardboard.......they use bricks made from the earth and have nothing to produce garbage. I am conscious of every none essential I buy. I even feel wrong in buying food for my plants (eg. fertilizer!) I cannot bear to waste water.
My husband and I support other worthwhile charities but because I have seen Malawi first hand I know exactly how the money raised has impacted the villagers lives. I saw immense joy when we have them things as simple as flip flops or toothpaste. And they are helping themselves which is the best part, they truly are working alongside Villages in Partnership.
To anyone thinking of going there I would say, if it's in your heart, definitely make the trip. You truly will see the world in a different light and will see what a difference giving makes.
http://villagesinpartnership.org/
Review from #MyGivingStory
