“EVERY PERSON IS VALUABLE AND LOVED AND DESERVES A HOPEFUL FUTURE WITHOUT POVERTY“
We are based at Mitekete, on the road to Majete Wildlife Reserve in Chikwawa, a district in southern Malawi. We are working for a local Malawian organization called Gulugufe. Gulugufe means butterfly in Chichewa, the local language. And just like a caterpillar eventually undergoes the wondrous metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly we also want to see this metamorphosis in the life of every human being.
Seeing the effects of poverty on people in the broadest sense of the word touches our hearts. It moves us and brings us into motion. Poverty is not just material, but also a mindset and way of thinking. Poverty decreases your sense of dignity and makes you believe you do not matter. Poverty robs you of your freedom and creativity. It quenches your faith, hope and dreams for a better future. Driven by God’s love and compassion for the people we want to fight poverty together with other individuals and organizations.
For that reason we invest in relationships with people. This means that we often go and meet people at their homes to share our lives with them, pray for them, lend them an ear and encourage and stand beside them. This way we hope they feel loved and valued and come fully alive again and start living in their destiny and believing in a hopeful future.
In a country that is often plagued by hunger we support people to meet their basic needs such as food. We do this by promoting agro-ecological farming systems such as natural farming and permaculture. We do this through demonstration, education, mentoring and coaching. We see cooperation with other individuals and organizations as very important, so we collectively join forces in the fight against poverty.
Besides investing together in relationships and encouraging and coaching people, Paul is focusing together with some other Malawians on promoting agro-ecological systems and principles. Esther works as hostess with the volunteers and visitors we have. Together we hope to make their adventure in Malawi life changing and unforgettable.
We teach our children with a good curriculum in the way that they can enroll back in the Netherlands when returning in the future. We will home school our children which means that together we will teach them at home.