We are delighted to announce that the fundraiser which previous RIPPLE Africa volunteer Vicki organised at Northampton General Hospital on 10 December raised the fantastic total of £1,500 which has been split equally between RIPPLE Africa and MAN (Malawi Association Northamptonshire).

The evening was a great success with about 100 people attending the event, including 10 previous RIPPLE Africa volunteers who joined in the fun. The Chargé d’Affaires from the Malawian High Commission, Mr James Ali, and his wife also made the journey from London to attend, and he gave a very good speech during the course of the evening.

Vicki and Clements, the MAN representative, organised a variety of events during the evening, the most popular being the drumming session with drummer Jerry Elliott, who had brought along about 20 African drums so everyone could have a go.

We’d like to thank Vicki and Clements for all their hard work to make the evening such a success.

If you would like to hold a fundraising event for RIPPLE Africa, please go to our Start Fundraising! page to find out how.

It’s a wonderful thing in life to be in a position to positively influence someone’s future – and it’s even more rewarding when that person is able to inspire you in return. Such is the story of Emily, an erudite and intelligent young woman from Malawi. Orphaned in her adolescence and left without any financial support, Emily’s struggle has been a difficult one. Emily had to fend for herself from a young age, and to support herself she worked diligently as a local pre-school teacher in the community. However, she still harboured the ultimate dream of being able to return to secondary school in an attempt to achieve the results she needed to apply to University. That’s where Anne and Stephen came in – two passionate RIPPLE Africa supporters from the UK – who saw Emily’s potential and made the personal commitment to give her that chance. It was Anne and Stephen’s sponsorship that afforded Emily the opportunity to return to school; however, it was Emily’s individual hard work and persistence which enabled her to rewrite her own future. In 2011, Emily graduated as one of the top students in her class, with scholastic results which should hopefully secure her the University place she has dreamed of. Her dream now? To empower women! She hopes to become a role model for women, and to be a shining example of the success women in Malawi can achieve. Watch the video to hear Emily’s dream in her own words – and take the opportunity to be inspired by Emily, an incredible young woman, who we believe is already every bit the role model she dreams of being.

To sponsor a deserving student like Emily, please get in touch with us.

RIPPLE Africa has uploaded a new video featuring some of the volunteers who have helped make a difference in 2011. The video is just a small example of some of the things our volunteers have been up to, and helps to paint a picture of volunteer life for those who have never been to Mwaya. Featuring Rob, Nikki, Emma, Nicola, Charlie, Marilyn, Vanessa, Will, and Patrick. We hope you enjoy it!

With our new website, blog feature, and Twitter and Facebook page in its infancy, RIPPLE Africa is delighted that the RIPPLE Facebook page has just tipped the 1000th mark, with over 1000 people now liking our charity page. As a grassroots charity with minimal staff in the UK (remember there are just three of us toiling away!) our blog and social media outlets are a really important way of allowing us to keep in touch with all our charity supporters. RIPPLE Africa’s success has always come down to hardworking individuals and volunteers who have made it possible for us to accomplish big things, without big costs. We want to keep that philosophy throughout everything we do, and Facebook allows us to feature the many special people who are making a difference to RIPPLE, and allows people to participate in what’s going on by spreading awareness through their own social networks, and just following RIPPLE news.

If you’re not a friend of our Facebook page already, please consider adding us, and help us get to the next 1000!

RIPPLE Africa star fundraiser, Emily Dynes, reached great heights on 3 January 2012 by climbing the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and raising over £3700 for RIPPLE Africa in the process!

Emily’s story is an inspiring example of how the hard work of a single individual can result in a huge difference to the lives of so many on the ground in Malawi. Unlike many of our community fundraisers whose link to RIPPLE Africa began through their volunteering experience in Malawi, Emily’s story is different. “I found RIPPLE Africa just by searching over the internet. I was looking for a charity doing astounding work either in Tanzania or in a country in that region of Africa. It was important to me that I chose a charity working in Africa rather than the UK as it was going to be the African people and their wonderful landscape that gave me the opportunity to go on this adventure. I searched for a relatively small charity that was somewhat unknown to the general public so I could raise awareness for the charity. I found a charity where I thought the money I raised could make a difference to a variety of projects; environmental to schooling to healthcare.”

Selecting RIPPLE Africa as her chosen charity was only half the challenge, as in addition to fundraising, Emily had to make sure she was fit for the climb, too. The trek itself was a difficult 6 day hike through snow and rain, with a 4.5 day climb to the summit, including a challenging final 6 hour climb through the night by torchlight to reach the summit at sunrise. Emily booked her journey through Action Challenge, a company which specialises in organised challenge events. She met other members of her group at the airport who had also signed up individually, but soon became a close-knit team, assisted by the help of professional guides. The fundraising however she had to organise on her own, doing everything she could think of to raise money: “I raised the money by standing in the tube stations with a bucket and a sign, explaining what I was doing. I work at a bar and luckily my boss is awesome and allowed me to put a collection pot on the bar. I was also able to do charity raffles on busy nights and even did cake sales and a sponsored silence- which when you work on a bar is not easy! All this on top of donations from family and friends meant I was able to raise a total of £3745.52.”

RIPPLE Africa is proud to have people like Emily working hard to support our charity, and we’re glad that the experience is equally fulfilling for her, too. “Overall the experience has been invaluable. It takes a lot of hard work to raise that amount of money and it was disheartening at times but always rewarding in the end. The trek itself was indescribably beautiful. It was worth the long days of hiking in the rain and snow, soaked through to my underwear to reach the magnificent views of the summit, meet so many wonderful people and make friends that I’ll share the unique experience with forever. I’d recommend anyone who has ever thought about taking on an adventure, such as my journey to Tanzania to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, to raise money for charity to just do it. You won’t regret it and RIPPLE Africa is a fab charity to raise for.”

In a special profile of the great work RIPPLE Africa volunteer Jenni Hutchinson undertook during her time volunteering at the end of 2011, fellow volunteer Nikki Scott paints a picture of what it was like to witness the birth of the first women’s football team at Kapanda:

“Well, it looks like Mwaya may have it’s first ever women’s football team. During my recent volunteer experience with Ripple Africa I witnessed Jenni’s passion for football and the enthusiasm she showed for teaching. So when she combined the two and created a girl’s football team at Kapanda Secondary School, a match was made.

In addition to the hours Jenni did in the classroom and the numerous tutoring sessions she gave, I am sure a highlight of her time in Malawi was the opportunity to not only play loads of football but also to coach. (Although, looking at the way Jenni was limping around by the end of her stay, I am not sure that her Achilles tendon appreciated how much football she was playing.) Anyway, after tryouts and so many training sessions that even a professional team would have trouble managing to keep up with, it was time for the girl’s first game. As it turned out, Chifira Secondary School already had two female football teams and brought both their A and B team with them for the big day.

It was wonderful to see how excited the girls from both teams were and you could virtually see their confidence and self-esteem grow before you. Jenni was mortified when she saw that the other team was wearing Man U shirts (one of her least favourite teams…she is an Arsenal supporter) and used it to fuel her pre-match pep talk to the girls.

The match was held on a very hot (even for Malawi) Saturday afternoon and when the girls had got over the novelty of wearing shorts, with many a nervous giggle, they were ready to hit the field. The girls played with great spirit and determination. Even though the game went for 2 hours and the Chifira girl’s had enough subs to put a whole new team on the field in the 2nd half, the girl’s kept fighting, despite defeat. After the game, the girl’s were already talking about when the next game would be.

Now it looks like the time is right for a Mwaya woman’s team as well and although Jenni wasn’t there to see it, on all accounts, there was a great turn out for their first training session, with the likes of Ester and Catherine bending it like Beckham. Hopefully it is a legacy that will continue in her absence.

Good stuff Jenni!”

(Nikki and Jenni volunteered during the same time period, from September to December 2011.)

RIPPLE Africa would like to wish all of our friends a very Happy New Year, and although 2012 has only just begun, we already have lots of exciting RIPPLE news to share with you. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be telling you about some of the amazing volunteers, donors, partners, and projects that have dominated RIPPLE life as of late, and we have lots of exciting videos from Malawi which we hope you’ll love. Make sure and check back to our blog frequently so you don’t miss anything, or join us on Facebook or Twitter!

First up to report is the story of Rob and Nikki, a husband and wife team who worked in Malawi as a volunteer doctor and physiotherapist for the last couple months of 2011. As a husband and wife team, Rob and Nikki had a unique volunteer experience being able to work together in a health scenario in Malawi, where there would be little room for cross-over in their home of Australia. You can read all about their story by clicking here. Rob and Nikki’s story is the second we’ve posted as of late, having also recently published the story of Patrick, who volunteered in the first half of 2011. You can read about Patrick’s story by clicking here.

Check back soon for more RIPPLE Africa news!

Vicki, one of RIPPLE Africa’s previous healthcare volunteers, has organised an event to raise money for RIPPLE Africa and for MAN (Malawi Association Northamptonshire) which will be held tonight, Saturday 10 December 2011, in the Function Room at the Cripps Recreation Centre at Northampton General Hospital, from 7:30pm to 11:30pm. Tickets are £10, and the evening features:

• Jerry Elliott: Professional African drummer from Northampton’s Ginger Pig Band
• Silvaa King: Zimbabwean rapper who will be singing at the Olympics 2012
• Malipenga Dancers: Traditional dancers from Malawi

Matt Round will be DJing, and there will be a bar all evening plus a raffle and a curio stall selling traditional African carved wooden items.

If you are in or around Northampton tonight and want to start your Christmas celebrations, then do come and join us!

Mother and son combo, Nicola and Will Adams, recently volunteered for RIPPLE Africa during the month of October.  The pair are our first mother-and-son-team of volunteers who have travelled to experience volunteering together- Nicola as a healthcare volunteer, and Will working on education and environmental projects.  The pair signed up to RIPPLE Africa just 6 weeks before beginning their volunteering, however in such a short time, they managed not only to organise themselves to prepare for their time in Malawi, but to organise a fundraising campaign too.  The pair have raised over £3000- an AMAZING feat in such a short space of time- and the money has been put to excellent use including bicycle ambulances, a much needed operation for a child in the community, and support for RIPPLE Africa’s ongoing projects in Malawi.  We just wanted to say a huge thank you to Nicola and Will for their hard work in Malawi, and their fantastic efforts in community fundraising for the charity.

As a thank you to their own donors, Will and Nicola have created the video below showing their time in Malawi and the way their donations were spent:

RIPPLE Africa really values our community fundraisers, who are the bread and butter of our charity’s financial support.  With our new website blog, we hope to feature more of our special fundraisers as they continue to meet their targets and make a huge difference to RIPPLE Africa.

For RIPPLE Africa, our staff are our family and make the charity and Mwaya Beach all that it is.  It is with this in mind that it has been a particularly sad year for RIPPLE Africa, as SIX members of our staff have died since January.  The most recent losses are those of Cheya (gardener and day watchman) and Peter (retired, but previously a gardener and manager) died, and we are asking volunteers and friends of RIPPLE Africa to make a donation in their memory so that we can help their families.

Cheya was born in 1939, and he started work at Mwaya Beach in 1996 with Kristin, the previous owner of the property. He is survived by a wife and eight children, the youngest ones being 2, 6, and 8 years old. He was a lovely man who was completely reliable and honest. He always had a smile, and it was reassuring to have him at Mwaya Beach. Latterly, he suffered some illness and died of heart failure.

Peter had been retired for several years due to poor health, but his son Lawrence (the gardener) has been working in his place. Previous volunteers will remember Peter who worked as a gardener and previously as a manager, and he helped Kristin to build many of the original buildings. He is survived by his wife and we are not sure how many children. He was a gentle, kind man who provided many years of loyal service to Mwaya Beach.

If you knew Cheya or Peter and would like to contribute to their families in their memory, please make a donation here.

Both men will be very sadly missed.