Solving Problems with 3 questions

For a year volunteering in a small village in the Sub-Saharan African country known as Malawi it was a new and challenging experience. There are many issues, and this leads to many more opportunities to assist others. These opportunities pose three questions. Now, these questions do not have a particular order and may be used in any way depending on the situation.

The first question being 'Who should be assisted?' The first step to take is in searching for local institutions. Usually, these organizations form groups that have set goals in change-making activities. These organizations include schools, churches, and hospitals. The best option that was presented during this time of volunteering was the local hospital. It's Environmental Department, which holds a focus on community health and education had started a group of community members that were representatives of each of their tribes.

The second question is 'What is the problem or theme that is being addressed?' The name of this group was 'CHAG', the Community, Health, Action, Group. It was an umbrella organization set to cover many topics on community health. Their goal was to educate and develop initiatives to reduce and prevent issues such as HIV, Malaria, and malnutrition. Every other week a meeting on these various topics was held in a different village that had circled the hospital. The community and institutions that were reached out to where heard out about their individual problems and these issues were reported back to the hospital and Environmental Department.

After finding the group and understanding their goals it is time to think about the third question. 'What skills or methods can be utilized to assist others?' Project Management utilized Needs Assessments and research methods to map out plans on addressing issues and execution of projects. Learning the language was important in speaking with team members and community members, developing rapport. Behavior Change communication skills take harmful actions and allow someone to adapt useful methods and messages to address these actions in an effort to promote healthy actions. Monitoring & Evaluation assess the performance of projects. Data and Information management collects notes and documents that contribute to projects and organizations to further their growth.

Teaching has its many challenges in the classroom and with producing the right teaching materials. Another challenge comes with the responsibility and protection of the children. Some schools in Malawi still practice corporal punishment. Though there was no abuse of hitting at this school the children were mistreated in some respects. For example, children if misbehaving were made to dig to the roots of tree stumps, which could be 4 to 5 feet deep then pull the stump out from the ground. Added with extreme heat this seemed more like unjust torture. Meeting with the principal of the skill and explaining the harm of this method was met with resistance to stop it. This brings up the three questions. The issue was the mistreatment of the children. The organization that was the most appropriate to contact on this matter was the Parent, Teacher Associate. Speaking with this leader of an organization that has the best interest of the students was met with understanding and an urge to take action. The method of this issue being solved was communication. He had spoken to this organization and in turn, they had a meeting with the principal to create a better solution. After a week the teachers at the school were told that there would be no more stump cutting.