What I do now in Africa is my real passion, this is the path to follow. “This is certainly not the life I had in mind for myself. I dreamed of a career, Marry, a family", but I never regretted it ”, she says. "I really believe this is the path to follow". The choice to go to Malawi was made by my sister Amanda. She did an internship here and, after winning a major prize from the Vodafone Foundation, she went back for a year to help rebuild the children's section. I went to see her and was hit by the extreme poverty. It makes you think. What I do is really so important now? And maybe I can mean more to the world than what I do with my current job? I worked at Tommy Hillfinger in Amsterdam. Working in a fashion company is very different. I learned a lot during my studies and during the years that I worked here. Life lessons that have been valuable and have shown me that what I do now in Malawi is my real passion. Babies die here because the mother dies during or just after delivery or because the mother is not breastfed. One day I was severely malnourished, sick baby pushed into my hands. A girl named Maria, that weighed less than a kilo. ,,No one was there to take care of her. If I didn't do it, she would certainly die ”. I walked around with her on my chest for weeks. There was no turning back. I couldn't leave Maria anymore. I decided to adopt Maria and because I did not want to take her away from her environment I settled in Malawi ”. From my savings I went to buy baby food and bottles and feed babies in the capital ”. This was not available in the hospital and the families could not afford it. Most babies could go back home to a grandmother or aunt with this little extra help. But there were also a number of children who would certainly die in the village because of very difficult home situations. For example, I was able to prevent the twins Patrick and Patricia in the nick of time, then two months old, were buried alive with their deceased mother because the father believed he could drive out such evil spirits or 2-year-old Esther, who was so undernourished as a baby that her head doesn't want to grow and the 3-year-old Queen, who was raped because of the superstition that AIDS can be cured by sex with virgins. And then all those children who are infected with HIV. Living in a remote area in Malawi is certainly not easy, but what I can do for people here is so much more than what I can do in the Netherlands. I run with help from 9 babysitters a children's home where on average such 20 children live. I do this work voluntarily, share my bedroom with 3 children and just eat with the pot. I am very concerned about the major food shortage. Weekly I drive to the villages to bring baby milk powder and Likuni Pala to the families who are in the milk project. The whole family is supported with baby food, food, clothing, medicines, education and other basic necessities. The family participates in the agricultural project to become more self-sufficient. I help them with repairs to their cabins so that there is a door and it is waterproof in the rainy season. In the winter period I hand out many blankets. I also provide small-scale micro credits to help the family on their way. At the moment there are such 150 children in the milking project. It is a great responsibility and it often takes a lot of effort to make ends meet. Back to the prosperous Netherlands? No. , Who should take care of these children?”.
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