big news

Breaking news yesterday took our breath away!

Shoe-Pal 2 has 1000 pairs of shoes sitting in her garage!!

Behind the scenes, Shoe-pal 2 and her mum Leeanne have been quietly going about the business of sharing the project with others. For Virginia and I this is a huge reassurance that others are behind the project and so willingly showing their support and encouragement.

We thank you with all our hearts!!

"are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin..."

Virginia and I met at the beginning of 2008 whilst undertaking masters studies in Public Health at Flinders University, SA.

Virginia came to Australia in February 2008 after being challenged by her country to compete for an AusAID scholarship. It has always been her dream to further her studies and return to Malawi to support her fellow citizens and having succeeded in the interviews came to Australia to study for a Master of Public Health: Nutrition. The course runs for a period of 18 months so Virginia returns to her beloved Malawi, husband and 3 beautiful children in July, 2009.

Virginia ia a teacher by profession attaining a Bachelor of Education degree majoring in Home Economics from the University of Malawi in 1999. Virginia went into teaching in a government high school for five years where she rose up to the postion of principal.

In 2004, Virginia joined the central government as a Principal Administrative Officer until the time when it was identified that her nutrition background was very important to 'beef up' capacity in the newly established Department of Nutrition and HIV/AIDS. This department, which is under the Office of the President and Cabinet, is mandated to facilitate nutrition requirements for people living with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable groups like under-five children, orphans, the aged, the disabled and all those prone to nutrition related disorders such as chronic heart diseases.

Virginia will therefore return to take up this 'humble and challenging calling' (her words) where she will be in close touch with the Ministry of Health and working as a Principal Community Nutrition Officer, Virginia will be directly involved with the affected groups as well as contributing in the formulation of nutrition policy guidelines.

And so the friendship began and grew over the months as we shared experiences, dreams, hopes for a better world and the possibilities ( ...and whether there actually were any?...) that could be investigated for somehow contributing to a more socially just and equitable world. Now what? Hmmm. Not so sure, we decided! Better take a bit more notice at those lectures we decided!

small beginnings

This is the first entry for the 'chimwemwe footprints project' - and hopefully a way in which friends and family around the world can watch a journey that began with a meeting between 2 students from opposite sides of the world at Flinders University, SA.

The decision to create a blog is a result of a sense that the journey needed somehow to be "diarised" (perhaps not a real word?) or somehow tracked so that (a) we could all see where we were at and how far we had come as well as how much we had learned and (b) to enable others to learn from our challenges (and very likely mistakes) as well as contribute with their thoughts and experiences. It is also a way in which Virginia's family and friends in Malawi can watch what is happening!

So as you share the journey, please remember that we are amateurs! If you have words of advice or support, hints or experiences of your own to share, please do so - that is part of the whole reason for sharing our experiences.