(Almost?) Missed a deadline...

Having been back for about one and a half month right now I finally made up my mind as to whether I would like to try for this subsidies after all. 

I have been having quite a few troubles with my journey to Malawi and the subsidies possibly provided by Worldsupporter, and have been trying to make up my mind ever since I returned. I will try to explain in the following message: 

My trip to Malawi was, as I expected, absolutely one hundred percent phenomenal. It was everything I expected it to be and so much more. Our local expedition leaders, Godfrey and Aisha, managed to teach us so much about the culture and habits in Malawi, the people were so extremely friendly and, in the end, we managed to do some things of which I cannot even imagine the consequences for the community. 

I went on this journey with a realistic image of what I would be doing: two and a half weeks in Africa of which only a small part consists of actually being active in volunteering in the communities would in no way be enough to even begin changing the world, and I was fully aware of this. Yet somehow, the journey made me feel useless in ways one cannot imagine. What you see in a country like Malawi, is poverty everywhere, and even though you barely notice it when talking to the people - since they are all so happy and friendly - this leaves its marks. Seeing and noticing this made me feel as if the things I had done were no where near enough to even help anyone, and it felt not like something extraordinary I had done, but as something everyone should at some point do for another person in his/her life, be it the way I did it, by traveling and doing some volunteering, or donating money to reliable causes. It felt las if I had been doing this more for myself than to help other people, because I felt I had done only so little to help others. As a result of this, I got a sense of guilt at the thought of asking money back for this, as I have absolutely no regrets spending it on this trip. 

Coming home did not leave me with a tremendous culture-shock, but I kept thinking about my trip and finally, I have come to the conclusion that, perhaps this journey did not end with my return. But in order for this to turn out that way, I am going to have to do something. 

As I mentioned before perhaps we have been participating in projects - some of which have been finished by our successors - that have changed the lives and futures of a small group of people in ways we cannot imagine, and I must not forget that we - as a Worldmapping group -  can be proud of what we did. And I am. 

-Nina