Why Malawi?

The short answer: Malawi's there. I attend Flood, a church in San Diego. Flood has been intimately involved with the people of Malawi for years. We've done some wild projects. In 2004, Flood took our worship band and a soccer team overseas and played exibition games against the best teams in Malawi. This year we are hosting Leadership Summit, a time for strengthening the future and present leaders of Malawi. Those leaders are young. Life expectancy, due to the HIV epidemic, is about 37 years. I'm 29. If I were the average Malawian male, I'd have eight years left in me. So I've decided to live as if that were true.

Malawi's there. I am in a place in life where working for the people of Malawi makes sense. My surroundings are Malawi saturated. At the same time, Malawi is one of the poorest nations in this world. Follow this link and see the GDP per capita: you'll have to scroll to the bottom. I relish the chance to siphon some money out of the richest nation and pour it into Malawi. Beyond this, Malawi is stable. Malawi has had a history of relative peace. No civil war, warlords, or other difficulties. That makes any present project that much more likely to last.
And any useful project needs to last. Malawi will soon have 1 million orphans. That's in a nation of 11 million total people. AIDS related deaths have left a generation without parents. It is difficult to expect Malawi to continue as a stable place when nearly ten percent of its population will be struggling to survive. These children need to be supported.
So soon I will set foot in Malawi for the first time. I will be keeping my eyes wide open, looking for new ways to meet old needs. I don't know what I will see, but I am excited.