Highlights from our incredible IMMERSE trip to Malawi!

In May 2024, we hosted four of our supporters from the USA for a one-of-a-kind Sonder Project immersion.

We prepared an in-depth and rewarding 1-week program for our Immerse team to engage with each of our program areas in Malawi: Education Is Power (Student Sponsorship); Water Is Our Right (Clean Water); Strengthening Schools.

Our Sonder Immerse participants hail from all across the USA – Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, and Florida – but they are united in their support of The Sonder Project and came together to witness the impact of The Sonder Project’s work firsthand and embrace the five tenets of the Immerse experience: Immerse, Learn, Connect, Serve, Share, & Grow.

Our Immerse team upon arrival on their first day posing with Kasungu Mountain

Our first stop was the community of Galileya, where The Sonder Project’s sponsorship program first started in Malawi, and where we’ve constructed two school blocks and distributed textbooks.

We experienced an absolutely ecstatic and joyous welcome ceremony for our IMMERSE team thanks to the community members and primary school students, who came together for performances, speeches, music, and a transfixing “big dance” that will stay in our memories forever.

Dannielle with a local cultural dance troupe

In Galileya, we held a two-day ‘Education Is Power’ workshop for 25 of our sponsored students to engage, share, have fun, and collaborate with our supporters from the USA.

Our team had the opportunity to learn more about each individual Power student through a series of exercises, performances, discussions, and games that also enriched our Power students with skills around language, decision-making, and team-work.

It was a profound milestone for us that our visitors could witness the talent and sheer potential of our Power students — so they could understand and share why we work so hard to support each student with the resources they need to succeed academically and complete secondary school.

Tabatha, and our Education Coordinator, Jervas (right), celebrate with their group after being awarded best skit.

Our Immerse team also had the opportunity to spend a few days living with a local host family from the Matundu community. The homestay experiences of our supporters was nothing short of magical. From the jubilant welcome to the loving farewell a few days later, our team felt right at home with their host families from the moment they arrived in Matundu.

Both households, with their amayi (mom), abambo (dad) and their children were incredibly gracious and generous despite their resource limitations.  They taught each other games, showed our Immerse team where they collect water and the best techniques for washing clothes by hand, and most nights ended with dancing and laughter.  They call it the warm heart of Africa for a reason!

Dannielle and Mary pictured with their host family.

And we couldn’t forget the primary school students! After a few days working with secondary school students, our Immerse team had the chance to spend some time with Grades 1 – 7 at Matundu Primary School, where The Sonder Project has constructed new school blocks.

 The team was able to play fun games to practice English with the younger kids, conduct open discussions with the older students, and lead math pop quizzes with the students in between. Everyone loved the interaction, and we only wish we had more time. It was hard to say goodbye to the Galileya community!

Tabatha calls on students to answer a question.

The second phase of our Immerse program brought us to Chiwinga, a much more remote and mountainous area consisting of multiple communities, about 2 hours north of the town of Kasungu where our offices are located.

We have worked with the chief and the community members of Chiwinga extensively, and we were excited and proud to showcase some of these projects with our team of supporters, especially our clean water initiatives that empower women and girls. But not before another beautiful welcome ceremony in the community of Lundewa!

Mary introduces herself to the community using Chichewa language.

Our first activity in Chiwinga was to understand the evolution of the water issues in the surrounding communities in the area.

In the community of Lundewa, for example, where we have distributed low-cost water filters in the past, and are now in the process of drilling a new deep-water well, our Immerse team walked with community members to a local stream where women would typically collect water from unclean hand-dug wells. Our visitors were able to understand first-hand how time-consuming and difficult it is to gather water and transport it back home through these areas. We also were able to get a demonstration from community members on how to prepare, use, and maintain the affordable water filters that The Sonder Project distributed in 2022 , and how the filters have contributed to a dramatic drop in water-borne illness in the community.  

The Immerse team walks uphill after collecting water from the local stream with women in the community

Empowering communities with access to clean water is one of our 4 core program pillars, so it was invaluable for our Immerse team to engage with our deep-water wells first-hand and understand the impact they are having on women in our partner communities and their families.

We spent time visiting three other villages in Chiwinga where The Sonder Project has drilled deep-water wells.  Through the use of surveys and group discussions with community women, the Immerse team was able to gather a wealth of impact data demonstrating the positive changes that result from the wells. It was exciting to document so many stories of reduction in water-borne diseases and absenteeism for children, more time and productivity for mothers and fathers, reduced cost and increased household income, and overall improvements in well-being and happiness of families!  

Dannielle works with our translator, Laura (left) to interview one of the women benefiting from a Sonder well.

Strengthening Schools starts with building the foundation – literally!

Our Immerse team had the opportunity to join community members in Chiwinga to help lay the foundation for a new school block that will improve the quality of teaching and learning for hundreds of rural primary school students in the area.  

Dannielle moves some concrete to help in the construction of the new building.

The final stop on our Immerse itinerary was Chayamba Secondary School — a fitting culmination to our trip as it combines three of our four program pillars — Education, Clean Water, and Strengthening Schools.

At Chayamba, a public boarding school in Kasungu where we sponsor 20 students, we installed a full solar-powered water distribution system last year to provide clean water to students, teachers, and staff — improving the overall quality of education and life on the premises. Our supporters were able to tour the campus with the headmaster, seeing how clean water flows to dormitories, classrooms, staff quarters and the kitchen.

They also had the chance to sit down with all of our Power students at Chayamba to hear about their experience before and after the water system was installed. The students told us about their Improved sanitation and hygiene, more time gained to focus on studying, and a healthier, happier academic experience overall. We are super proud of this project and so glad our Immerse team was able to visit!  

Our team sat down with our Power students from Chayamba to hear firsthand the impact of the Sonder water system.

We are so grateful to our amazing team of supporters who enthusiastically immersed with us! From collecting data, to shoveling cement, to public speaking in the local language, to giving lessons to students, to living with families in the community, and much more, our Immerse supporters dove right in and walked away with a positively memorable experience that they will never forget.

We couldn’t have done it without our local Malawi staff, our photography & video crew, and not to forget our translator, driver, and our amazing cooks! It was beautiful to see how well everyone worked together as a team to create a lifetime of memories and impact from a 1-week itinerary. We are proud to grow our Sonder family and share our IMMERSE experience with each and every one of you!