Staff Stories – Anold Mankambira

Update January 2018. Regrettably Anold passed away on 12th December 2017 at the age of 37. He is very fondly remembered by all of us and will be greatly missed.

We asked some of the Landirani Trust / African Vision Malawi team in Malawi about their time working for the charity. Here you can read the first of those stories, from Anold Mankhambira, Project Accountant.

How long have you worked for Landirani?

My name is Anold Mankhambira, working with Landirani Trust as the Project Accountant. I joined the charity on 17th March, 2014.

Can you tell us a few things you have learned since working for Landirani that have helped you grow and develop, Anold?

A lot has happened during my time with the Landirani Trust. The most important thing I have learnt is the Team work, both at the office level and field level. This has helped me a lot because I am able to rely upon my work colleagues, and I have the strength to ask everyone else in areas where I need some help and clarifications.

I have also learnt to make decisions and be able to defend them on my own, and later become useful to the charity. Typical example: when it becomes procurement of project materials, I am able to analyse cost of materials and be able to advise the management on what’s best, without external forces.

Another thing I have learnt is being passionate to the vulnerable people in areas we are working and eager to help. One typical example, happened on 13th November, when I learnt from Jack that Blessings (a disabled child) of Ngwizi got burnt with porridge at the Ngwizi CBCC, and stayed for a week at his blind mother’s place without any medical assistance and the mother was just cleaning the wound with salt. I rushed to Ngwizi Village from Sam’s Village when I went to pay the weekly wages, I found Blessings in a very poor state, and he was in pain. I picked him up, together with the mother, to M’ban’gombe Clinic for medical attention. I felt that besides being an accountant, I’m also supposed to help the needy and vulnerable children.

My stay at Landirani has also taught me of punctuality, and be able to adapt the foreign culture of keeping time. I have been working hand in hand with UK Volunteers, and UK staff. The most thing which I noticed that our friends from the UK don’t feel good is when you miss appointments and not punctual. Now I am able to change and be able to plan my time effectively not to miss appointments, and always be punctual, even outside work place.

How does working for Landirani help you to support your family or your own plans?

Working for Landirani has helped me a lot in the following ways:

• I am now able to help the needy in my locality, without waiting for a return.
• Able to plan my time effectively and efficiently.
• Able to teach my friends and family how they can sustain themselves without looking at external assistance for example, use of the composite manure which is usually being dumped in localities, use of natural medicine like moringa.
• Adapted the spirit of saving, and get the best.
• With the spirit of team work, I am now able to impart to my family the fruits of team work and be able to put it into practice.

What do you think your life and that of your family would be like without Landirani?

Life without Landirani would have been:

• Costly – as I could have not known how to be self sustainable
• Difficult to support the needy, as would have been always waiting for a return.
• Punctuality would have always been a problem, as we would have always been carrying business as usual.

Do you have any message for Landirani’s supporters – anything you would like to tell them?

• They should continue supporting the Charity to grow even more in other areas.
• The Sam’s Village activities will really change the Charity to the better, they should as assist as they can to have it completed.
• Continue with regular visits, and send more volunteers to help the cause.
• The disability and HIV Aids programme has to be funded more because from my experience the demand is very high in the localities we are working.
• Need for more support to safe water and sanitation for example the Enactus soap initiave. If more initiaves can be put in place, the risk of contracting water borne diseases may be reduced.

If you would like to donate to African Vision Malawi to support any of the projects Anold mentions, please donate below: