Giving Tuesday is coming soon, November 27th, and I wanted to share a few thoughts as we all make our decisions regarding giving this year. As a two time volunteer and a long standing board member of With Change In Mind, I have seen the good work that is being done on a daily basis by everyone involved in this organization. By everyone, I not only mean Erin Hempen the executive director and founder, or the talented and dedicated board members, but also the many volunteers that have gone on the trips and the staff of With Change In Mind in Malawi. Without you, the volunteers, With Change In Mind could not do the amazing projects and touch as many lives in Malawi as it does.

Additionally, a special thank you needs to also go out to the people who have donated to With Change In Mind. Whether you choose to make a one–time donation on Tuesday the 27th or an on-going monthly donation, everyone involved in With Change In Mind is tremendously grateful for your generosity and willingness to open your hearts and pocket books in support of our efforts.

I recently read an article by Jeff Rogers, the CEO and co-founder of Child Legacy International.  His closing statement in the article was simply, “We need to give the people of rural Africa a fair chance to access the same things that have allowed the West to succeed and allow them to enter the marketplace through education and skills training.”  This reminded me of With Change In Mind’s commitment to education, especially of young vulnerable children and how critical that is to helping them succeed in the broader world. Our desire is to not only provide a school,but also a garden that is tended by staff, students, volunteers and the community at large. This garden will not only provide nutrition to the local families, but an opportunity to fund their educational programs. This project speaks to our hope of building a sustainable model that will continue to improve the quality of life for the people of Chutila long after With Change In Mind has turned the school and garden over to the village to operate on its own.

In addition to the garden and kindergarten, With Change In Mind has recently developed adult education classes that are directly funded by donations from individuals like yourself. These classes were added at the request of the adults in the village. Without your donations, we would not be able to expand our program to meet this community-expressed need. Nearly all of the attendees to the adult education classes are women. As we are all coming to learn, if you provide education and support to women in a small rural village, it uplifts and improves the lives of every person that lives in that village. With Change In Mind is extremely proud to be able to provide this vital program.

With Change In Mind is committed to providing many programs including women’s health education, childhood disease recognition, direct intervention in the health and safety of our young students, encouraging the male members of the village to becoming more active in their children’s education and lives, providing healthy meals on a daily basis to all our students and staff, teaching sustainable gardening techniques, providing clean drinkable water with community owned and operated wells– the list goes on and on.

With Change In Mind can do none of these without the generous and kind donations that you all make to our organization. So when you read about, or hear about giving Tuesday on November 27th of this year, please sit down and go to our website or Facebook page and take a moment to become a monthly donor. Monthly donations can be set up on our website using the donate button with PayPal, and also on our Facebook page using that platform. You can also make a difference in either place by making a one–time donation to allow us to continue helping communities in Malawi. Look around our website and see the programs With Change In Mind has in place today, as well as what the future looks like for us. Consider taking a trip with us! You will have the time of your life. I can promise you that you will come back from one of our trips realizing that it is a gift you have given yourself and that you have made a difference in the lives of countless children and adults in Malawi just as they have made a difference in your own.