This May, I have the opportunity to travel to Malawi for 2 weeks through my social work graduate program at Binghamton University to participate in a community-based learning experience focused on youth, families, and rural community development.

I am especially drawn to this experience because of my commitment to working in rural communities. After living in very well resourced Europe for 12 years, I moved back to Central NY where I’ve worked for the last three years with families and children living in extreme poverty.  Rural areas often face limited funding, workforce shortages, and health care deserts — yet they are rich in relationships, shared responsibility, and informal systems of care. I want to deepen my understanding of how communities mobilize their own strengths, relationships, and cultural knowledge to meet needs without relying solely on monetary resources (while still advocating for these important monetary resources). 

The program study in Malawi centers an asset-based community development (ABCD) approach, which focuses on identifying and strengthening the assets that already exist within a community. While in Malawi, I will have the opportunity to observe and participate in how communities draw from local leadership, mutual aid networks, extended family systems, and cultural traditions to support youth and families. Learning how mutual aid and community-driven solutions function in practice will directly inform the way I approach social work in rural settings here at home.

While in Malawi, I will:

Participate in afterschool programming with youth

Engage with families and caregivers in the community

Learn from local leaders about community-driven development

Take part in cultural immersion experiences

I am fundraising to help cover airfare and the university’s international program fee, which includes lodging, meals, and program costs.* Please note that this is not a fundraiser for the Malawi Children's Mission. I will ask for support/donations of supplies for the school as I get closer to the travel date. 

Your support is not only helping me travel — it is investing in my development as a social worker committed to strengthening rural communities through collaboration, mutual aid, and sustainable, community-based practice.

Thank you for being part of this journey with me.

Here is information about the MCM and the ABCD programs:

https://www.malawichildrensmission.org/

https://abroad.binghamton.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgramAngular&id=10077

Please reach out for any questions: shalliday@binghamton.edu