Jeff Kawzenuk and a tribal leader shake hands.
The secondary school principal set off for Tanzania in 2008 in his first-ever trip to Africa, not knowing what to expect. This spring he returned to the dark continent, to Malawi with a group of Dignitas volunteers. The destination was different, but the people faced many of the same life-diminishing problems. Life expectancy is 38. AIDS ravages whole communities, leaving hordes of orphaned children in the care of grandparents - or no one. Hygiene is an unknown and, in current conditions, unattainable.
The government promises free elementary education but doesn't have the resources to deliver it. Education is cursory and provided under the most primitive conditions.
The situation may have repelled some, but Jeff Kawzenuk can't stop thinking about it, and he is driven to do more. He has been drawn under the spell of the compelling continent.
Under the leadership of Dignitas, he and fellow principal, Steve Truelove, landed in April in the Zomba District, an area with a circumference of about 50 km. and a population of 760,000, clustered in traditional primitive rural villages.
To read the full story click on Malawi trip
To see the gallery of photos from the trip click on Malawi photos
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