As some of you may know, I have just returned from some volunteering at DAMRA in Malawi, and I am also running Nottingham Marathon this coming weekend.

During my time in Malawi, I was working with DAMRA (Development Action for Marginalised Rural Areas). This small NGO works to promote sustainable farming practices, builds schools, boreholes & hospitals. DAMRA also participates in social projects like the national reading and girls football.

I was mainly working to train some local school leavers in the basics of accounting, and prepare the financial records from 2016. In 2016, the prior Finance Manager committed a large fraud, stealing around K9,000,000, crippling the charity. The north of Malawi is a very rural area, with a limited skills base. Initially struggling to teach practically illiterate school leavers, I managed to recruit a promising young man (James) from a local bank to join DAMRA. James agreed to work without a salary and already had some basic accounting training.

Having seen first-hand some of the critical work DAMRA does, I offered to pay for James to complete a degree at the Mzuzu College of Accountancy. This will ensure that the organisation will be able to recover from the fraud and continue to do its vital work in the region.

I have already paid for the James’ first year tuition fees, but given I am running the Nottingham Marathon on Sunday (24th September) I am hoping to use this happy coincidence to raise money for his second year.