Projects in Malawi

Education

In Malawi, English is the medium of instruction in all secondary schools, making language proficiency essential for student success across all subjects. However, many rural schools face significant challenges, including limited teaching resources and a shortage of trained educators.

As English and Environmental Educators, Volunteers work in secondary schools alongside Malawian teachers to strengthen English language instruction throughout all learning content and foster students’ confidence, creativity, and communication skills. These language skills open doors to academic advancement, professional opportunity, and global connection.

Outside the classroom, Volunteers engage students in co-curricular activities such as debate teams, reading clubs, and girl empowerment groups, while also promoting environmental awareness. Through initiatives like school gardens, tree planting, and climate resilience projects, Volunteers help youth connect education with real-world environmental issues—encouraging them to grow not just as students, but as changemakers in their communities.

This integrated approach recognizes that education is not only a pathway to opportunity but also a vital tool for sustainability. Volunteers inspire critical thinking and leadership among youth, while also supporting fellow teachers with creative, student-centered teaching strategies.

Health

Malawi continues to face complex health challenges, especially for children under five and adolescents aged 9–19. These include HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and diarrheal diseases linked to poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices. At the same time, environmental issues like deforestation and climate change compound these public health risks.

As Health and Environmental Promoters, Volunteers serve at rural health centers and in surrounding communities, working closely with Malawian counterparts to increase knowledge and adoption of healthy behaviors. Volunteers support youth-friendly health services, lead outreach efforts for caregivers and youth, and assist in home visits that reinforce key health messages.

Volunteers also integrate environmental activities into their health work—supporting household gardens to improve diet diversity and nutrition and promote climate-smart approaches that lessen environmental burdens linked to adverse health outcomes, and facilitate cooking demonstrations to showcase food safety best practices. By engaging youth and families in both sustainable health and environmental practices, Volunteers help communities become more informed, resilient, and empowered.

This role requires flexibility, creativity, and cultural humility. Volunteers often support health staff and community leaders, co-facilitating programs where resources may be limited, but passion for change runs deep.

Peace Corps Response

Peace Corps Response sends experienced professionals to undertake short-term (up to 12 months), high-impact service assignments in communities around the world. As experienced professionals, these Volunteers are often able to step into an organization, quickly integrate, and create substantive impact.

In Malawi, Response Volunteers provide targeted support to government ministries and NGOs that play central roles in the country’s development goals.

Among Malawi’s Response Volunteers are two specialized cohorts that strength Malawian programmatic priorities. Education Specialists serve in secondary schools that have been recently built with funding from the U.S. government. These Response Volunteers support head teachers to start up the new schools according to professional standards, systems, and codes of conduct that support academic achievement and student safety.

Virtual Service

The Virtual Service Pilot connects qualified U.S. citizens with host country counterparts to meet partner requests in new ways—from supplementing on-the-ground Volunteer efforts to reaching areas where in-person Volunteers are not able to go.

Innovation through partnership

Peace Corps Malawi also offers a unique side-by-side Volunteer model, partnering Peace Corps Volunteers with CorpsAfrica Volunteers, a like-minded Volunteer service model consisting of Malawi citizens. This collaboration fosters mutual learning, strengthens community ownership, and brings both global and local perspectives to the table. Volunteers work together to develop sustainable, community-driven solutions—amplifying the impact of their service.