Bond students take volunteering abroad

A group of Bond University students will spend their university holidays in Africa undertaking a variety of works at the Mulanje Mission in Malawi.

The inaugural Bond in Africa expedition will see a group of 24 Bondies travel to Mulanje Mission in south-eastern Malawi for three weeks to volunteer across a number of study relevant areas including marketing, health science and medicine and information technology.

Set to take off on Saturday, the group is sitting their final exams this week while stocking up on pre-trip vaccinations.

Bond in Africa organiser Madeline Wardleworth said the expedition provides students with an opportunity to engage with an international developing community.

“We have been generously supported by the Student Opportunity Fund and the Faculty of Law. The program aims to provide students with a greater appreciation of the power of a Bond degree to affect positive change,” said Madeline.

Students will perform tasks across a number of areas including medical placement in the Mulanje Mission Hospital, assisting secondary school students prepare for computer labs, helping with renovating classrooms, developing marketing strategies and materials to fundraise for the hospital and working as teachers’ aids at the Primary School.

“The Bond University Student Association promised to foster a relationship with a developing community in the hope of providing degree-relevant volunteering opportunities to students,” explains Madeline.

“We are really looking forward to our arrival in Mulanje and commencing work on our different projects,”

“Adjusting to the cultural and environmental changes will be tough and confronting for the group but we have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure we are as prepared as we can be,” she said. 

Volunteering is not new to Bond Students who have been volunteering across a number of key areas locally including homework assist programs with Varsity College and environmental clean-up and maintenance with GECKO, under the guidance of the Student Philanthropy Council.