An African Love Affair

Adventurous guidance counsellor raising funds to build school in Malawi village

By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau

MOUNT DENSON — When Christie Hartlin first visited Africa three years ago, she thought of it as an adventure. Little did she know that her trip as a volunteer teacher with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation would become her life’s passion. "I think I was dealing with a little bit of empty nest syndrome," said the mother of two boys who are now in their early 20s.

Her first trip took her to the village of Ekwendeni in 2004. She returned there in the summer of 2005 and extended her stay by taking a five-month study break to do research on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.
She fell in love with the countryside and its people, whom she found generous and kind even in the midst of chronic poverty, widespread illiteracy and lack of food, education and quality health care.
Although there are many charitable groups working in Africa, she could see that many people were still not receiving the help they needed.
"But even though they have almost nothing, they seem really happy and have a really great attitude," Ms. Hartlin said in an interview at her home in Mount Denson, Hants County, which is decorated with artwork and photos from Africa.
When she returned home in December 2005, Ms. Hartlin, a guidance counsellor at Avonview High School in Windsor, began a mission to raise funds locally to send back to the African village for food and clothing.
She managed to raise $8,000, which she took with her on her third trip to Ekwendeni last July, borrowing the money to pay her own airfare and expenses.
She began working with a group there called Tigomeze AIDS Support Organization, a charitable group of volunteers who have AIDS and have dedicated their lives to helping others living with the disease.
The group has greatly inspired her, she said.
"They do a phenomenal job and this is the group I try to help through donations."
She said she knew she had to help but needed to choose where she could best fit in.
"It came down to being overwhelmed and doing nothing or choosing a focus," she recalled.
She was taken aback by the number of orphans, most of whom are raised by their grandmothers. So along with three local women she founded the Titemwane Orphan Care Group, which assists 50 children aged seven months to 13 years.
With the $8,000, the group was able to buy blankets and enough corn and milk to last several months, until her next trip back. Even while home, she sends what money she can to help the children.
She said it’s amazing how far $8,000 will go. With the help of some friends, she recently sent another $1,000 to the orphans group.
But now she has a much larger project in mind: to build a vocational training centre in the village on four hectares of land donated by the village chiefs. The school would teach needed skills like farming and sewing that would help the village’s 13,000 residents to become more self-sufficient.
"Sustainability is the long-term goal," said Ms. Hartlin, who has planned a dance and silent auction for her new charitable organization, Fighting AIDS Through Education.
The event will be held at the Old Orchard Inn in Greenwich on April 28 featuring the band Rust Bucket.
Tickets are $25 per person. For more information, contact Ms. Hartlin at http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/.
( http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/)