Aid agency worker returns from a year in Malawi

A MERSEYSIDE woman has returned from Malawi after a year working on education and water sanitation projects.

Debbie Ball, 29, from Birkenhead, worked as the assistant country director for international humanitarian charity Goal.

During her time there, she helped build 10 schools, 11 teacher’s homes and hundreds of wells and household latrines. Now Ms Ball wants to encourage other professionals to take up similar work.

“The major challenge in Malawi is HIV or Aids. The prevalence is exceptionally high, with the national average at 14.2%, reaching 25 to 30% in places,” she said. “So many are dying that when you’re driving along, it’s quite normal to see funerals taking place at the side of the road.”

With a degree in business from Nottingham Trent University, Ms Ball has worked in the charity sector for the last five years, including 14 months with UK charity Merlin, in Aceh, Indonesia, after the 2004 tsunami. She has also spent time working in the Congo and Bosnia.

She said: “Working in the charity sector definitely changes your perspective on life.”

GOAL UK is holding an information evening in Liverpool on October 9 from 6.30 to 8pm in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

The charity is looking for professionals who are willing to devote at least a year to working in one of 11 countries in the developing world. To register, e-mail makeadifference@goal-uk.org or visit www.goal-uk.org