About Diary of a Volunteer, About Me
About Site
Diary of a Volunteer details, in a series of monthly newsletters and photographs, my experiences as a VSO Computer Trainer in Malawi, Africa, between 1995 and 1997.
Over two years of my life were spent living in an alien culture, and I wish to share that fulfilling (and sometimes frustrating) experience with you, here…
So yes, for two years, home was a small sub-saharan country in Africa, called Malawi. I lived and worked there as a volunteer Computer Trainer under the auspices of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).
I arrived in Malawi on March 5th, 1995, full of self-importance: I foolishly imagined being welcomed by Malawi’s President, Bakili Muluzi. Two years later, I considered the continuing placement of volunteers in Malawi somewhat pointless(*)…
‘The truth’ lies somewhere in between; my reflections of that truth lie within this site.
Diary of a Volunteer is about what happened in between and what I think now, with the benefit of hindsight. A series of monthly newsletters written to friends and family, combined with photographs, poetry, and news clippings from Malawian newspapers – this site provides a thought-provoking insight into life in an alien culture
So what’s in the website?
What’s in the website? Answers to the questions:
- So what is VSO?
- What is volunteering?
- Where is Malawi?
- What was it like (for a European) to live in an African country for two years?
All of these questions will be answered in the following months as my site evolves and, month by month, an impression of my experiences builds. There are 21 months of stories (newsletters) corresponding to my experiences from April 1995 to Feb 1997. There are also photographs, personal letters, and links related to the main theme of the newsletter, as well as general links. In fact, there are all sorts of items (even a parallel news-item taken from the Daily Telegraph’s archives)
(*) What I think now?
Now, in the New Millennium, whilst I question the long term benefits of development (and I mean long-term!), I think that VSO volunteering is one of the best ways of spending development money. Because it’s local, and it’s personal!
Steve Nash, Aug 2000.
About Me
My name is Steve Nash.
I can’t call myself beautiful, or poor, or even famous (though at times, in Malawi, I felt as famous as Michael Jackson). I’ll let you discover just who I am from reading the Diary (and the poems and thoughts below). But if you want to know some background information read on.
Background information:
Born in Huddersfield (northern England), educated at Loughborough University, worked (mainly) in Bristol, and now living in Banbury (soon to be Barcelona!) [2025 edit: I now live in Brockholes, West Yorkshire and I never made it to Barcelona!]
I am now trying to eke a modest living from the internet as a web publisher (writer, web designer and developer with 20 years IT experience – ahem!) via sites like TextMeFree.com, SMNash.com and SteveMNash.com… [2025 edit: I think I’ve given up on this idea, actually, and replaced it with several entry-level, micro-managed j-o-b-s (good for the soul, apparently!)]
NOTE: 2025 Editorial – my thoughts about Malawi removed
For sake of time, and relevancy, I’ve removed my thoughts on Aids, begging, crime and Malawi in general.
If you really want to read ’em, you can do so on the original site.