Article by: Sitinga Kachipande
At a recent graduation party for a young Malawian woman that had just received a Masters’ in Public Policy, I had the opportunity to have conversation with two young Malawian professionals working in the US that were both in the public health field. One, was a part-time Masters student in Public health who is also a senior project manager for a health screening organization in the D.C area. The other, was a manager of a city-wide public health program in Pennsylvania.
Needless to say, it is no surprise that when I approached them, they were having a conversation about advancing in their fields. I thought it was great that these two young senior managers, who are both under thirty, were networking with one another. However, it also made me wonder about the plethora of Malawians working in public health or other fields that were not privy to such conversations. I wondered whether Malawians were having similar conversations in their respective fields.
The Masters student noted that she was in the process of searching for opportunities for her Masters’ project. She had contacted another Malawian who was a senior manager for a large non-profit organization who was in the field for a longer time then her who had offered to assist her in seeking an opportunity to fulfill the requirements of her program. At this point I interjected to applaud the fact that they were both top level female managers in the healthcare industry who were under thirty and were having this important conversation about their careers as Malawians. However, I also inquired about general communication levels between healthcare professionals of Malawian decent in the U.S. who may be seeking opportunities as well.
Their response was that most of their networks were on a one-on one basis and that their professional public health networks were largely with American associations; a revelation that I found disappointing. I wondered what was stopping Malawians from building such vital networks.
One cannot understate the importance of building formal networks of professionals for the individuals own benefit and for the benefit of Malawi. In countries such as the US, if one is interested in furthering your career, joining a professional association is considered a positive and necessary step.
Professional associations help individuals share ideas, get advice, develop professionally, find work or volunteer positions related to their field. They also provide the opportunity to learn about new ideas in their career or “best practices” – all which benefit both the individual who can use it to enhance their knowledge, skill-base and resumes. US employer’s value employees that volunteer or are members of professional associations – it shows that they are serious about their profession and can help build skills that one’s full-time job may not provide.
In exchange, the Malawian community may benefit from the ability of these associations to “give back” to Malawi through mentoring others, sharing expertise or ideas with other Malawians both within and outside of Malawi – it is an important step towards building a collective professional voice which can comment on matters of national interest related to their profession. It is also a way in which professionals can channel efforts towards a facilitating a non-profit project, service, or scholarship fund related to their fields.
Needless to say, there are many benefits that country related professional networks can bring for both the individual or community and the number of Malawian professionals abroad increased over the years, making the environment more conducive to building such networks.
The migration of Malawians outside of Malawi to countries such as the US has increased over the past few years due to globalization which has facilitated mass movements of people who now comprise the Malawian Diaspora. In the early years, Diaspora Malawians were primarily temporary migrants who would come to the US for school or work and then return home. However, now, Diaspora Malawians are building permanent homes abroad and are starting to get organized.
As such, we have seen the rise of much needed social home country associations such as Malawi Washington Association or Malawians in Texas as well as the growth of charitable organizations such as Aspire to Inspire. However, professional associations and organizations have been oddly slow to materialize in the Malawian community.
Other African Diaspora groups have been able to create such organizations successfully in order to help those with roots in the same country benefit from the opportunities that are present in the US or to benefit their home countries. As an example, the Nigerian community has formed organizations such as the Nigerian Lawyers Association, who have a scholarship program, journal and referral service. Another organization, the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americans represents “the professional, political and social interests of the 4,000 plus physicians, dentists and allied health professionals of Nigerian birth, ethnicity or empathy” to foster such relationships.
Whilst building similar associations or organizations may seem daunting at the start, such Diaspora organizations can start small or have focused manageable goals, especially in the beginning. As an example, a group of Malawian accountants may decide that they want to focus on limit their association’s scope to professional development amongst Diaspora Malawians or the same group may decide that they want to monitor the financial health of the country by creating website that monitors the financial health of the country. Similarly, a group of nurses may want to focus their attention on providing information about existing programs to nurses in Malawi looking for scholarships or provide a scholarship for a nurse in Malawi.
It is rather odd that with the number of Malawian nurses, public health professionals, accountants, professors, economists, doctors, nurses and IT professionals that I have met, few have organized in formal or informal ways. Whilst an optimal situation would be for those that are in the same profession to leverage their opportunities by registering 501(C)3 organizations or otherwise building state registered organizations, there are other less involving ways in which Diaspora Malawians can build networks as a start without leaving their homes.
Building and participating on online forums, list serves, discussion boards Facebook groups, (that are not watered down by posts unrelated to the group or advertising) are solid ways to lay the foundation for professional Malawian Diasporas networks, to gauge the interest level of other Malawians or to gauge what such associations would want to achieve. Improvements in technology allows for easier cross-border communication so that communication is possible with those overseas as well.
Referring someone to a job or opportunity, does not automatically mean one is jeopardizing their own chances of getting the scarce job or spot at a university like it may mean when one is in Malawi where opportunities indeed are limited. Most Malawians abroad are living in countries where there are more opportunities, making the environment of forming networks optimal.
As Malawians we need to build networks with each other using the available social media technology or through association’s traditional network organizations. Such networks are important to the future of individuals, the Diaspora and Malawians at home. As Malawians in the Diaspora look towards the new year, my hope is that they also look towards making a resolution to do what they can to lay the foundation for new professional relationships that complement the social ones.
Sitinga Kachipande is a blogger and PhD student in Sociology at Virginia Tech with a concentration in African Studies and Global Political Economy. She holds a MA in Pan African Studies and an MBA. Her research interests include tourism, development, women’s studies, identity and representation. Follow her on Twitter: @MsTingaK
Follow Me:
www.twitter.com/mstingak @mstingak
www.linkedin.com/sitingakachipande
www.facebook.com/mstinga
www.rebrandafrica.org www.dualcitizenshipmalawi.org
