Honouring our Volunteers - International Day of the Volunteer

Alice Chiwaya

Hastings Nthungo

Last week, on December 5th, AWE celebrated International Day of the Volunteer. We would like to honour all of the extraordinary volunteers who make Action for Women’s Empowerment possible.

This year, we would like to highlight two remarkable volunteers who are working on our Malawi Program: Alice Chiwaya and Hastings Nthungo.

Alice brings years of leadership in youth empowerment, girls’ education, and community advocacy. From her leading role at Save the Poor Foundation to her work strengthening efforts to end early marriage and supporting school clubs across Blantyre and Ntcheu, Alice’s commitment to uplifting girls and young women is inspiring and deeply impactful.

Hastings is a highly trained communications specialist whose experience in radio, community outreach, and knowledge management helps our message travel further and deeper. His translation of the AWE training manual into Chichewa and Tumbuka has made our work accessible to women across Malawi.

Alice and Hastings do more than support AWE. They are the bridge between our vision in North America and the communities we are serving in Malawi. Their work ensures that our programs are culturally grounded, community-led, and built to last.

This year, their work is especially meaningful as AWE Global continues to scale. We’ve been expanding our model so that women who complete our programs can go on to mentor others in their own neighbourhoods — creating a cycle of shared skills, shared leadership, and shared empowerment. It’s a ripple effect we’re already seeing take root across multiple communities, and volunteers like Alice and Hastings make this possible.

As we enter the holiday season, we invite you to stand with the people who make this growth possible. Your support helps sustain the volunteers and facilitators who carve out time, energy, and heart to lift other women toward economic independence.

Support our organization this December here.

Thank you for celebrating the leaders who turn empowerment into a movement, one community at a time.