In Malawi-Arntz-Gray Family

Supporting agriculture in Malawi with WUSC

In 2007, Jules and Janna Arntz-Gray started thinking of taking a year off from their jobs and working abroad. At that time, their daughter Regan was about to finish high school and the couple wanted to share such an experience with her before she left home for university.

A visit to an international job placement fair became decisive in realizing Jules and Janna’s project: they became international volunteers with the Uniterra programme. Uniterra is an international volunteer initiative jointly run by World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI). Four months later, the family was flying to Africa to settle down for a year in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Jules, employee at the Ministry of Labor in Hamilton, Ontario, supported the work of the Farmers Union of Malawi, a national federation of farmers. "I basically assisted in creating a department of research, policy, analysis and advocacy for the Farmers Union”, Jules says. “This was so they could analyze what policies were affecting farmers and find out what the farmers wanted, and then communicate that to the appropriate agencies." This consultation process, a first for the organization, significantly contributed to increase the efficiency of the Union’s actions.

Janna, working with Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Guelph, Ontario, took on a position with the Catholic Development Commission of Malawi. Janna supported the development of a monitoring and evaluation system for the Commission. ”I created a system and held workshops to train staff on the system. I also met with all the other commissions within the organization so they could take the work completed and apply it to their areas of work,” Janna says. This will help to improve practices and maximize the positive impacts on the farming communities funded and supported by the Commission.

In fact, Jules and Janna concentrated on building the organizational capacities of the Malawi groups they were working with. “It was understood that my colleague would take over once I left – the work would keep on going,” says Jules who was considered an equal to a colleague hired five days after he arrived.

In parallel with her parents’ work, Regan attended a Malawian school with an international curriculum for the 10th grade. “She loved it. She pretty much got everything out of it that we were hoping for,” Janna says.

"It was amazing. My daughter didn’t want to come home. I think she really matured during the process. She has a much broader perspective now and is able to contribute to high-level conversations now about what’s going on in different areas of the world."

The Arntz-Gray family experience has repercussions beyond Africa. For instance, it reached both Janna and Jules’ workplaces in April 2009. Both completed slideshows to inform their colleagues about their experiences.

Nearly fifty colleagues attended Jules’ presentation. "We were blown away,” says his supervisor, Jody Young, a Hamilton-based industrial program manager. "There were about 45 inspectors and he really inspired everyone." "I think it’s amazing what Jules achieved in the year he was in Malawi. He advanced the role of farmers there and he developed tools and policies so that the local Malawi professionals in the Farmers Union could move forward", she adds.