Kick it like Mkandawire

Gracian Mkandawire grew up in Malawi, where youth are exposed to numerous diseases like HIV Aids and malaria, mental health problems and substance abuse from a very young age on. To combat this, Gracian Mkandawire founded the organization “Play Malawi”, helping to educate the young population on health hazards through sports communities. Play Malawi trains kids in Tennis and Table Tennis all while raising awareness on hygiene standards, safe sex and mental health prevention.

Gracian Mkandawire was a Z Zurich Foundation One Young World ambassador in 2019. Three years later, we sit down with him again, to talk about his experience. A broad smile lights up his face retelling the story of how he travelled from Malawi to London to experience some of the best days of his life:

“It was life-changing” he says. “What is unique about One Young World is how you get to meet not only people from all over the world, but also from such different backgrounds. I made connections with many activists, but also political and company leaders. And with some of them, I am still in touch.” When asked how these connections have changed his day-to-day activism, Gracian Mkandawire tells us “It allowed me to see that many people are working on similar projects in different corners of the world. Previously I thought we had this unique idea, but OYW showed me that we are part of a global movement of connecting youth with sports. This realization helped me to exchange experiences and skills with other leaders. One guy I met at OYW invited me to his organization after the event, and he thought me a new method to monitor my activities. It sounds simple, but exchanges like this can boost your impact.”

Gracian Mkandawire goes on to share lively anecdotes and stories from his experience. In his positive attitude, you can feel the impact that OYW has made on him. “You know that I got to meet my idol”, he grins through the camera. “Mohammed Yunus. He won a Nobel Peace prize and at OYW I just casually got the chance to chat with him. It’s amazing the kind of doors this conference opens.” After a quick exchange on Yunus, Gracian adds that there was another person he met who really changed his strategy, Gary Shaughnessy. “Being a Z Zurich Foundation scholar really made the experience more valuable. We got different kinds of trainings to help us become better presenters before the conference. But what stayed with me the most was the meeting with Gary. Seeing how Gary uses his sports as a fundraising tool completely changed my fundraising strategy. And let me tell you – it helped! Play Malawi wouldn’t be where we are if it wasn’t for Gary.”

Before we end the conversation, we want to know what’s next in the cards for our former OYW scholar. “Big things”, he says mischievously, “We are building a sports centre, with a gym, a tennis court, a football field and many more different facilities.”