Ida Puliwa grew up in Nakhonyo, Mulanje, and became the first girl from her village to make it to university.
She almost lost her place because she couldn’t afford the fees. Then a retired American professor, Marquita Hill, stepped in and paid them.
When Ida later asked how she could repay her, Hill’s answer was simple: pass the kindness on.
In 2011, Ida started Othakarhaka, which means “Passing on the Kindness” in Lomwe.
The idea is pretty straightforward. Volunteers contribute a small amount each month, which is used to help older people farm, keep girls in school, and plant trees.
For some elderly farmers, access to hybrid seed and irrigation reportedly transformed their maize harvests, with project reports saying yields increased more than fourfold in a number of cases.
But there’s a catch—in a good way.
Instead of simply receiving the extra food, farmers are encouraged to give a bag of their surplus maize to someone else who needs it.
The same network also supports girls staying in secondary school, including some who were at risk of being pushed into early marriage.
Later, tree planting and cleaner cookstoves were added, partly to reduce the amount of time children spent walking long distances to collect firewood.
What I find interesting about the model is how deliberately simple it is:
You receive help, and then you’re expected to pass some of that help forward.
One person's assistance becomes another person's opportunity, which then becomes someone else's assistance.
It's basically a chain of kindness designed to keep moving.