malesi

this is malesi, also known as 'wonder twin no.2' (on account of her exiting the womb a few moments after her sister...and being wonderful). alongside her twin, she makes up two of the brightest young people that i have had the pleasure of meeting in zambia.

malesi started out as a school mission intern and we quickly realised that she was something a little extraordinary. sometimes we wondered whether she had a habit of reading the dictionary every night, so accurate were her answers to our questions! it has been so awesome to watch her over the last year, taking on every single challenge we threw at her with incredible enthusiasm and ability. one of my best moments was watching her gently encouraging some of the young girls that were so instantly drawn to her on a school visit. i tried and tried but i have yet to see her fail at any task i have given her. if i could, i would put her in my pocket and take her to every school i visit in the uk.

outside of school mission, malesi has become a great friend and we have spent far too many hours together playing scrabble and bananagrams. one day i might even beat her, the little dictionary eater.

she's also a bit of a diva but she'll hate me for telling you that!



(i'm taking a break from my normal blipping routine and from now until i leave i will be posting portraits of the people that i love here in zambia. i might put them all together at the end to make a mammoth picture to hang on my wall, but mostly they will stay here on blip so i can remember these lovely people.)