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I have a once in a lifetime opportunity to volunteer at Ripple Africa in Malawi this July. I have made a commitment to raise at least £1,250 as a donation to the charity. The charity focuses on helping build up industries rather than hand outs; for example, Ripple Africa teaches locals about sustainable fishing allowing for the fishing industry to blossom. We will be learning with the local fishermen how to fish sustainably, as part of their Fish for Tomorrow fish conservation community. Overfishing has resulted in poor fish catches and biodiversity loss. This often is caused by fishermen using mosquito nets to fish. Mosquito nets are too fine to let the young fish through, which means that they are fished too young and are not able to be sold. Ripple Africa teaches the fishermen how to fish for fully grown fish that they can sell. By teaching the fishermen how to fish correctly it provides them with a source of income to support their family. They have created 474 communities to confiscate illegal fishing gear, like mosquitoes nets, and fine the fishermen. They have helped protect over 736km of shoreline along Lake Malawi. Family planning is another important part of the charity. It teachers families how to plan for how many children they want but also teachers the men life as a pregnant woman. As part of my time at Ripple Africa, I will also be working with their education programme. They have helped fund the building of teacher accommodation and female accommodation at the schools which makes education available for more. Ripple helps dec out the schools with new desks, books and even a brand new computer lab. Before the end of the school day, the children are given a sweet potato and a cup of tea so they have something to eat before they go home. These sweet potatoes comes from one of their many agricultural projects which helps teach local farmers how to divide land between their children, how to produce enough vegetables to sell but also keep some for themselves to have something to eat and also how to trade up their produce. Ripple has made efforts to prevent deforestation by planting trees and protecting areas of forest to prevent further deforestation. It would be amazing if you could help me reach my goal. Thank you!

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