Molly Heineman, 22, is a recent graduate of the University of Dayton who set off from her Skokie home July 27 for a two-year volunteer commitment with a Marianist congregation in Malawi. She is one of hundreds of young people to devote a year or two of their lives to service; what’s more unusual is that this is her third journey to Africa, and she has already founded a not-for-profit organization to provide assistance to the people she met on her first two trips.

She first went as a student studying nonprofit work in Uganda, and interned with Child Restoration Outreach, an organization that provides food, education, recreation and other services to street children. Now her organization — Child Restoration Outreach Support Organization — is paying for four young people who were served by CRO to attend post-secondary school in Uganda.

Heineman, a member of St. Nicholas Parish in Evanston, spoke with assistant editor Michelle Martin before leaving.

Catholic New World: What made you decide to go back to Africa?

Molly Heineman: The first thing was the way that people interact with each other and what their priorities are is so different from the way Americans interact with each other. People are so focused on relationships and making sure their friends and family are taken care of, rather than focusing on material things and making sure that they have the nicest of things. That was really refreshing.

I know that part of it was because they had to; they didn’t have the option to get the nicest of things. But when they had money, their first priority wasn’t to get the newest cell phone or TV that was out. It was, “I heard that my neighbor’s son needed school fees, so I’ll give him the money and I’m sure it will come back to me at some point.”

That mentality was something that I really appreciated and liked and could relate to from the way that I was brought up.

CNW: What will you be doing?

Heineman: I’m going to be working with the Women’s Empowerment Program, working with microcredit lending and keeping women accountable for the loans we’re distributing and running workshops for them.

CNW: Where will you be in Malawi?

Heineman: I’m going to be up in the north, in Kuronga. It’s a pretty remote area. It’s in a volunteer house surrounded by villages. One of the things I’m most excited about is I get to learn the language while I’m there, so I’m going to be fully immersed in it. The women I’ll be working with in the villages don’t know any English, so I’ll be forced to learn it. It’s called Tumbuka.

I will be able to go and visit the students that were sponsored in Uganda. Getting to be there and see how they are doing and not just get e-mails from them is really exciting to me.

CNW: How much does it cost to sponsor a student?

Heineman: It’s surprisingly inexpensive. It’s $1,500 for a full year including housing, tuition and books. All four of our students are at different schools in Uganda now. By having them go to school in Uganda, they’ll be able to give back to their own communities.

The whole goal of our program is to give these students the opportunity to have those jobs that they couldn’t get before. They are street children. They don’t have the connections you need to get jobs in Uganda. Everything’s “my mom’s cousin’s brother’s aunt …”

To have that certificate or diploma would put them above other people instantly and give them the opportunity to get access to jobs they wouldn’t have any other way.

CNW: What jobs are they studying for?

Heineman: One of our students — the one who is farthest along — wants to be a social worker. In his program, he’s already done field work at an agency that works with street children, so he’s giving back to the very community that he was brought up in, which is really amazing.

Another one of our students is studying to be a medical lab technician. It’s different for each student.

CNW: How do living conditions differ?

Heineman: When I was in Uganda, we had electricity about every other day or every third day. You make it work and you realize how little you actually need the Internet and how little you need those little things you take for granted so easily.

CNW: What would surprise people living here about Africa?

Heineman: I think it’s so hospitable, and I think people don’t expect that. The people there did things that you would think they would do for a king or queen coming to visit, and it was just for me, a lowly college student who had no money and was just there for a couple months — making sure your plate was completely full, and oftentimes making sure you had meat every day, which is not normal for their culture, because meat is expensive.

It’s unbelievable how hospitable and how helpful people are if you ask. I think people here think of Africa as this scary place. To be honest, I never felt that way about it while I was there.

CNW: How did you look at America differently when you came back?

Heineman: My initial response was that I thought the U.S. was gross. We use so many materials and waste so much here. I came back and looked at my bedroom and looked at how many clothes I have and was disgusted at how much I have that I don’t need.

We do take so much for granted here. The idea of plumbing alone … you can take a shower whatever time you want. So many of the people around me had to go and get water from a well and carry it back to their houses, so they never wasted any water because it was heavy to carry it and it took time.

They would do things like say, we’re going to keep all the dishes we use during the day in this one spot, and we’re going to wash them all at once so we use the least amount of water, and we’ll wash all of the clothes once a week, and you really wear them until they’re done at the end of the day. You don’t change clothes mid-day just because you got a little sweaty or things like that.

It made me appreciate what we have a lot more, and also made me appreciate the relationships that I have with people, That’s what their whole society and culture is based upon, the relationships you have with your family and friends. I learned a lot from that.