Anissa Chatiwanga Interview Analysis

Data Analysis:
Anissa Chatiwanga has a truly unique story, and throughout this interview I learned a lot about not only her personal journey, but I also got a small look into Malawian culture. During the interview, Anissa was very forthcoming with her story, even when describing the struggles she has endured. She maintained a positive and inspirational tone when examining her past, present and future.
For the first 8 years of her life, Anissa Chatiwanga lived in a town called Monkey Bay in Malawi with her 4 siblings, her mother, her father, and her mother’s half siblings. Her father worked as an electrical engineer and her mother as a chef. When Anissa was 8 years of age her father passed, which had a tremendous impact on her family. Anissa,

She stayed in that job for about three months, and then got a job teaching at Kamazu Academy, which is a very prestigious school in Malawi. She worked there for three years before she discovered a different path for her life. Anissa got involved with social work in rural Malawi and found a new passion for helping the disadvantaged. “That’s what motivated me to pursue social work, because I know there are people that are going through things worse then what I did, and need someone to tell them that they can make it through and that it will get better.” Anissa started researching schools for social work and found Michigan State University (MSU) and the MasterCard Scholarship. The MasterCard scholarship works with MSU to bring 12 students from across Africa to the US to pursue their education. Their flights, tuition, apartments and food are paid for by the scholarship. Anissa applied and was thrilled to have been accepted to MSU and received the

Leaving her family was hard, she said when she and her family said goodbye at the airport “we were all crying like it was a funeral.” Yet, being the brave and ambitious person she is, Anissa got on that plane alone and made the journey to a foreign nation. Her flight landed right in East Lansing, Michigan, where she would be attending MSU. Anissa said that the US looked as she expected it to, from what she had seen in movies. However, the on campus housing that MasterCard paid for was not what she anticipated. She was placed in Spartan Village, which is low-income housing for students, and is mainly used for exchange students and those with families. The apartments are worn and dimly lit. Anissa also had a hard time adjusting to her apartment’s location, and found it hard to find her way around campus. She also did not take kindly to American food. Despite this, Anissa fit in well in her classes and made friends fast. She also found a community of Malawians whom she became connected with and helped her adjust. Anissa did well in her social work classes and completed an internship at Chance at Childhood, a program that emphasizes child welfare, law and social work. She ended up graduating with her Masters in social