Christina Furst — Sustainable Development, Compassion, Composting Toilets, & Living as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi
Christina is interested in the intersection of research and creativity. She is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, where she hardened her skills improving food security and teaching small business development. Christina earned a Masters's in Global Management in Creative Industries and Design Thinking and is switching careers from marketing to being an art teacher. She loves being outside and spending time with people.
In this episode, we discuss her work in Malawi, what sustainable global development looks like, the lessons she learned from the Malawian people, and how kindness and compassion fuel change.
On her days as a Peace Corps Volunteer — "My neighbor Rebecca came to my bedroom window and would ask me to come to get water with her. I would help her pump, and that would help her with her chores. That's how I woke most mornings, I would get up early to do work before it got too hot. I liked to only make one fire a day for cooking, and I'd prepare all my meals in the morning, cooking tea and oatmeal for breakfast and rice and beans for later in the day. Then, I would fill my day with two big activities to keep me busy. In the morning, I did work in a community group presenting a demonstration or conducting a meeting. The afternoons were spent in schools doing wildlife club activities or HIV prevention work. Days would vary a lot because my job title was so varied and broad. The work I did was always changing, especially in regards to seasons of the year."