On The Ground in Malawi: Alison Wiklund

The Creative Mother

Alison Wiklund has a colourful life - even by an artist's standards. At present, she divides her time between Malawi, USA and Finland.

As Project Supervisor for the WWF Finland projects in Malawi, she is based in Chembe and is responsible for various key project activities.

Alison works closely with Joseph Mponda, planning and carrying out different aspects of the projects, such as environmental and art education. In addition, Alison is expanding the production of hand-made paper and fuel briquettes in Chembe and surrounding area, as well as communities near Liwonde National Park.

From Portugal to the UK, from Nicaragua to USA - and to Malawi
Alison’s parents were British, but the family lived for many years in Portugal during her childhood. Later on she went to school in the UK, worked for a while in Switzerland, and returned to London to study art.

While organizing an arts programme in Nicaragua, as a part of development cooperation, she met Dr. Ken McKaye, while he was doing researching on Nicaraguan cichlids. They began to collaborate professionally and in 1996 Alison was invited to start teaching in for an environmental education programme at the University of Maryland in USA.