Twenty-two-year-old Susan Richards, from Kettering in England’s east Midlands, applied to VSO in the winter of 1964. Newly qualified as a registered nurse, Richards had read about development volunteering in the Observer; it seemed an ideal way to nurture her interest in “the underdeveloped countries” while also working towards a career in international health.1 Richards arrived in Blantyre, Malawi, on September 6, 1964, two months after the nation declared independence from Britain. The British Council, acting as VSO’s “overseas arm,” had arranged for Richards to be posted to the government hospital, which was “desperate for nurses.” It seemed an ideal arrangement that would promote “goodwill between the people of Britain and the people of Malawi.”2