Dubai-it: Two women, two worlds ... then serendipity struck years later

Dubai: In one world, exists Sarah Brook. A woman who volunteered in Malawi, Africa, at age 18, and was completely transformed by her experience – so much so, she founded her own nonprofit organisation to help orphans and children in the country. In another world, exists Violet Matimati, Brook’s first friend in Malawi and the person who opened her eyes to a whole new world; a woman whose unbreakable resilience saw her through immense hardships, from teenage pregnancy, to divorce, and single parenthood. Both worlds collided in March 2026, when the old friends bumped into each other on a street in Malawi. Brook said: “I was walking alongside the road with my daughter and a friend, and Violet went past on a motorbike. She pulled over on the road and came running towards me. I was so shocked to see her and even more overwhelmed by the embrace, and the emotions we felt at seeing each other, and her meeting my daughter Rosanna for the first time.” Overcome, the two friends held each other for a long time on the side of the road. To understand why their reunion was so meaningful, you’d have to pull the curtains back on 18 years of history and friendship. Brook and Matimati came from completely different worlds. Picture credit: Supplied Being transformed by Malawi Brook, a 36-year-old British national based in Dubai, volunteered at an orphanage in Malawi during her gap year, when she was just 18. But why Malawi? For Brook, it was just pure luck – or perhaps destiny. She said: “At 18, I literally pointed at a map, and my finger landed on Malawi.” Matimati, who is just a month younger than Brook, had a cousin at the same orphanage, and she would often visit. Brook said: “I remember… she was the only person who really spoke English. So, we immediately hit it off. I was there for several months and we just kept meeting up and then she asked me to come and visit her family.” Matimati was unlike anyone she’d ever met. She introduced Brook to the reality of life in Malawi, and how people – especially women – persisted, despite poverty and daily struggles. Brook said: “When I met her, she was a teenager carrying a baby on her back. A teenage pregnancy had changed the direction of her life completely, at an age when she should have had every door still open. We bonded over the two things that made us both who we are – a love for helping people, and a deep, slightly obsessive love for netball.” Brook said: "When I met [Violet], she was a teenager carrying a baby on her back." Picture credit: Supplied Over time, Brook and Matimati became inseparable, and regularly stayed in touch, even when Brook travelled back to the UK. Something happened, however, that changed the course of Brook’s life forever. She developed a twisted bowel, known as a volvulus, a serious medical emergency that happens when part of the intestine twists around itself and its supporting tissue. The local doctor had never performed surgery for the condition before, and her alternative was going to a private hospital two hours away. Brook said: “I was unconscious… the doctor told my friend, ‘she might die before she gets there’.” Her friend took that chance - Brook got the surgery, and remained in the private hospital for nearly a month. Brook said: “When I woke up from the operation, the doctor told me that at the local hospital, they prioritised me, and I was seen to first, despite about 300 people waiting in a queue.” Brook was shaken. She said: “That realisation changed the course of my life and I made a promise to change as many lives as possible. I spent the next 18 years building [on that promise].” A dream come true In 2015, Brook established The Sparkle Foundation, a sustainable community organisation providing education, nutrition and medical support to thousands of orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi. She said: “Working in Malawi has changed everything about who I am. It's taught me that resilience is often simply taking the next step… and that community is built on genuine relationships, generosity and looking after one another – values I think much of the world has lost. Above all, it's shown me that real change isn't measured by numbers, but by knowing that because of our work, even one child's life has a better future.” While she was busy setting up her foundation, Brook leaned on Matimati for support. She said: “I lived with Violet for several months, eating, laughing, joking together daily.” Matimati and her then-husband even asked Brook to name their newborn child, and she named him Joshua. In the early years of The Sparkle Foundation, Brook invited the couple to help oversee her nonprofit organisation. It worked out wonderfully initially. However, over time, things gradually started to fall apart: “We discovered that her ex-husband had not been completely honest, either with the project or their marriage… I still remember to this day, Violet crying, and me crying, and us saying, “What now?”. They both left the project, I removed my th