Andrea Schwelm (German National SIGHT coordinator and in charge of the Facebook SIGHT group) has developed an amazing new concept: the world’s first ‘Mashram’!
She decided to rent a traditional four-bedroom villa with a swimming pool in Malta’s smaller sister island Gozo and turn it into an international Mensa meeting point. Everyone is welcome, as long as he or she is willing to mix with the other temporary residents of the house.
“If you only come for a cheap place to sleep and don’t care about the others, you don’t belong here” adds Andrea. She caters specifically for single travellers, but couples and friends are welcome as well – as long there is enough space. When the house is full, there are enough AirBnB places or small hotels in the area to not leave anyone out in the cold.
Visitors pay a free contribution, i.e., they get to decide themselves how much they can pay. This is to finance the additional costs for the three extra bedrooms. Hopefully everyone is reasonable and their share stays in fair relation to their wallets. Thus people who earn more provide a great possibility for Mensans who are financially struggling.
Dreams come true with Andrea and SIGHT
During the first three months the ‘Mashram’ has attracted more than fourteen guests from five countries. Some have already confirmed their second stay, so the project will be continuing until the end of September 2022, maybe even longer. And Andrea hopes that other Ms across the globe might be inspired to create more ‘Mashrams’ in other countries.
Andrea has been a member with Mensa Germany since 2002. She has been an active SIGHT hostess since, and in 2016 was appointed the German National SIGHT coordinator. She has always enjoyed creating inspiring communities: in her hometown Essen she has arranged two amazing formats: “Chimney Talks”, where she would suggest a topic she felt keen to discuss with eight-person groups diving into deep conversation. And “Open House”, where she would open her house and garden two or three times a year for a huge picnic, often attracting more than 100 visitors who would bring food and drinks to share.
In 2011 she started commuting between Malta and her home country. After 10 years Malta became too crowded and noisy. Looking for a perfect spot she discovered the neighbouring island of Gozo, which has a true ‘end-of-the-world’ feel to it. You can only get there and back by boat or ferry from Malta, the main island.
As a true idealist Andrea works on making dreams come true: a ‘Mashram’ for meeting people from all over the world in a friendly holiday atmosphere! If the project is viable, i.e., if she does not suffer too much financial loss, the experiment might continue. If not, it was a wonderful attempt to realise a Mensa dream!
Facebook Group: Holidays in Malta (Gozo) with Mensans (693 members), facebook.com/groups/2047032902121443
Email: andrea.schwelm.de@member.mensa.org
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, May, 2022, issue 112,