Link
Introducing R to Malawi: A Community in the Making
What the article covers
David Mwale, the R Users Malawi group organizer, recently spoke with the R Consortium about his efforts to establish and grow the R community in Malawi.
My Thoughts
You can just do things
When I got excited about the D3.js data visualization library many years ago, I created the NYC D3.js Meetup Group.
By the time I stepped down, the group had grown from one person (me) to around 3,000 people.
The goal was for members to meet and learn from each other, as well as to help foster the D3.js-related community in NYC.
The key was starting small and maintaining consistency.
In my case, we met once a month at the same place and the same time.
When David Mwale, the writer of the linked post, got excited about the R programming language, he
discovered user groups for R in neighboring countries, such as Botswana. I contacted the R user group in Johannesburg and learned about another community group on LinkedIn. I inquired about how they established their groups so we could create our own R user group. Following the steps they provided and the information I found on the R Consortium website, I applied to set up our group. I’m happy to report that we had our first meeting just last month.
Notice how he started small and looked for existing people excited about the same thing (R statistics language in this case) who could help him.
Pattern Recognition
Community building often follows a simple pattern:
- Personal excitement about a technology
- Looking for existing communities
- Learning from established groups
- Starting something small
- Growing organically
David’s story perfectly illustrates this pattern.
He went from discovering R during his studies to establishing Malawi’s first R user group.
If you’re excited about AI Agents and AI Engineering, I highly recommend you start a group (even if it’s online) to meet like-minded people.
It’s particularly relevant now, as AI Engineering communities are forming globally at an unprecedented rate.
Getting Started
The best time to start is now, as the AI Engineering / AI Agent field is evolving so rapidly that every new community adds unique value.
For those inspired to start their own AI Agent community:
- Start small - even a monthly online meetup works
- Document your journey - share learnings publicly
- Connect with other communities - most are happy to help
- Focus on consistency and quality over quantity
- Be patient - communities take time to grow
A question that probably came up was - what should we talk about or discuss?
The answer is simple: start with what interests you most and build from there, whether reviewing the latest AI papers, sharing implementation experiences, or coding together.
The specific format matters less than creating space for like-minded people to connect.
Good luck, and let me know when you start one so that I can join it and learn from you!