Sarah’s blog 28/7/22
School holidays can be hard for children who need routine and have extra needs. We organised a trip today for our youngest and one of his friends from school to go to https://briarlandsfarm.co.uk.
We had a great time but while chatting his friend asked me what I did as a job. I said that I help children in Africa. She said ‘Why?’ It made me stop and think. ‘Why?’ I answered her saying that the children don’t have enough food to eat and they need clothes to wear too. I told her that uniform from her primary school had been sent for the children to wear. She seemed happy with this answer.
It got me thinking ‘why?’ Well why not? It could easily be me that needed a helping hand. Why shouldn’t we help others wherever they are in the world? Everyone deserves the chance to be the best they can be…they don’t want hand outs, they need a helping hand back to self-sufficiency and a brighter future.
How can children learn properly if they are hungry? If they’ve not slept because of hunger pains or they are cold? If their bodies and brains aren’t nourished and basic needs met then how can we expect them to thrive? Here is really interesting article and why we are supporting some of the most vulnerable children in rural Northern Malawi by taking an holistic approach. Unfortunately, there are no big agencies feeding children in schools in the rural far north where The Foundation is. We can only afford to feed 500+ children once a week with a substantial, nutritious meal and food costs are going up all the time.
At the nursery, where 75 children meet 3 times a week they are fed at each session. When we build Bright Futures Secondary School, we hope to be able to feed the young people before they start learning for the day. Unfortunately, we cannot feed all the children at the local primary school as there are so many and we do not have the resources. We are changing lives in Malawi and things have improved greatly for some of the most vulnerable children in the rural north but there is still so much to do.
Eventually, children shouldn’t need to be fed in schools when their families are earning a proper wage or having their own small business. Their families will be able to provide food for the children and young people every day. Still some children aren’t eating each day. Their futures depend on being fed and educated. I am glad to be able to play a small part in helping Levison and his team to achieve their dreams for the children they support.
To donate to our fundraiser to build a desperately needed school – Bright Futures Secondary School, you can click on this link https://gofund.me/44a92444
Thanks for reading and if you’d like to help in any way you can email us, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
