Lots of boxes to send- please help

Sarah’s blog 29/08/24

Today has been all about boxes. Thank you to Stuart for driving another carload of boxes to The Bananabox Trust warehouse in Dundee. Once their warehouse is full, they order the next container. We are always grateful to all their volunteers who process the boxes and pack the container. Once Stuart returned from Dundee, he and I spent time packing more boxes this afternoon. Jackie, our numbers guru, and I have just been discussing how much money we have available to send boxes on the next container. Unfortunately, there is never enough in the kitty, so we have to appeal for your help (bank details are at the end of my blog).

Sending boxes of aid to Malawi is always a bit challenging. Is it economical to send boxes via a container ship then truck to the orphans and other vulnerable children? Should they be buying goods in Malawi instead? There are lots of issues but I’ll try and explain our reasoning for doing what we do.

There are over 500 orphans and other vulnerable children who are living in extreme poverty. Lots of families have been affected by AIDS/HIV so many orphans are living with extended family and are trying to earn a pittance to feed themselves. Therefore, they do not have any spare money to buy clothes. Before we started sending clothes, children were wearing rags. Desperate mothers, who come with their children to ask for help, are able to receive clothes thanks to our supporters.

1. We appeal for preloved school uniform as it is hardwearing and is usually outgrown while it is still in good condition. It is a way for more people to learn about us and what we do. It is a way to recycle preloved clothes. We also send shoes, baby clothes and blankets which new mothers are so grateful for.
2. If we didn’t send clothes for the children but sent some money instead, Levison would not be able to buy enough suitable clothing at local markets for the children. Because of the very rural location, this makes accessing shops difficult too. Also purchasing clothes for all those children would cost far too much.
3. It can get cold at night and as children don’t have enough warm blankets, they need jumpers and hats to keep them warm as they sleep on the floor cuddled with their siblings.
4. Eventually, because we have sent sewing machines, there won’t be as much need to send as many clothes as they will have the skills to make clothes.
5. A large percentage of the boxes going on the next container are boxes of children’s books for the School Literacy Project. Primary Schools in rural northern Malawi have minimal resources. We are hoping to raise attainment levels and help children to become confident readers. The books are preloved, from individuals and from local schools and nurseries, so they haven’t cost us anything. We only have to buy the strong boxes to pack them in and pay for transportation. There would be no way of providing books for our project like this if we were to purchase them in Malawi. There aren’t second hand books readily available because owning a book is a precious thing and people, if they are lucky enough to have a book, keep their books. Education is the way out of poverty for thousands of children who will benefit from the School Literacy Project. For £17.50 per box of books – that is a low cost project with the potential to make huge changes.

Once the community is more self-sufficient and more people have paid employment then they will be able to provide for their own children, both food and clothes. Even daily food is out of reach of some of the people we are helping to support. When the children have better exam results because they’ve had more opportunity to read many more books, they will be able to go on to secondary education (if we can match them with sponsors as secondary education is not free in Malawi).

We will not always send as many boxes as we do currently. The end goal is and has always been helping the community towards self-sufficiency. Hopefully, you will see from this explanation the thought process involved in sending boxes and the huge amount of children who benefit thanks to our supporters. However, we do need financial support to continue helping so many children through all the different projects. It costs £17.50 per box on the container then there are the transport costs in Malawi to collect the boxes from the container. This is such a long journey that it always involves an overnight trip.

So if you are able to help support the sending of preloved shoes and school uniform or to support our School Literacy project we would be very grateful. Financial donations can be made via the website or here are our bank details: Changing Lives Malawi, Bank of Scotland, Sort Code 80-22-60, Account Number 21081462. We always say it’s about teamwork and we couldn’t do what we do without your help and support. If you’d like to get in touch then please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . Thank you, Sarah x