Thank you to ‘Wear a Sports Shirt Day’ Charity and several clubs for the donation of these brilliant preloved kits. Much appreciated!
Sarah’s blog 13/8/24
There are certain people who quietly help us and some other organisations. One of these people, Julian Chenery, has his own small charity called ‘Wear a Sports Shirt Day’. Julian travels round different sports clubs on weekends and collects preloved kit and passes it on to those who need it. We are very grateful for all his hard work and for supporting the orphans in Malawi and to the clubs who have donated preloved kit that can be reused and put to great use.
Some of the kits that are received will be kept for use on campus but other kits will be gifted round the primary schools and local football clubs, so it’s great that Julian has sent lots of different kits as many people have benefitted. The young people are always delighted to have matching new to them kit. It boosts self-esteem and self-confidence and, when playing team sports with their friends, they are able to forget about their worries for a while. So thank you to Julian and all the clubs who have donated this time….on behalf of all the young people, thank you, Sarah x
Thank you to Seaton Town Football Club!Thanks to Maidstone United Football Club Supporters Thank you to Southwest Sports Wear for this Robert Blake Science College kitThanks to the Football FoundationThree London South East Colleges Shirts – thank youEveryone likes a sports shirt! Thanks for your hard work Julian at Wear a Sports Shirt Day!
Levison and his team have been busy opening the boxes that arrived recently. As Sunday is the day to run the feeding programme, word had got round that there might be some gifts given out yesterday. However, far more children turned up than was expected… there were well over 500…many arrived early…so it was just going to be too much to give clothes out in a sensible way, ensuring everyone got something that fitted them. Everyone will get something, but it will have to be done over different days.
These children are all living in extreme poverty. Many are orphans who live with extended family. Families struggle to feed children every day… so the feeding programme is vital. Once a week isn’t nearly enough but it’s all we can afford at the moment. As families struggle to eat, they certainly don’t have money to buy clothes.
We didn’t send as many boxes as usual on that container as we had sent lots of tables and chairs for the classrooms. On the next container there will be more boxes and, as well as preloved clothes for the children, there will be lots of boxes of books for the school literacy project.
There were over 70 nursery age children today (most of whom go to Bright Futures Nursery). It was decided that they would be the easiest age group to give gifts to first. They all received new clothes and a soft toy each and Levison took these lovely photos of some of the children who are aged between 4 and 6.
After the youngest children had their gifts, then the next age group received clothes too. If you’d like to make a donation to help the feeding programme or help with the cost of sending boxes then please do email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
We hope you enjoy these photos and videos and do let me know if you recognise any of the soft toys as having being donated by you! Thanks to everyone who supports us to help hundreds of children and young people, Sarah x
Bright Futures Campus – hundreds of children turned up early this morning hoping for gifts as well as being fed.Over 70 children age 4-6 received clothes and soft toys
You can hear the excitement and chatter as the children come together to be with their friends and know that they will have a good meal today. We wish we could feed them more often than once a week but we need more financial support for the feeding programme
The children and young people are thanking everyone for the donations and support
These young people need a sponsor to help them access secondary education which isn’t free in Malawi. Will you help please?
Sarah’s blog 10/8/24
Thank you so much to the generous people who have come forward and offered to sponsor a young person to go to Bright Futures Secondary School. We are so grateful for everyone who sponsors one of the young people we help to support.
Secondary school is not free in Malawi. So, unless these young people receive help, their education stops at the end of primary school whether they pass their primary school leavers exams or not. This doesn’t seem fair. They are all living in extreme poverty. Many are orphans living with extended family. None can pay school fees. All of them know that education is their way out of poverty and to a brighter future with choices and chances.
The new school term in Malawi starts on 16th September. Will you help us please? We need to find sponsors for all of these young people. You can sponsor as an individual, a family or two friends can share the cost. It’s only £25 per month to change a young person’s life. Or if 5 friends shared sponsorship of a young person then that’s only £5 each per month. Please could you ask your friends?
Apart from paying the teachers’ salaries, the biggest cost is food. At Bright Futures Secondary School each student gets a substantial, nutritious meal each lunchtime. For most this is their only meal of the day, so it is vital. Families, knowing that the students are fed at school, don’t have to worry about feeding them at home. This is how poor families are. They just do not have enough to go round.
I’ve enclosed the link to my original blog about looking for sponsors but the photos in this blog are the young people who still need your help. Please contact me to ensure we can help. It takes teamwork. Thank you so much, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
I have been asked to find sponsors for these vulnerable students so they can attend secondary school. I cannot do this without your help. Please read today’s blog and help if you can.
Sarah’s blog 14/06/24
It’s bad enough for our children waiting for exam results but, in Malawi, did you know that only primary education is free? So depending on their national primary school exam results their education might stop at the end of primary school. Also, if their families cannot pay, their education stops at the end of primary school. Imagine if our children only had primary school education? Think of everything they would miss out on.
There are 8 years of primary school and children start school at age 6. Class sizes are 50+ children. For example, Chambo Primary School, in the rural far north of Malawi has 500+ students over 8 classrooms. Only one classroom had desks and benches, until we successfully applied for a grant to install clean drinking water and desks and benches for two further classrooms. This grant was thanks to the Kitchen Table Charities Trust. Another grant from the Eleanor Rathbone Trust, meant that a girls toilet block was built. Meaning that girls no longer had to squat in the bushes which left them at risk of attack and with no dignity or privacy.
Five classrooms are remaining with children sitting on the concrete floor. There were hardly any resources until we started our School Literacy Project, gifting boxes of preloved books to help students become more confident readers. We gave students at Chambo Primary school notebooks and pencils in January…nowhere near enough for what they need…but better than nothing. Thanks to our fundraising on the site DonorSee these vulnerable children are about to receive more notebooks and pencils (one now and one in September).
Imagine not being able to afford a notebook and pencil. Imagine not being able to afford soap. Imagine not eating properly each day. No big charities are working in the far north yet. We can only afford to feed 500 children once a week whilst we try to set up sustainable projects to help them be self-sufficient.
Many of these students in primary school are older than they would normally be. If they are one of the eldest children in a family, they might have dropped out of school for a while to work for a pittance to help bring money into their family to provide food whilst the younger children in the family attended school. Or maybe all the children in the family had to work. Or they might have had to look after an elderly relative. So there can be many different ages in one class of students.
I need your help. I have been asked to find sponsors for 18 students who have just done their primary school leavers exams. They are bright students and are all expected to pass. None can go to secondary school without financial support. I have managed to find sponsors for 4 of them – many thanks to those sponsors for coming forward. However, I still need to match 14 students with sponsors and I’ve only got 12 weeks to do it before the new term starts in mid September. THESE STUDENTS ARE HOPING THEY WILL BE ABLE TO GO TO BRIGHT FUTURES SECONDARY SCHOOL BUT THEY NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE. They wait in hope of a brighter future. They know that education is their way out of poverty. This will be the most important gift these young people have – the gift of education. Will you reach out and help one of them? Please?
Being a sponsor is less than £1 per day. How many people buy a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps that we don’t really need? Could you spare less than £1 per day? It’s only £25 per month to make a difference to one of these young people. You can sponsor as an individual, two friends could share the cost (making it less than 50p per day) or your club, school or church could sponsor a young person’s education. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com When you meet a friend for a coffee or have a few glasses of wine with your friends, would you ask them please if they can join you in sponsoring a young person’s education? If we have lots of little groups of friends or colleagues sponsoring one young person, just think what a difference we could make. It’s always about teamwork. You have the ability to change a life.
Being sponsored means these students will receive free education at Bright Futures Secondary School where class sizes are kept smaller than average. They will receive school uniform and stationery and other gifts. Each student will receive a free nutritious lunch each day. For most, this is their only meal of the day so it is vital for their health and concentration.
Will you help one of these vulnerable young people please? Many are orphans, living with extended family or some are from single parent families. All are living in dire poverty. Your help and support to gift these young people a secondary education and a brighter future will be so welcome. Will you help us help them today? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Together we can keep Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thanks, Sarah x
Yesterday we were contacted by Arnold Clark to ask if we would like to help with a promotion they would be doing today. They are the new sponsors for the front of the Scotland Rugby Team shirts. Today, they announced that 500 people could swap their last season’s shirt for a brand new shirt at one of the two Macron shops. We were asked if we would like all the preloved shirts to send to the young people we help to support in Malawi.
As well as gifting 500 shirts for us to reuse, Arnold Clark have agreed to pay for the container costs for these shirts which is a huge help. And, what we are really excited about, is that they have promised to donate £500 to ensure we can run another rugby tournament for the orphans and other vulnerable children.
We are absolutely delighted that these shirts will be going to young people in need and that we will have money to ensure that Jack Mphande, Malawi Rugby’s Development Officer can come and visit for a third time. Thanks to our supporters, we were able to pay Jack’s expenses for his previous trips to introduce touch rugby to those in the far north of Malawi.
When the young people meet for training and the tournament, we will have money to be able to feed them all and provide drinks. No big charities are working that far north to feed children in primary schools, so all of these children are hungry (most are malnourished) and need to eat so they will have enough energy to enjoy their games of rugby.
Until recently, these orphans were not used to people visiting and wanting to spend time with them. It really helps their confidence and self-esteem. They learn new skills and have fun with their friends and are able to forget about the dire poverty they live in and the trauma they have been through.
Thank you Arnold Clark for partnering with us to ensure the continuation of grass roots rugby in northern Malawi. Thank you everyone who donates their tops that will ensure the young people have matching tops instead of their old and ripped ones. They will all be delighted. Thank you to the rugby development officer, Jack Mphande, for agreeing to visit again. There will be so much excitement when the young people know you are coming!
There will be lots of photos and videos so please do follow us on social media if you haven’t already done so. Here is the link to the new rugby shirts that came out today https://www.facebook.com/share/v/vm3miom5zWkb5oZh/
We always say it takes teamwork and we are very grateful to be given this opportunity to reach more people through partnership working. To the team at Arnold Clark – thank you. To Scottish Rugby – thank you. To everyone else who supports us – thank you also. We couldn’t do what we do without you all, Sarah. (Below is a photo of the new Scotland Rugby shirt and there are a few photos from Jack’s previous visits to teach touch rugby to the orphans)
All the children are hungry. It’s now school holidays. Please help us continue to feed them and plan for future sustainable feeding projects
Sarah’s blog 1/8/24
The schools in Malawi are now on summer holidays and won’t return until mid September. The sponsored students at Bright Futures Secondary School will receive a monthly food parcel, like the other sponsored children, as they won’t have their usual school lunches.
The Feeding Programme will be needed more than ever as Bright Futures Nursery is closed for the school holidays. These preschool children usually receive porridge at each session so, unfortunately, they won’t have that. https://donorsee.com/project/23502?share=1 to donate to feeding the nursery kids.
The feeding programme runs once a week and up to 500 children and young people are fed a substantial and nutritious meal. Children walk up to 20km for this one proper meal of the week. They are so hungry. Please donate here https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1
Fruit tree saplings have been planted. These will be a sustainable future source of food and income as excess fruit can be sold at the local markets. We are fundraising to buy more fruit tree saplings to add to the orchard. Here is the link https://donorsee.com/project/23627?share=1
Chickens have been bought to lay eggs and more fertilised eggs will be bought soon to put in the solar powered incubator. This will be another food source and sustainable income source. Thanks to the donors who funded this project.
We are raising money to buy piglets and make a pig pen. Future piglets that will be born will be sold at local markets and will provide a sustainable income. Here is the link to donate to this project https://donorsee.com/project/23894?share=1
These, and other projects, are all plans to help the community be self-sufficient and sustainable and also be good for the environment. However, the malnourished children need food now. Will you help us please to ensure that we can continue to feed them? https://donorsee.com/project/23502?share=1 to donate to feeding the nursery kids.
Thank you in advance for supporting and helping the orphans, Sarah x
The children were delighted to be given these beautiful woolly hats at the weekend… there are lots more on going on the next container
Sarah’s blog 1/8/24
We have several people who knit for us from time to time…all very talented…I can’t knit and I think it’s wonderful how they dedicate their time and talents to help the orphans we support.
It can get cold at night in Malawi and none of these children have enough bedding so a woolly hat is very much appreciated and they are delighted to receive a gift.
My auntie, who lives in England, visited last month and brought lots and lots of hats that she and her friend have been busy knitting over the last few months. Another friend of hers buys pencils and other supplies so my auntie brought those with her too. There were nearly 200 hats! Amazing!
I waited to post about the hats until the container arrived with the hats that had already been sent…some were knitted by my auntie but others by talented locals from Balfron, Strathblane, Torrance and further afield. We are so grateful for each and every one of the hats, baby cardigans and blankets that are knitted with love and donated to us for the children and babies we help to support.
https://donorsee.com/project/23640?share=1 here is the link to one of our small fundraisers on DonorSee. We will be buying fabric so a group can learn to make clothes. We will also buy some wool so that the knitting group can continue learning to knit. If you could spare a small donation it would be most appreciated. Thank you so much to every knitter and for everyone who supports our projects. Enjoy the photos, Sarah x
we are very grateful for these lovely hats and for all the other beautiful knitting we receive
new hats for the children that will be packed up and sent in the next container
Levison has been trying to buy trays of fertilised eggs to put in the incubator now that the incubator has its own uninterrupted solar power supply.
Who knew that fertilised eggs would be in such high demand… there is a waiting list… which Levison has his name on. In the meantime, there are some new additions to Holligan’s Hen House. Hopefully, once they have settled then there may be eggs to put in the incubator and chicks to hatch.
The hen house was named after my husband Stuart’s late aunt and uncle who generously helped to fund the building of Holligan’s Hen House.
This was one of the small projects that was successfully funded via DonorSee and we are very grateful to the people who helped fund the project. Please could you have a look at our other small projects that are on the DonorSee site? There might be one that you could spare a few £££ towards.
https://donorsee.com/project/24114?share=1 is for seeds and sweet potato vines for the students at Bright Futures Secondary School to grow. Agriculture lessons are a core part of the curriculum and they want to grow their own food.
https://donorsee.com/project/24111?share=1 is for the fundraiser to help five ladies who are living in extreme poverty and have health issues to start their own agribusiness. They have 50% of the money so can we help them raise the rest?
https://donorsee.com/project/23502?share=1 This one is to help feed the hungry preschool children at Bright Futures Nursery. There are several other projects so please do have a look to see ways your money can really make a difference.
Thank you for reading and supporting us to help some of the most vulnerable children and young people (and their families) in rural northern Malawi. Together we can continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi, Sarah x
Container #13 arrived in Ekwendeni, near Mzuzu, and was due to be opened at 10am on Friday morning. Levison and two of his team had left Chitipa on Thursday afternoon as soon as they heard that the container had been released by customs and was travelling north from Lilongwe to Ekwendeni. As Levison is in the far north, this journey takes a long time. They had a few hours sleep at Karonga then onto Ekwendeni. There was a blocked road due to a lorry breakdown but they managed to get there on time.
Things then didn’t go to plan. The customs officers needed to do some extra checks so the container had to go to their warehouse in Mzuzu to be unpacked there. Hundreds of people gather when a container arrives. Everyone waited all day Friday and the boxes etc hadn’t been released. I had to send more money so that Levison and his staff could buy more food and find somewhere to stay overnight. Everyone was getting very frustrated but were told to return at 9am on Saturday. The boxes were eventually released after 11am on Saturday which was just as well because the customs officers don’t work on a Saturday afternoon!
The Homecoming – Levison’s truck returned to Bright Futures Campus at lunchtime today…three days after setting off…and what a hero’s welcome they received! Levison had to move children out of the way so that the truck could get through…they were so delighted to see the truck come loaded with boxes.
The other truck and driver they had to hire, didn’t want to come along all the small dirt roads so will wait for them in town. Levison and staff will go back to collect all the tables and chairs that were sent for the classrooms at Bright Futures Secondary School.
Levison asked me to thank everyone involved – all the donors, all the volunteers – everyone. We would like to echo those thanks too. It is always a team effort and needs all of us to each play our small part in making things happen.
To the team at Bananbox Trust in Dundee – thank you for ensuring the boxes are correctly labelled and packed onto each container. And to the BBT team in Malawi, thank you for ensuring the correct boxes are given to the correct recipients! Sorry that you had more work to do this time but we appreciate everything that you do. I’ve added the link to their face book post for you to see some of their photos. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/4daSw9JPGi9mx6Gm
Hope everyone enjoys looking at the photos and videos, most of which were taken just a couple of hours ago. A hero’s welcome indeed…and very much deserved! Thank you, Sarah x DonorSee (a link to our fundraising page with small projects)
School holidays always mean that I don’t have as much time to devote to Changing Lives Malawi but that doesn’t mean nothing happens. I’ve applied for two grants this week. There are so many people chasing the same money that it’s not often that we get lucky…but fingers crossed!
At the end of last week, I received a cheque for £4,500 from The Inverclyde Trust, for which we are very grateful. This is the third time they have supported our work and this donation will go towards the next phase of teachers’ accommodation and latrines as more teachers will be needed at Bright Futures Secondary School in September. Thank you so much for making a difference again.
I’ve received two parcels of preloved shoes in the post and also two bags of shoes have been dropped off at our house. These will be great for the teenagers at Bright Futures Secondary School. Thank you again!
All Saints Junior School in Maidenhead emailed me to ask if we are still collecting preloved school uniform. They are changing their uniform and have some new and preloved clothes to send us as well as some new backpacks. This is a great donation and so many of the orphans we support will benefit from some lovely new clothes. All Saints are about to break up for their summer holidays but, once they are back, we look forward to bringing updates of the donations and also some fundraising that the children will be helping with. We are so glad that you got in touch and look forward to partnering with you after the school holidays.
Hopefully, later in the week, there will be photos of the next lot of boxes arriving at their destination. We have heard that the container has reached the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, and is waiting to be released by customs. Once that happens, the container will reach its final destination at Ekwendeni, near Mzuzu. It’s always very exciting waiting for boxes and other supplies to arrive. Sometimes boxes were packed so long ago that we’ve forgotten what was in some of them – although I do keep an overall note of what is in the boxes and who things are for. I’m looking forward to seeing the preschool children with some new resources and also students at Bright Futures Secondary School with some topic books they requested.
We are still trying to raise funds for lots of small projects so any donations will be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x https://donorsee.com/project/23995?share=1
Apologies for the amount of photos and videos from Sunday. Well worth looking at as they will make you smile 🙂
Sarah’s blog 11/7/24
Here are some amazing photos and videos from Sunday 7th July. Approximately 500 children and young people turn up when they know it’s a day when the feeding programme is on. Some walk for 15km or 20km for their one proper meal of the week. We really need your help please to ensure that there is always enough money to buy the food that is needed to feed this many hungry children.
As well as photos and videos of feeding the children, you will see some of what the children get up to on a typical day at Bright Futures Campus. It is their safe place to be with their friends and to be children. They can forget about their hardships for a few hours.
There are always chores like washing dishes, sweeping up and watering the plants. The saplings in these photos and videos were planted last year so they are growing really well. The library is always open for reading, sometimes there will be a video to watch. You can see children playing a traditional game as well as playing with the wooden trainset that used to belong to my youngest son. And there is always a ball to play with! I loved that some children were playing at being teachers too.
Levison gave his phone to a group of children and they did a great job of taking some selfies….some brilliant smiles once they’d figured out what they were doing….it’s so lovely to see them enjoying themselves. In the photos and videos, I spotted maroon sweatshirts from Strathblane Primary School and jade green from Balfron Primary School as well as a navy jumper from Riverside Primary in Stirling. Did you notice any other school jumpers?
It’s a bit of a photo dump/video dump so apologies for there being quite a lot…but they are worth it and hope you are smiling by the end. If you can spare any money for a donation to feed the children, it would be very much appreciated https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1 Thank you, Sarah x
10 vulnerable students are needing sponsors to help with their secondary education. Will you help? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Sarah’s blog 6/7/24
10 students needing sponsors with 9 weeks until the new term!
I’d like to start by saying THANK YOU to the lovely people who answered the call for help for new sponsors. I was set the challenge of finding sponsors for 18 young people who have just left primary school. Now there are 10 to find sponsors for and we are very grateful that eight have now been matched with sponsors to support their education.
In Malawi, secondary education needs to be paid for. None of the young people we help to support would be able to have a secondary education if they don’t have a sponsor to help with the cost of their place at secondary school. Bright Futures Secondary School was built for these students who had no hope of a brighter future….but, with your help, they now can see a way out of the extreme poverty they are living in.
One of the biggest daily costs at Bright Futures Secondary School is food. These young people do not eat a proper meal at home each day. They receive a nutritious, filling lunch each day they are at school. This is their only meal of the day and saves their families having to feed them. So it is vital that they are all fed at school. Apart from their free lunches, they receive free education, free uniform and shoes, stationery and water bottles.
It costs £25 per month to sponsor a young person. You can be a sponsor as an individual or a family or you could share the cost of being a sponsor with your friends or club. Anyone can help and it’s less than £1 per day. That might not seem a lot to us, but it is probably one of the most important things you can do for one of these young people….the gift of education. Please do get in touch if you think you can help or you’d like more information. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for reading and supporting us to help these vulnerable young people, Sarah x
This was my original post asking for help to support the education of these vulnerable young people
https://donorsee.com/project/24114?share=1 Here is a link to donate to provide vegetable seeds and sweet potato vines to support the agricultural classes at Bright Futures Secondary School. Brian, an S2 student, is saying how much he enjoys agricultural classes and asks for continued support. Growing their own vegetables to supplement their school lunches is something for them to be proud of!
