Children's Charity Malawi Archives - Page 13 of 24

International Women’s Day

On International Women’s Day….

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Sarah’s blog 8/3/23

On International Women’s Day, I want to thank all the sponsors and other people who help us, who are making a big difference to the very vulnerable girls whom we help to support.

Every single vulnerable girl is being given a chance to have a better and brighter future. They are being given chances and choices that they wouldn’t otherwise have been given. These girls now have more employment opportunities open to them; even if they don’t pass their final school exams…they will have better literacy and numeracy skills. Hopefully, more girls will pass exams and go on to further education or learn a trade. If you would like to help support a girl then please email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

By supporting teenage girls with simple projects like The Period Poverty Project, girls are no longer missing school each month. They now have the same opportunity for education as the boys in their school. We sent sewing machines for some of the girls to make reusable sanitary towels. A small, low cost project making a big difference!

We want to thank and celebrate all the women who are living in extreme poverty and doing their best as single parents, or bringing up grandchildren or even fostering children. These are strong women, quietly making a difference in a very difficult situation.

These girls are the future women who will make a difference. Thanks to all their role models and to everyone who is helping to shape their futures. Happy International Women’s Day, Sarah x

Maria is gifting some of the donated baby clothes to these women for their babies.

Christina’s family are living in extreme poverty and she needs a sponsor

Chifundo’s mum died recently. She is now ‘mum’ to her younger brother. She needs a sponsor.

Can you sponsor a girl like Maria? Look at the difference a sponsor can make.

vulnerable girls at Bright Futures Secondary School….thanks to everyone who supports them and who was involved in helping fund the school.

Vulnerable teenage girls now have the opportunity of secondary education at Bright Futures Secondary School. Female teachers are great role models for these girls.

Alice, Loveness & Jean. Alice has come to work at The Foundation while she waits to become a teaching assistant at a government primary school. Loveness had support from The Foundation and went on a sports coaching course. She helps in the nursery and with sports but also has a part-time job with another bigger charity supporting adult literacy. Jean was sponsored to go to secondary school and have the opportunity to finish her education. Unfortunately, because of the extreme poverty she grew up in and the effects of that, Jean didn’t pass her final exams. However, she is being supported to learn tailoring and Levison reports that she is a very hard worker. Three young women with chances and choices for brighter futures, thanks to the people who help us.

Kalanga Primary School Visit

Levison was able to visit Kalanga primary school today with clothes and books

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Sarah’s blog 07/03/23

Chambo Primary School is the one nearest to The Foundation and the majority of the younger children who are supported by The Foundation go to school there.

Kalanga Primary School is a bit further away but some children who go there also come to The Foundation. Levison had arranged with the headteacher to visit today with clothes for the children who are all very vulnerable. There were enough clothes to ensure everyone received something.

These uniforms were very kindly donated by a parent whose children went to Sinclair House School, Fulham. This school unfortunately closed during the pandemic. However, we are so grateful that these beautiful clothes have been able to be used by children in need and who will make good use of them.

There were so many boxes of uniforms donated that some have already been given out to children who attend Chambo Primary and also some of the students at Bright Futures Secondary School. The children from yesterday’s blog were given new clothes from this school too.

Levison also took four boxes of books for Kalanga Primary School as part of our School Literacy Project to help the children have access to more books and become more confident readers. The teachers were extremely grateful for all these donations and the children were delighted to have new clothes. Hope you enjoy looking at all the photos, Sarah x

A family in need – no food to give – Changing Lives Malawi

A Generous Donation – Changing Lives Malawi

A family in need – no food to give

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Sarah’s blog 06/03/23

People in need arrive at The Foundation every day. Things are tough. The rainy season makes an already difficult existence even harder. Food is scarce and prices have rocketed. Some people Levison can help, others he can’t. Everyone is given time for a chat. Levison, as well as being a teacher and having a degree in Agriculture, is a trained councillor. His skills are regularly put to good use.

Mrs Ng’ambi arrived at The Foundation this afternoon with her three children. Her husband is ill and they are struggling. Mrs Ng’ambi cried and cried after she and her children were given clothes, blankets and soap. Look at the happiness on the faces of these children because they have some new clothes and some flipflops instead of bare feet. Christina is holding a pack of 4 bars of soap.

Levison said sadly there is no spare food at The Foundation so he was unable to give them any food. Prices of everything have increased hugely in Malawi. Food prices usually go up in the rainy season when food becomes more scarce. However, Levison has told me that maize, their staple food, has more than doubled in price. How can people, earning a pittance, continue to buy food? The situation is getting harder and we must continue to be able to at least continue feeding the 500 children once a week. Please help us. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Showing kindness in small ways makes a big difference to people like the Ng’ambi family. That’s why we need people to sign up to commit £1 per week to help us to continue to feed the 500 vulnerable children at the Feeding Programme which runs once a week. Children of all ages receive a nutritious, substantial meal once a week. Some children walk up to 20km for this meal. There are no charities feeding children in primary schools in this area. Children are malnourished and hungry. We need your help to continue feeding the 75 nursery children to give them a better start in life. We need your help to continue feeding the vulnerable students at Bright Futures Secondary School. We need your help to have some ‘emergency food‘ for people in need like Mrs Ng’ambi and her family.

If we can get 100 people committing to £1 per week, that will help us ensure the Feeding Programme keeps running as well as ensuring that the pre-school children are fed. The students at Bright Futures Secondary School need breakfast and lunch to help them study properly as they don’t eat when they go home. And we need some ‘extra’ food for families like Mrs Ng’ambi and her children.

Will you commit to £1 per week please? That’s not much at all to us…. to Mrs Ng’ambi and her children, it means the gift of a meal. Will you please join our team and commit just £1 per month to feed the hungry? Thanks for reading, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

New clothes and flipflops for Benayi and Christina

as you can see, the children’s clothes no longer fit and they are barefoot

Mrs Ng’ambi cried when she and her children were given clothes, a blanket and soap

Such a happy face even though Christina is hungry and her dad is ill

please, please give £1 per week to help us feed these vulnerable children

Support us with your leftover currency

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Sarah’s blog 3/3/23

Exciting news – We’ve partnered with a company called Leftover Currency. You can send coins and notes to them and ask them to donate the amount to our charity, helping us to continue supporting the hundreds of vulnerable children in northern Malawi.

Here is the link Leftover Currency – Donations to Changing Lives Malawi so have a little read and keep us in mind after you’ve been on your holidays or if you’ve found some foreign coins or notes in a drawer.

It’s just one of the many ways that you can help us and we will be very grateful for any funding that comes our way via Leftover Currency. Thanks for your support, Sarah x

World Book Day

On World Book Day…find out the difference books are making to the orphans and vulnerable children we support in rural Northern Malawi.

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Sarah’s blog 2/3/23

On World Book Day, I want to share some photos with you. These photos aren’t the usual fun photos that will be shared all over social media today.

Children at many schools will be dressing up as their favourite characters from fiction books to celebrate World Book Day. This is great fun and celebrates the importance of reading, love of books, favourite authors and most loved stories.

The children we help to support in Malawi are aged between 4 and 20 and all deserve to have an education and access to books. Our Literacy Project is addressing literacy for those in the nursery to the students in Bright Futures Secondary School. Previously, books were few and far between. How can a child be a confident reader if they don’t have access to books?

We are gifting boxes of books to rural primary schools where reading material is at a minimum and children are sitting on the floor in classrooms. A library has been built (The Emma Buchanan Rainbow Library) which now has a full wall of books of all subjects for children to read in the library and also to borrow. There are some computers in the library too (no internet yet) where students are learning to to type and learning about using computers.

All 75 pre-school children have been given a book each to keep. There are also picture books been donated to the nursery. All of these vulnerable children, have missed out on years of pre-reading. They weren’t able to sit on an adult’s knee as a baby and have books read to them daily. They weren’t given the opportunity to turn pages and look at pictures and then pretend to read the story by following the words with their fingers. I wonder, how many hours of ‘reading’ have our children had before they even get to school? These children have missed out on all of that.

So let’s celebrate, on World Book Day, that these children now have access to books every day. Let’s celebrate that the students in the new Bright Futures Secondary School have text books, bibles and dictionaries, as well as access to the library. Because of the School Literacy Project, will we see literacy levels increase amongst these vulnerable children in the next few years? Education is their way out of poverty. Education is the key to a better and brighter future for them. Education means chances and choices. Let’s celebrate that things are changing for these children and books are a big part of this change.

Here is the link to the fundraiser for the next classrooms at Bright Futures Secondary School https://gofund.me/ece5753a We would be so grateful for any donations to ensure that we can continue to build phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School and ensure that the education of the most vulnerable young people can continue.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the photos, Sarah x

The first boxes of books that we sent that people had kindly donated. This was an amazing day for these children who were delighted to be able to look at these books with their friends.

Seventeen boxes of books were gifted to Chambo Primary School

Children sit on the floor at Chambo Primary School…only the p8 class has tables and chairs

At Bright Futures Secondary School – we sent bibles donated by St Michael’s Church, Slateford Road, Edinburgh

We are hoping that by gifting books to preschool children, literacy levels might start to improve as children become more confident readers

S2 students at Bright Futures Secondary School

This was the first time that these preschool had sat at tables and chairs. They enjoyed the novelty and liked choosing a book each to look at

Looking at books in Emma’s Rainbow Library – named in memory of Emma Buchanan

As well as lots of donated pre-loved books, we have sent a selection of books about black people in history and black role models, and Levison has been able to buy books written by Malawian authors

Mwiza has additional needs and isn’t able to attend school. He has been given toys and games to stimulate him and to help his muscle strength and coordination. His youngest sister has started school a year earlier than was expected because she is very able. Is this because she has had access to books at home?

We were very grateful to receive a grant from The Souter Charitable Trust which we used to buy text books for Bright Futures Secondary School

An Amazing Quiz & Band Night!

Thanks to everyone who supported our very successful fundraiser for the next phase of Bright Futures Secondary School.

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Sarah’s blog 25/2/23

Thank you to everyone who came along last night….it looked like everyone was having a brilliant time! The quiz that Douglas did for us was great fun! He’d put in a lot of work to prepare it and present it – so thank you so much Douglas!

There were so many raffle prizes that had been donated – thanks so much to everyone. We are very grateful to the following businesses; West Group Technical Services Ltd who donated a firepit made by Foldaway Fires, a cycling jacket from Endura, a hamper from Endrick Trading Ltd, vouchers from Tir na nog Holistic Centre, Milk & Honey Artisan Ice Cream, The Woodhouse, The Kitchen Window, Briarlands Farm, Wellsfield Farm, Ticketyboo Hair Design Buchlyvie and Exceptionail Buchlyvie. We had some wonderful prizes!

There was also a bottle of single malt whisky donated by one of our trustees, David Bell, to use as a prize for throwing £1 coins at….the nearest coin wins the bottle. There were so many coins being thrown and someone’s coin touched the bottle whilst lots of people were still waiting for a turn. So David, very kindly offered to buy a second bottle of whisky so everyone else got a turn to throw their £1 coins… this and the amount of raffle tickets that were purchased made a lot of money for our charity.

Then there is a huge thank you to local band, Acoustic Station, who gave their time and talents free of charge. Stuart, the drummer, is one of our trustees (and my husband) so I am slightly biased but they were amazing and people were up dancing all night!

After a very late night, I counted all the money this morning and added what was already paid directly into the charity bank account. £1,503 is the grand total! An amazing start to our fundraising for phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School. Thank you for buying tickets, raffle tickets, donating raffle prizes and being so supportive of what we, as a small group of volunteers, are trying to do. 100% of the money will go towards building the next phase of Bright Futures Secondary School. Thank you so much to those who helped set up and tidy up and, as always, it’s been amazing teamwork.

I hope you enjoy the video clips of Acoustic Station from last night. The link to our fundraiser is https://www.gofund.me/ece5753a and, as always, if you want to get in touch then the email address is contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks again, Sarah x

Bright Futures Secondary School – desks, chairs, uniform & exams – Changing Lives Malawi

Merchiston Castle School – another rugby donation – Changing Lives Malawi

We had some amazing donations for our raffle!

Bright Futures Secondary School – Phase 2 Fundraiser

Acoustic Station – River Deep Mountain High

Acoustic Station – I Think We’re Alone Now

A visit to the Health Centre

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Sarah’s blog 21/2/23

Some of the wonderful donations of clothes and knitting for babies that have been donated were delivered to the Health Centre that is near to The Foundation. There is a maternity ward in the health centre and staff are very happy to have the connection with The Foundation and to receive clothes for the new babies.

Levison and the teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School want the young people, who are receiving free education, school meals, uniform etc to give back to their community. A trip was organised to the health centre today for some of the students to go with their teachers to deliver the baby clothes and blankets. They also cut the grass round the buildings and swept debris from the outside areas.

It looks like everyone enjoyed the visit and the staff and mothers were delighted to receive some clothes for their babies. On the last visit there were some new born babies but today there were some older babies with their mums and also some women who were due to give birth. One person commented that these gifts had come from angels….so thank you so much to each and every person who has knitted blankets and baby clothes or donated baby clothes that their own children have grown out of. You can see where your gifts have gone and that they are very much appreciated. Enjoy the photos and thanks for supporting, Sarah x

The latest beautiful donations from Torrance Church that I received on Sunday. These will be going on the next container.

100 People x £1 per week

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Sarah’s blog 19/2/23

It’s just a quick post today. I am concerned about the children we are helping to support in rural Northern Malawi. There are over 500 orphans and other vulnerable children who come to be fed once a week… that’s all we can afford.

There are no big charities feeding children in schools in that area. All children are hungry, malnourished and don’t eat properly every day…some don’t eat every day.

We need your help to continue feeding these children as food prices have gone up and so many young people need our help.

If you can spare £1 per week… please, please will you help us? 100 people, each giving just £1 per week will ensure that the feeding programme can run twice a week instead of just once. We can make a difference to these hungry children.

Please will you commit to helping us help these very vulnerable young people? If we all give just £1 per week it WILL make a difference. All the money goes to our projects – there are no salaries or admin costs with our charity… every penny will go to feeding these malnourished children.

Email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com if you would like to change a life with just £1 per week. As a team, we can change lives in Malawi. Thank you, Sarah x

17th Feb 2023- Acts of Kindness

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Sarah’s blog 17/2/23

We should be kind to each other every day, not just on one date because someone has decided that 17th February should be Random Acts of Kindness Day. However, if I have got your attention for a couple of minutes and you have decided to read this, then please do consider our charity for an act of kindness. Here are some of the ways you could help:

can you spare just £1 per week to help feed vulnerable and malnourished orphans in rural northern Malawi? We have over 500 children of all ages who do not eat properly every day. Some walk 20km to get their one substantial and nutritious meal of the week at The Feeding Programme, which is only able to run once a week. There are no charities feeding children in any of the primary schools in that area. If 100 people each commit to £1 per week then we will be able to feed 500+ children twice a week instead of just once. £1 per week… it’s not much….could you help feed a hungry, vulnerable child?
£25 per month will sponsor a vulnerable child giving them more food and education and the chance of a brighter future.
phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School opened in November. We are now fundraising for phase 2. We need two more classrooms and more latrines. Can you please make a donation to our fundraiser https://gofund.me/ece5753a
or can you commit to £1 per week to help us provide a free breakfast and lunch at Bright Futures Secondary School? These teenagers do not eat at home and they cannot concentrate in they are hungry.

Your act of kindness WILL make a difference today. WILL you help us? £1 per week is all we are asking… Please commit to £1 per week as your act of kindness today. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com If every person who read this blog committed to £1 per week then we would be able to feed more children more often. WILL YOU COMMIT £1 PER WEEK TO FEED A HUNGRY CHILD? TOGETHER WE CAN. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading and helping us so support some of the most vulnerable children in Malawi, Sarah x

Look at the difference that having a sponsor has made for Maria

Please could you commit to sharing £1 per week with these vulnerable children?

Students at Bright Futures Secondary School are learning to grow their own vegetables

Agriculture Lessons at Bright Futures Secondary School

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Sarah’s blog 14/2/23

What do you do when you’ve got an old trampoline you want rid of? Send it to Malawi! That’s what one of our trustees did when he had dismantled his daughters’ old trampoline. The metal circle structure from the trampoline was sent on the container, along with polythene sheeting. The students, during their agriculture lessons, which are part of the curriculum, made a polytunnel using the trampoline semi circles at each end.

Here is the post from a couple of months ago when they had just made the polytunnel and were preparing the ground. The Polytunnel – Changing Lives Malawi

As you can see, as well as being part of the curriculum, experiences like this are giving these young people important skills for their futures. They are also going to be able to contribute what they grow for school lunches. This might be on a very small scale at the moment, but they will, no doubt, be delighted at what they are achieving. The students have been growing mustard. This small success might spark their enthusiasm for growing more crops to help provide some more food to supplement lunches at Bright Futures Secondary School.

As well as supporting the students’ learning experiences, we are now trying to raise funds for the next two classrooms. If you can donate we will be very grateful. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

https://gofund.me/ece5753a

Eliza’s children

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Sarah’s blog 09/02/23

I’m feeling really sad looking at these photos I am going to share with you today. You might remember that recently Eliza, one of the lovely hardworking volunteers, sadly died after having an asthma attack. Eliza had been volunteering since Levison started feeding the children and had understood the importance of his vision for improving the lives of the most vulnerable. She also understood it wasn’t going to happen without volunteers. Eliza worked tirelessly, cooking for and serving 500+ children, cooking for the nursery children and, more recently, for the students at Bright Futures Secondary School. She is missed very much by everyone.

I said I would try to find sponsors for her children. Her husband is a peasant farmer, working very hard for not much return. They had four children. Unfortunately, the eldest two have gone to live with relatives quite far away as their dad couldn’t support them all. So these older children have not only lost their mum, they are now separated from their dad too and their two youngest siblings. Who knows when they will all see each other again. Life is so hard.

The two youngest children are still living with their dad. The girl, Chifundo, who is 13, has had to start doing the chores her mum would have done, including looking after Junior, 8 years old, while their dad is working long hours. Chifundo will have to cook and do the washing. What will she cook? They don’t have much. They need food. They need soap to wash the clothes. They need some new clothes. And they need some blankets. You can see the mat, in one of the photos, where they sleep sharing a dirty old blanket.

So, who will help them? Who could help support these two children whose world has been turned upside down. They’ve lost their lovely mum and their two older siblings. They need our help. It costs £25 to sponsor a child each month. They receive a food parcel each month, clothes, a blanket, welfare checks and medicine if they need it. Please will you help? You can sponsor as an individual or two friends can share the cost or your club or business could sponsor a child. Please email me if you’d like to help Chifundo or Junior contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and thanks to all our sponsors who are making a big difference to each child, Sarah x

Having a sponsor – making a difference – Changing Lives Malawi

Very sad news from Ibuluma – Changing Lives Malawi

Having a sponsor – making a difference

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Sarah’s blog 8/2/23

I want to show you how sponsors ARE making a difference and ARE changing children’s lives. By making a commitment to a child you can help them have a brighter future.

Maria Sibwila was 11 when Levison first asked for help for her. Maria is an orphan living with her grandparents. At age 11 she was in danger of being married off as her grandparents couldn’t afford to feed her. Thanks to having a sponsor, Maria is looking happy and healthier. The difference in her is amazing to see. She no longer worries about child marriage. Could you sponsor one of Maria’s friends?

The next good news story is about a mum, on her own, with six children. The older children have missed out on schooling to earn some money in order to help support the family and the younger children at school. We first saw the two youngest children, Lucia and Rodrick, when they came to the Feeding Programme. They were dressed in rags and very obviously malnourished. They were given food and new clothes and Lucia was matched with a sponsor.

Levison visited the whole family at home and when he found out how much the family was struggling, asked me to try to match more of the children with sponsors. Thankfully, two sponsors came forward for Ketti (not pictured today) and Temwa. So the family have three out of the six children matched with sponsors, meaning that there are three food parcels each month to supplement what they have to eat. All the children are now attending school. Thank you so much to the sponsors for giving these children a chance at a better life.

Thank you to all our sponsors. Through your generosity, these children now have happier lives and brighter futures. If you’d like to change a child’s life by being a sponsor please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x