Category: Fundraising Africa

Three Young Men, a Sponsor & a Plan

Sarah’s blog 22/02/22

When you are so poor you can’t even finish primary school as you have to try to earn some money to feed yourself as your family cannot afford to feed you….that is a level of poverty that is, for most of us, hard to comprehend.

When you don’t have enough money for food to eat every day, that is something that most of us cannot understand. This is the story of three young men who have faced hardship like that. They are living in extreme poverty but, thanks to their own initiative, and now thanks to their sponsor, there is a plan in place to improve their lives and make something of themselves.

Manase is in his early 20s. He and his brother had been pictured previously working hard labouring for the builders who were building the shower block. He has been helping out at The Foundation. Chancy (early 20s) also helps out and Levison is able to give them small amounts of money for their work.

Yesterday, Levison went to see some of the eco stoves that Manase and Chancy had made, free of charge, for people in the village. Because of their initiative, their hard work and thoughtfulness is being rewarded.

Lameck, a teenager, has been on my mind since Levison took a photo of him reading books at the Foundation Library a few months ago. He didn’t even finish primary school due to poverty and has been doing piece work to earn a pittance since, but there he was reading in the library and trying to learn. I’ve been wondering how we can support him since then and now an opportunity has arisen.

We have matched them with a sponsor who will provide some money for The Foundation to pay these three young men each month whilst they make eco stoves for those in the community who don’t yet have one.

Eco stoves are….as the name suggests….eco friendly. They are an enclosed method of cooking so are far safer for people than cooking on an open fire, especially when young children are around. They use less wood which is obviously better for the environment and they retain heat so they can give off heat when it’s colder weather. Because they use far less wood, people don’t have to spend so long searching and collecting wood, leaving them more time for work or other household chores. Along with planting lots of tree saplings, the team at The Foundation are doing their bit for a sustainable future for people and the planet.

Manase, Chancy and Lameck will work on these and also brick making. Hopefully, they will be able to make enough bricks for future buildings and, possibly, if they want to, they may be able to go to college or have a tutor come to the Foundation to teach them bricklaying and building.

Hope you enjoy looking at the photos. If you’d like to donate to one of our project or support a young person then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x

As it’s enclosed it is a far safer way of cooking and uses less wood than cooking on an open fire
Chancy with one of the eco stoves that he and Manase made
Manase with an eco stove that he built with Chancy
Lameck enjoys using the library to improve his reading and knowledge. He has just been doing piecework for a pittance. He will now be working with Chancy and Manase to build eco stoves.
Gogo is the respectful name for an older person, like grandmother or grandfather

A family – homeless & in need of help

Sarah’s blog 20/02/22

I know I’m always asking for help and support. I’m sorry… but there are so many people who are in real need and we are trying to support Levison and his team to help them out of their dire situation.

A mother, twice widowed, and her three children are homeless. The roof of their mud home has blown off in the wind and rain. Levison visited them and was able to help them find temporary accommodation. The house belongs to someone else and really doesn’t look much better than their previous home.

They are being given blankets and clothes and some food but what I am asking of you, our supporters, please is that we get at least two of these three children sponsored so they have regular food and support going into their home. The children, especially Angela, are showing signs of malnutrition. They will know someone cares about them and it will make their lives a little bit better. It costs £25 to sponsor a child. An individual can sponsor a child, or two friends can share the cost, or a family or a business. This family is desperate and I really want to help them. As I always say, it’s teamwork. We cannot help The Foundation to do what they do without help from our wonderful supporters.

Ideally, we would like to be able to rebuild or repair houses but, unfortunately, we don’t have money for that. Maybe that’s something we can look at doing in the future. Climate change isn’t going to be kind to these homes. As you can see we have a great deal to do!

So if you can find it in your heart to sponsor Moses, Blessings or little Angela then please get in touch. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com If you can’t sponsor then please, please share our posts so that we do reach more potential sponsors. Together we can continue Changing Lives Malawi. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

The family’s house where the roof has been destroyed by wind and rain
This is their temporary accommodation, owned by someone else, and unfortunately the roof doesn’t look much better
Moses needs new clothes, food and a blanket
Blessings desperately needs clothes, food and a blanket
Angela is showing signs of malnutrition she needs clothes, food and a blanket

Chisenga School Visit – individual photos

Sarah’s blog 19/2/22

Yesterday, Levison visited the school to pay school fees for Angela and to pay exam fees for all those students taking exams this year. He was able to take some gifts of underwear, toiletries and calculators with him that arrived recently on the container.

The weather is causing such problems at the moment with the heavy rains causing flooding and making life very difficult for everyone. Levison managed to pay the fees and give out the gifts he brought for the sponsored young people. He also managed to take some individual photos before the rains came. He was absolutely soaked by the time he got home and had to shelter from the heaviest downpours. As he was on his motorbike, it was quite difficult for him on the roads home with all the flooding. Hopefully, the rains will only last another few weeks.

So if you don’t see a photo of your sponsored child in this batch of photos, they will be prioritised for a photo next time. Hope you enjoy the photos and if you would like to sponsor a young person please get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Chisenga School Visit

18/2/22

Exam fees needed to be paid by today and Angela’s school fees too now that she has a sponsor.

Levison visited the school and was able to take some supplies to the young people that had arrived on the container recently. They’ve had underwear, toothbrushes & toothpaste and other toiletries, some clothes and calculators.

All the young people are doing well and were pleased to receive their gifts and they look very smart in their school uniforms.

Levison managed to take some individual photos too, which I will post tomorrow, before the torrential rain started again. I’ve made a note of who had photos taken and will ensure that anyone who didn’t will get their photo taken next time.

Many thanks again to all the sponsors for giving these young people opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have had.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the photos, Sarah x

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Sarah’s blog 17/2/22

We should be kind every day but are we sometimes too busy to actually stop and think about others?

As a charity, working closely with The William Stewart Foundation in rural Northern Malawi, every day we think about the vulnerable people there and how we can help improve their lives and help them towards self-sufficiency. Money (or lack of it) is usually the biggest issue with all the wonderful plans and wishlists.

Given my background, I am usually thinking about feeding children, accessing education, clothing them and generally nurturing them. The Foundation is doing a wonderful job of feeding 500 children every week (a substantial and nutritious meal) and having over 80 children and young people with sponsors giving them access to education and a monthly food parcel.

One of our other trustees has brilliant ideas….well most of them are brilliant ideas…he is used to being told that some of his ideas aren’t so good.

I think what I am trying to say is that there is a huge amount of enthusiasm and passion to see the vulnerable children and adults in Ibuluma succeed. For their lives to change for the better. For them to have more chances. For them to become self-sufficient. For malnutrition to be firmly in the past. For literacy and numeracy to improve, for people to have jobs and be very, very proud of what they have achieved through hard work and huge struggles.

As I said, lack of money is always the issue. Everything costs money. Apart from kindness. Kindness costs nothing. On our website there is a new document (you will see the link in red on the top right of every page) about our feeding programme. If you can afford to help us with the feeding programme committing £5 or £10 per month to provide more food for the children then please get in touch as that could be your Act of Kindness today. Or could you sponsor a child for £25 per month?

Or if you cannot afford to donate money, your Act of Kindness for these orphans and vulnerable children could be to like and share our posts to reach more people and hopefully future sponsors. Liking and sharing posts costs nothing but would be extremely kind. It also gives us a boost when we see people liking and sharing posts so what will your Act of Kindness be today? Please help us continue helping the orphans and other vulnerable young people by showing your kindness and support today? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading and for being kind, Sarah x

The Gift of New Clothes

Sarah’s blog 15/2/22

The hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children in Malawi were wearing rags and very old clothes before The William Stewart Foundation was able to gift clothes to them. Their self-esteem has improved, as has their attendance at school, as they have nice clean clothes and they know that someone cares about them. Thank you to all who have donated school uniform. We’ve had even more schools involved this time. Can you spot any familiar sweatshirts? There is still some more uniform to give out another time so there will be more photos another time. The photos of individual children….only Chisomo is sponsored, so if you wanted to sponsor one of the others or an older child then please do get in touch. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com As always, thank you for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Planting a Sustainable Future for People & Planet & also helping those affected by the recent hailstorm

Sarah’s blog 14/2/22

There is an orchard at the Foundation with lots of fruit tree saplings. The children have been caring for the saplings by weeding and watering them.

People have generously donated money to buy more fruit tree saplings and yesterday over 100 were planted. These will give future food for the children and hopefully be a source of income too for the Foundation from selling surplus fruit. This will help towards their end goal…self-sufficiency.

Obviously tree planting is very important for the planet and the hope is that the trees will also help in the rainy season by providing protection for the crops from the wind and rain.

The first photos are from a few months ago and the rest are from planting the saplings yesterday before heavy rain storm in the afternoon.

Also, a few weeks ago we had an appeal for a few families whose houses had been damaged in the wind and hailstorm. Thank you to the people who had contributed to that appeal. I’d like to thank the people who donate clothes etc to us as these people were given gifts yesterday for which they were very thankful.

They received clothes and shoes, maize and walking sticks for the very elderly. They were also gifted fruit tree saplings to plant near their homes. The photos of the recipients of these gifts are after the photos of planting the fruit tree saplings. Hope you enjoy the photos and, as always, if you want to get in touch it’s contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x

Angela – can you be her sponsor?

Sarah’s blog 11/2/22

This is just a short story about Angela. She is in 3rd year at Chisenga District Secondary School. Unfortunately, she cannot afford to pay her fees this year. She has been given one more week to find the money and then she will be asked to leave. Angela needs a sponsor for the next two years so she can complete her secondary school education. She needs to be able to concentrate on her studies and not constantly worry about whether she is going to be asked to leave due to lack of finances.

Thankfully, since my last post, a sponsor of another child gave £25 towards Angela’s fees to buy some time until we find a permanent sponsor. Can you help Angela please? It’s £25 per month for a young person to board at school & for the supplies they need. You can sponsor her as an individual or a family or split the monthly fee with a friend. It might be the most important thing anyone has ever done for Angela.

If you can help Angela stay in school and complete years 3 and 4 then please get in touch. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x

Angela, 16, desperately needs a sponsor

Emma’s Rainbow Library now has tables & chairs and even more books!

Sarah’s blog 09/02/22

There were so many great photos taken yesterday that I thought it was best to split them in half. Yesterday’s photos were of the nursery children in their new clothes and flipflops playing with the train set that had been gifted to the nursery.

Today’s photos are of the library…named after Emma Buchanan who wanted to go to Malawi and who loved her dad reading to her whilst she was poorly. Emma is no longer here but will never be forgotten and her name lives on in Emma’s Rainbow Library. We had a donation a while ago for shelves to be built and books have been donated for the library. On the last container we managed to send some stacking chairs. This time more chairs were sent and 8 tables.

How many things do we use tables for? Preparing food, eating, writing, cutting fabric and resting the sewing machine on….the list is endless. These are the first proper tables and Levison is absolutely delighted that they have tables and chairs now. The library is looking great and, once again, we thank everyone involved in making improvements for the vulnerable children who are supported by The William Stewart Foundation. Thank you to the Bananabox Trust for facilitating the safe delivery of all the boxes, tables and chairs.

The nursery children sat at the tables in the library yesterday…probably the first time they had sat at a table. They each had a book to look at the pictures and turn the pages then their new clothes were given out whilst they were all sitting down. We hope you like looking at the photos of the children and all that is happening at The Foundation to continue Changing |Lives Malawi. Thanks for reading, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Have you ever seen a train set?

Sarah’s blog 8/2/22

Levison collected over 100 boxes from the container last week and it takes a while to sort through and distribute the gifts. So it will happen gradually as time allows and we will bring you photos when we can.

The Foundation has a nursery for 50 children that is paid for by a donation. The children receive food at each session and the nursery is on three days per week. Not all the children were there today as it had been raining heavily in the morning. The 31 who were there received gifts and their friends will receive theirs next time they come. They were given casual clothes to wear outside nursery; the boys all had a new t-shirt and the girls a new dress. A few of the children received trousers if the clothes they were wearing weren’t in a good condition and all were gifted jumpers or cardigans. All the children received flipflops and there are still red t-shirts (nursery uniform) to give out another day. The hats and bags they received were a great hit with the children!

One little boy, Chimango, is 3 and is small for his age due to malnutrition. Levison said he is getting a bit better because of the food he is receiving at nursery. If he was matched with a sponsor then he would have a monthly food parcel going into his home too. This would further help him on the road to recovery. If you would like to be matched with Chimango to support him then please contact me at contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com it’s only £25 p/m to sponsor a child and change their life.

Enough about clothes for now… Have you ever seen a train set? These children hadn’t. They haven’t seen many toys…only the few that we have already sent. This train set (and some wooden roads) has been very well loved and played with many, many times. It’s previous owner wrote road numbers and speed limits on the track and road….not just scribbles….there was intention to the writing. So, after it’s very long journey, today was the day that the bits of track, roads, trains and cars ended up on the floor of Sophie’s Skills Shed (where the nursery meets) for the children to play with whilst they are at nursery.

Levison reported that the children were all very excited and all wanted to play. Thankfully, there were plenty of pieces of track, road, trains and cars so everyone who wanted to could join in. It must be very strange to suddenly be faced with all of the pieces and little vehicles with wheels when you’ve never seen anything like that before. It didn’t take them long, with a little bit of encouragement from the adults, to join the pieces together and put the vehicles on the track and move them along. You can see, from the great photos that Levison has sent, the huge amount of learning that is taking place as they play. They are working things out for themselves and using their fine motor skills to connect the track and to move the vehicles along. They are working independently alongside each other but there are also times where they are collaborating. It will be interesting to see who is most interested in these resources and if they set it up differently next time. I’m also interested whether boys and girls use it equally as they don’t have any preconceived ideas about which gender has traditionally played with train sets. I am delighted to see these amazing photos and hope you enjoy them too.

All of these children have suffered trauma of some sort; whether it’s the loss of a parent, malnutrition and real hunger, being cold at night and being left to bring themselves up whilst the adults in the home do piece work to try to buy some food. There’s never enough food, sometimes there’s no food. The nursery is somewhere these malnourished children can come and forget about their problems for a while. They can concentrate on being children with their friends in a safe environment. They can learn through play. They are encouraged to use the showers in the new shower block and, as you’ve seen from today’s photos, they have been gifted new clothes and receive food. They all recently received a small blanket and raincoats. Soon toothbrushes and toothpaste will be distributed too. Life is improving for these orphans and vulnerable children. We want them to achieve and reach their potential.

Children have the right to have food. They have the right to have clean drinking water. They have the right to be cared for. They have the right to be warm. They have the right to education. We are addressing all of these things as we care about each of these children. Eventually, we want the village of Ibuluma to be self-sufficient, and the villagers want that too. However, until that time, they need our help and support. So we will continue to send clothes and will send more resources for use at the nursery so the children can experience some of the things our children do. Lack of money is always an issue with approximately 800 young people being supported through a variety of projects. So, if you are able, could you spare £5 per month (or £10 per month) towards providing more food please? The Foundation would love to be able to feed the children more often and, with no big agencies in that area, feeding all the local orphans and vulnerable children has become the responsibility of The Foundation.

If you are able to help these children eat more often then please do get in touch. Or if you’d like to sponsor a child we would love to hear from you. It might be the most important thing you ever do for one of these children. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com We need your help to continue Changing Lives Malawi. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Another busy day at Changing Lives Malawi HQ

Sarah’s blog 6/2/22

When I say HQ I mean our house lol… we certainly aren’t a big enough charity for separate premises..and we have no employees…only volunteers. Luckily we have a very large shed in the garden where donations go until we start with boxing them up again and filling the car with enough boxes to go to Dundee to The Bananabox Trust warehouse to await the next container. Today and tomorrow are boxing up days. Yesterday, someone brought some lovely hats and some wool, there was also a donation of toothbrushes and pencils and someone else contacted me about children’s books. It’s so good that people are thinking about the children, getting involved and supporting our work.

I’m trying to find a sponsor for a year three girl in secondary school whose family can no longer pay her fees. Her name is Angela and I hope to have more details soon and a photo. She needs a sponsor for 2 years to help her stay in school and give her the security of knowing that she’s not constantly worrying about the next fees being due. Sponsoring a young person is just £25 per month.

It’s on our minds all the time about trying to involve more people in supporting the feeding programme. If more people are able to commit to £5 p/m to help feed the children then they will be able to have more than one meal a week at the Feeding Programme which feeds 500 malnourished children once a week. They receive a substantial, nutritious meal but we would love to be able to support an additional meal or a cup of porridge before school. How can children concentrate on learning if they are hungry? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

One of our other trustees is currently exploring the idea of using the round metal sections of old trampolines to send to Malawi to use as the structure for polytunnels to help with food production at The Foundation. After the recent storms, I’m sure he will get a few donations to recycle!

At Dundee, there are boxes ready for the container that we’ve made up for young people going to secondary school next year. Each box has supplies for two students and they will each receive a blanket, sheet, towel, wind up torch, a school bag, calculator, dictionary, stationery, soap and toothbrush and toothpaste. Levison will still have things to buy for the young people going to school, but it will help him a lot having boxes already made up to gift to the students.

Now I’m looking at making up care packages for the nursery children. There is a nursery at The Foundation for 50 children and it meets 3 times a week, supported by donations. The children are aged 4-6 and they are fed at each session. They’ve had uniform and blankets recently gifted to them but it would be lovely if each child starting nursery was given a bag with a few useful gifts in. So from now on, every child starting at The Foundation nursery will receive a drawstring bag containing; 2 red tshirts, 3 pairs of pants, a blanket, a picture book, soap and toothbrush and toothpaste. That way we will know that every child will have been gifted a blanket…. there are still lots of children that the Foundation supports who aren’t even sleeping on a mat…they are sleeping on the bare floor and covering themselves with whatever they can. Hopefully, by making small changes like this then life will keep improving for the orphans and other vulnerable children in Ibuluma.

People are very kindly starting to collect milk carton tops for us so that they can have letters or numbers written on them and be used at the Foundation nursery or at Chambo primary school which is the nearest primary school to the foundation and where 17 boxes of children’s books were delivered recently. Education is key in Changing the Lives of those in northern Malawi.

In the photo are some resources I’ve put together for Chambo Primary School to help with numeracy and literacy. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Container 8 arrived in Ekwendeni safely – Levison’s journey

Sarah’s blog 4/2/22

We collect clothes, shoes, stationery, fabric and other supplies to go to The William Stewart Foundation in the rural north of Malawi where approximately 800 orphans and other vulnerable young people are supported as well as the elderly in the village.

So boxes start of (mostly) in my house, with my ever patient husband Stuart being the expert in packing them. He (and some other lovely volunteers) drive the boxes to The Bananabox Trust Warehouse in Dundee to await the container. Lots of charities send donations via The Bananabox Trust, so they order a container whenever their warehouse is full of boxes and also donations of medical equipment to go to the local hospitals. They charge £15 per box to cover the cost of the container. It’s loaded on a lorry and starts it’s journey to Grangemouth.

After approximately 3 months, the ship docks in Biera, Mozambique and heads north to Malawi to Ekwendeni, near Mzuzu. The lorry brings the container to The Mission Hospital at Ekwendeni and everyone who is expecting boxes is notified a couple of days before that it’s on it’s way. For some people this is a very short journey but for others they come a long way.

On Wednesday late afternoon, Levison and two helpers set out in the truck to Karonga. They arrived late and managed to sleep for a few hours and set out very early yesterday morning to get to Ekwendeni on time for the container being opened. Unfortunately, Levison’s phone had very low charge by then so most of the photos here are shared from friends of The Bananabox Trust on Facebook.

Because of the backlog and delay because of covid restrictions we sent more boxes than usual, plus 10 for Community Sports Leaders Africa in Chitipa. We also sent 20 adult chairs, 15 children’s chairs and 8 tables…. Levison is extremely excited about finally having tables for the children to work on, set the sewing machines on, food preparation etc….so many things that we take for granted. So we thought Levison was going to have to do a double journey as there was going to be too many things for the truck to take safely. However, he found a truck owner going back to Karonga who agreed to take the tables and chairs for Levison to collect from there.

Last night they got back to Ibuluma well after midnight and stored the boxes safely. This morning they set off again to Chitipa to see Wachisa, the football coach who was at The Foundation recently, to take his 10 boxes of sports kit from Community Sports Leaders Africa. Then onwards to Karonga to collect the tables, chairs and a few other boxes. The rain has been heavy so it’s been a long, hard journey on the smaller dirt roads but they’ve done a great job getting everything back safely.

More photos to follow in the coming days and weeks of boxes being opened and distributed. Many thanks to every single person who has donated, packed, delivered boxes and the lovely people at the Bananabox Trust too who document every box and load the container. We are all volunteers so it’s amazing teamwork! And to the helpers who unload the container too and ensure that everyone gets their correct boxes. Thank you, we appreciate you.

If anyone would like to sponsor a box to go on the next container, it’s £15. We can write your name on the box! contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x (the photo of Levison in the truck is from the previous trip to Ekwendeni to collect boxes from container number 7)

The container is about to be opened and everyone is gathered to collect their boxes