It’s a national holiday in Malawi today. The schools are closed and people are celebrating Mothers Day. It made me wonder what the children who are supported by The William Stewart Foundation are thinking and feeling today.
The Foundation supports approximately 800 children and young people through different projects. These are some of the most vulnerable children in the world, suffering from malnutrition, extreme poverty and most have experienced grief and trauma due to the loss of a parent or important adult caring for them. Do the ones that have lost their mums have memories of them? Were they too young to remember? How many children are now carers themselves? Of course we know it’s not just females that have caring roles but today we thank the women who are bringing up their own children, other people’s children, grandmothers, aunties, big sisters, and some who are not blood relatives but have loving, caring hearts. Life is very hard but even harder when you’ve got nothing and you and your family are very, very hungry.
The African Proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is so true and The William Stewart Foundation is part of that village, raising the most vulnerable children, feeding them, clothing them, trying to give them hope for a better future. We can all be part of ‘the village’ for these children, playing an important part in their lives, supporting them so that the mothers of the future have opportunities that previous generations haven’t had. Happy mothers day to all the caring women in Malawi. Thanks for reading, Sarah x
Hi, I thought it might be good to give a few facts for anyone who has joined us recently. If you have juststarted following us ….. welcome!
In Malawi it gets light at approx 6am and dark at approx 6pm all year round. The Foundation now has power but none of the houses in the area have electricity. So unless people are lucky enough to have a candle or a windup torch they are in total darkness after 6pm at night. How can children read or do their homework in the dark? That’s why we want every child to have a windup torch and we welcome donations of candles and windup torches.
The William Stewart Foundation supports over 800 orphans and other vulnerable children through a variety of projects, as well as supporting the elderly and infirm. Approximately 500 children turn up each weekend for a meal at the Feeding Programme. That might be their most filling and nutritious meal of the week. As there are no big charities feeding children at school in that area, some children walk up to 20km for a meal. Teachers have noticed a difference in the children’s concentration since the Feeding Programme started. They have also reported that the children are more confident now they have new clothes instead of rags. Last year 20 children who are supported by the Foundation, out of a class of 80, all got higher results than their peers in their primary school leavers exams.
70 of the most vulnerable children and young people now have been matched with sponsors, ensuring they have a monthly food parcel and that their secondary school fees are paid. Without this support, the children supported by The William Stewart Foundation do not get to secondary school. We have young people waiting for that opportunity to see if they can go to secondary school with their friends in January…or if their education is over. It’s only £25 a month to make a huge difference to a young person.
Class sizes are up to 80 children and at the primary school nearest The Foundation, the children sit on the floor. We are collecting reading books for them so the children have books to practice reading. There are mixed age groups in each class as, due to the dire poverty, children miss chunks of school to try to earn the equivalent of 10p a day to buy some food (for reference a bar of soap costs approx 30p). One of the boys who has now been sponsored and is off to secondary school in January, used to work for a whole month for a farmer and get paid £1.50 for the month. Things have now improved greatly for him thanks to having a sponsor. So there are 16 year olds having just left primary school, desperate to get to secondary school. In Malawi, education is everything and out of reach for most. They are required to supply their own stationery, again another challenge for the poverty stricken.
Football and netball are really popular and the children and young people love to play both at The William Stewart Foundation. They are able to forget their problems and have fun with their friends. New footballs and netballs are always needed!
The nursery at the Foundation is run thanks to a monthly donation. 50 children meet for 3 sessions a week. These children are age between 4-6 as children start school at age 6 in Malawi. The children receive food each time they meet and they received uniforms and fleecy blankets recently. We would like to gift each child who starts nursery a bag with uniform, a blanket, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and other essential items to support their wellbeing and attendance at nursery.
Hopefully, you’ve found these facts interesting but please do message if there are other facts you’d like to know. I’ve attached photos below of things that we are collecting to support the hundreds of children at The William Stewart Foundation. We would love it if you could purchase a few things next time you are shopping please, or let us have preloved items that are in very good condition. Thanks for reading. Sarah x
We use this phrase a great deal…about lots of different things. However, today’s blog is about chickens and eggs!
We had a generous donation from Lochlie Construction Group in Glasgow. An incubator was bought with this money. 100 eggs were placed in the incubator and it takes about 21 days for the chicks to hatch. Out of the 100, only 34 hatched. However, that is 34 more than previously! Also there had been a lot of power cuts recently which meant that the incubator’s temperature dropped for long periods of time. Ideally, it would be good to have another form of power as a backup for the incubator. It’s all been cleaned out ready to start again with more eggs. Everyone loves photos of little chicks so here they are looking very cute. Once numbers build up, some can be sold to bring in an income for the foundation. Also some can be gifted to the most vulnerable families enabling them to become more self-sufficient. It would be wonderful to have a paying it forward scheme whereby, once a villager’s flock starts to increase, they give away the same number of chicks that they had been gifted. Enjoy the photos. Sarah x
The children at The William Stewart Foundation Nursery were all gifted new uniform and a blanket each from the boxes that arrived a few days ago.Christina smiles as she wears her new dress and cuddles her blanket, she needs a sponsor
Philemon in his new tshirt and squeezing his blanket tightly that he has just been given. He also needs a sponsor to improve his life.
There are 50 children at The Foundation Nursery, aged between 4 and 6. They meet three times a week and are always fed during each session. The nursery running costs are paid for by a monthly donation, without which the nursery couldn’t run. The children were each given uniform last year and donations of more uniform have just arrived. There were a few dresses but many more tshirts. So, thanks to donations, children were each given either a dress and a tshirt or two tshirts and each had a fleecy blanket gifted to them. As you can see, the children love receiving gifts.
In future, if we can get enough donations, we would like to present each child with a bag when they start a the nursery. This bag would contain a blanket, 3 pairs of pants, soap, t-shirt & shorts or a dress, plus two t-shirts and a sweatshirt as nursery uniform. Also it would be a great opportunity to include a toothbrush and toothpaste and a picture book. Imagine the difference this would make to each child at nursery. They’d have something to wear at nursery and something to wear at home. They would have clean underwear and a blanket to keep them warm at night. And to learn from a young age about the importance of cleaning their teeth. This is one of my goals to make this happen for each child starting nursery, so that everything would be made up in the bags already and gifted to the child on their first day. We take an holistic approach, with each child at the centre of all we do, to support the children at The William Stewart Foundation in Northern Malawi. If you would like to help with this project then please get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . Look at the boy in the green top in the following photos of the nursery children having received new clothes on Sunday. He is examining his friend’s new clothes as well as his own. I love these photos and knowing that, as a team, we are helping to make their lives just a little bit better. Thanks for reading. Sarah x
And just look at the tie that the boy in the checked shirt has received…very smart!
I’ve always said to my own children that there will always be people with more than them but there will also always be people with less than them.
If we all shared what we have then there would be enough for everyone in the world. A very simplistic view, I know, but there is no reason why we can’t share with others, wherever they are in the world, if we have the ability to do so.
There were five children that Levison sent photos of yesterday. Five children suffering from malnutrition and dressed in rags. Children who have missed school to find piecework for the equivalent of 10p per day. These children are desperate for sponsors to improve their lives so please, please do get in touch if you can help. Or could you and a friend split the cost of sponsoring a child? It’s £25 per child per month, so sharing with a friend or family member would only be £12.50. Each sponsored child now has their own page on our website so you can keep up to date with new photos and information there. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com .
Do you recognise these children from yesterday? Clothes make such a difference. Thank you if you donated clothes and/or helped to pay for transport costs. Yesterday was an important day for these children. Let’s see if we can find sponsors to turn their lives around and make their dreams come true. Sarah x
Today there was great excitement at The Foundation as 600 children turned up as they knew it was very likely that they would each receive a gift of clothes or shoes from the boxes that Levison brought back from the container a few days ago. He and some of his team have been busy opening boxes and sorting. Levison was able to pay another visit this morning to the local clinic with three big bags of donated baby and toddler clothes, knitted blankets, cardigans and hats. The staff were very grateful and the new mums that were there were each given some gifts for their new babies. There were tears of joy upon receiving these gifts.
There will be lots of photos from today’s gift giving of clothes and shoes to the children, however it takes a while for Levison to be able to collate and send depending if there is a good phone signal where he is. So for tonight, I will share the photos he has sent me. Photos of some children who are desperate for new clothes. Children whose little tummies are distended because of malnutrition. Children who have sadness in their eyes. Children who need our help. Your help.
All of these children are in need of sponsors to ensure they receive more food than the weekly feeding programme that The William Stewart Foundation runs. All have missed lots of school due to trying to do casual labour for the equivalent of 10p per day to try to buy some food. Life is dire for these children but TOGETHER we CAN make positive changes. We CAN help them. Children like these are the reason we collect preloved school uniform and other preloved children’s clothes. They deserve our help. It’s less than 85p per day to sponsor one of these children. Can YOU help change a life today? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading. Sarah x
As you can see, this brother and sister are malnourished and in desperate need of clothes as well as food. I guess Rodrick thinks that one shoe (which is too small for him) is better than none. Esau is smiling as he knows he will receive a new t-shirt to wear today, thanks to the generous donations we receive.Desire and Patricia are in need of new clothes and would love to be sponsored
Lachie Quade is football mad. As he was growing, so was his collection of football boots. His mum, Kate, made contact with Boots2africa who put them in contact with us. Approximately 200 pairs of football boots and trainers had been collected by Lachie and his parents after they put a shout out, plus football strips too. As you can see from the photo, all the trainers and football boots were cleaned before coming to us. We boxed them all up and took them to The Bananabox Trust in Dundee to await their next container. The boxes have just arrived and this morning Levison and some of his team started unpacking them. They cannot believe how generous people have been and what lovely boots have arrived of all different colours and sizes.
On a previous container, some football strips arrived, courtesy of Julian at Wear a Sports Shirt Day who collects preloved strips from different clubs most weekends. The children and young people love having proper football strips but up until now there weren’t enough football boots and trainers for a whole team.
We look forward to seeing photos in the coming days of the children’s smiling faces as they see the wonderful gifts they have been sent. They know that people care about them. Thank you Lachie for caring about these young footballers in Northern Malawi. You have made a big difference.
The first lot of boxes unpacked at The Foundation. Everyone is delighted.
As the children, where I live, have finished up for school holidays today, most of them are delighted to get some time off to relax and have fun.
What if your child had just finished primary school but you couldn’t afford the fees to send them to secondary school? What if they were going to have to go out to find casual work to try to buy some food? What if they only got paid between 10p and 30p per day? We all want the best for our children and we want them to be happy.
We want the same for the hundreds or children who are supported by The William Stewart Foundation. Obviously they need to have their immediate needs met like food and clothing, but education is the key to improving each one of their lives. Whatever they choose to do, we want them to have a choice. To be the best that they can be. To be able to support themselves and their families. So in the future there will be no malnutrition. There will be children who have finished secondary education as well as primary education. They might even have gone on to further education and realise their dreams of being teachers, doctors, nurses, farmers and mechanics. But they need a helping hand….they need someone to invest in their future. It’s less than 85p per day to change a child’s life for the better. Can you help? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Here are some of the children whose education is over….without your help. Thanks for reading. Sarah x
Levison about to start off on the long journey home after collecting the boxes we sent
So it’s been another busy week for Levison and his team, as well as for us here. As there are approximately 800 orphans and other vulnerable children who receive some form of support from The William Stewart Foundation, as well as some elderly villagers, there is a lot of help required to carry out all the projects to support everyone.
We send boxes of donated preloved clothes, school uniform and sports clothes as well as shoes and flipflops, knitted blankets and books. That is a lot of clothes needed to ensure that each of these children receive something new (to them). As well as it being a gift that all children love to receive, their self-esteem and confidence improve as they are no longer wearing rags and tatty old clothes. They know that people they have never met care about them. They haven’t been forgotten. Sometimes it can be very cold at night and in the early morning, so sweatshirts and woolly hats help to keep them warm.
The children who come to The Foundation, love to play team games especially football and netball. There are several boxes of sports kit, trainers and football boots. Also some footballs…..they are always needing footballs!
Obviously, the first priority is to feed the children as they are so malnourished as they don’t eat properly every day. As there are so many of them, The Foundation can only, at present, feed approximately 500 children once a week. They get a substantial, nourishing meal that includes fresh vegetables. The school teachers have noticed that the children are concentrating better since the feeding programme started and their grades are improving. They are happier and more confident because of the holistic approach taken by Levison and his team.
We look forward to seeing photos in the coming days and weeks of the children receiving some of the donations that are in these well travelled boxes. Malawi is a big country. The Foundation is right at the top near Chitipa and the container goes to a mission hospital at Ekwendeni near Mzuzu. A long way to travel but Levison was able to meet up with friends who were also collecting boxes for their projects. He (and his helpers) had left home at 3.30am yesterday morning and got back at 2.40am this morning. A very long day but a successful one!
Gifts of new clothes and soap make all the difference to children like Manuel. That is a lot of clothes and soap required to gift to up to 800 children. Thank you to those who donate goods, money, and support us with packing boxes and driving them to Dundee to The Bananabox Trust. We couldn’t do this without you. We are all an important part of the team supporting these children. And, of course, well done Levison and team. You deserve an early night tonight!
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog back in June. I don’t know where the time has gone. It’s been busy here and in Malawi and a lot has been achieved.
We’ve changed our name from Friends of The William Stewart Centre Malawi to Changing Lives Malawi. That’s all that’s changed. We still have the same charity number and we are still the same small, committed team of volunteers, working just as hard.
The container that left at the start of summer, is about to arrive in Malawi. Instead of us having to send Levison money to hire a truck to collect the boxes, thanks to generous donations, Levison now has his own (second hand) truck. This will make such a difference as delivery charges have to be paid to everything from maize to building materials. Also the truck can be hired out to help pay for itself.
We’ve been busy collecting school uniforms, shoes and flipflops, study books, sports kits and lots more and we are sending eight tables and 25 chairs on the next container.
Over 70 children and young people now have sponsors but there are 50+ young people, supported by the foundation, have just left primary school after doing their exams. We have managed to match some with sponsors so they can go to secondary school as their fees will be paid. However, that still leaves 30+ young people without sponsors. They have left primary school and that is their education finished. Unless we are able to find them sponsors. Becoming a sponsor is one of the most important things you can ever be to one of these young people. You have the ability to open up a whole new world of opportunities. Education v no education. Can you help? Four years at less than 85p per day is all each young person needs. Thanks Sarahx contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Sorry for not blogging for a while but there has been so much going on! We’ve now matched 60 children with sponsors which we are absolutely delighted about. That’s a massive achievement and we are very grateful to everyone who has committed to change a vulnerable child’s life and give them hope for a brighter future.
Chawanangwa Chisale who is 12 had to borrow his sister’s clothes yesterday to go to the centre where gifts were being given out. His own clothes were just rags. Look how smart he looks in new school uniform donated by Riverside Primary School in Stirling. He is in desperate need of a sponsor as he is suffering from malnutrition and also will not be able to go to secondary school unless his fees are paid. Could you be Chawanangwa’s sponsor for less than 85p per day? please do get in touch if you’d like more information.
Now to go back a year……
Riverside Primary School in Stirling, is a large primary school and as well as the mainstream classes it has excellent additional facilities for gaelic language and an autism provision. So in June last year there was a great deal of lost property. The unclaimed items were donated to us for the children. Our car was absolutely full and the washing machine was put to good use washing everything in batches and drying it on the line. I had to pick my days carefully as not every day was a sunny one! Everything was boxed up and we started taking boxes to Dundee to the Bananabox Trust’s warehouse at the end of July. Covid and Brexit had a big hand in delaying this container…. with the container only being able to leave Scotland at the start of March and arriving in Ekwendeni near Mzuzu at the end of May.
I can post some photos and some more information about collecting the boxes another day. Yesterday was all about the younger children receiving preloved school uniform and other clothes…a huge task as there were approximately 600 children there. But they managed and all children received something so we are very, very thankful for the donations and the partnership with local schools…this time Riverside Primary. look at those lovely, happy, smiling faces in the group photo….teamwork is a great thing….if we all do a little act of kindness we can make a big difference. Hopefully, my washing line may be full again at the end of June and through July again this summer and the sun will shine on my washing line! thank, Sarah x #changinglives
Welcome to May….the first day of our 31 days in May challenge.
We are asking for lots of people to do little things to help us during May. Are you up for the challenge? Can you commit to help the hundreds of children in Malawi that need our help? Here are just some of the ways you can support us;
Like and share one of our posts each day in May so we can reach more people, potentially finding more sponsors for hungry children.
Can you buy pencils or pens for 31 children?
Please could you donate £1 a day for each day in May?
Could you sponsor a malnourished child? it costs £25 per month….or two friends could share the cost.
What other random acts of kindness could you help us with in May?
We have an Amazon wish list that some people have spent £31. Someone has promised to take 31 boxes of donated goods to Dundee to await the next container. What could you do?
It’s a real team effort and we’ve all got different skills and talents and we can’t do it without your help. 53 children have been matched with generous sponsors so far but children like James Nyondo, age 6, don’t eat every day. He, and his siblings, are hungry, don’t have blankets or clean clothes. If he had a sponsor, he’d have a monthly food parcel, soap, a blanket and new clothes. Also his secondary school education would be paid for. If you could sponsor James, or know someone who you could share sponsorship with, then please do get in touch. Together we are #changinglives Thank you for reading. Sarahx
