https://gofund.me/dc6fb80e We are really excited about this fundraiser! Click on the link and make a donation if you can please.
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Sarah’s blog 17/1/25
Just a quick blog today to introduce one of our trustees, Andy Ewing. Andy is planning a trip to Malawi this year to share his skills with the community we have been helping to support in rural northern Malawi.
Andy was born in Malawi and lived there for the first 5 years of his life. His background is engineering and if you click on the link to the fundraiser, you can read more about his exciting plans. Thanks, Sarahx https://gofund.me/dc6fb80e
Thank you so much to Malawi24 news for sharing the story of the important work being done at Bright Futures Secondary School during their agriculture classes.
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Sarah’s blog 12/1/25
We area absolutely delighted that my post about tree planting by the students at Bright Futures Secondary School was seen by a news outlet in Malawi. They interviewed Levison yesterday and have published the story today. Levison says he’s had lots of phone calls about the article both from others who are also taking part in reforestation projects and people passing on their congratulations. I hope you are able to read the article below;
Thank you to everyone who has supported this project with financial donations. As you can see, it is a hugely important project and we are delighted that the students at Bright Futures Secondary School are having opportunities like this to make a difference in their community and that they are learning about reforestation, agroforestry, agriculture, climate crisis and being responsible citizens. The students are going to be shown the article tomorrow and I am sure they will be delighted that their hard work is being recognised. Thanks, Sarah x
Thank you so much to Malawi24 news for sharing the story of the important work being done at Bright Futures Secondary School during their agriculture classes.
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Sarah’s blog 12/1/25
We area absolutely delighted that my post about tree planting by the students at Bright Futures Secondary School was seen by a news outlet in Malawi. They interviewed Levison yesterday and have published the story today. Levison says he’s had lots of phone calls about the article both from others who are also taking part in reforestation projects and people passing on their congratulations. I hope you are able to read the article below;
Thank you to everyone who has supported this project with financial donations. As you can see, it is a hugely important project and we are delighted that the students at Bright Futures Secondary School are having opportunities like this to make a difference in their community and that they are learning about reforestation, agroforestry, agriculture, climate crisis and being responsible citizens. The students are going to be shown the article tomorrow and I am sure they will be delighted that their hard work is being recognised. Thanks, Sarah x
Planting more trees at Bright Futures Secondary School. Students are setting a great example to their community and learning practical agricultural skills.
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Sarah’s blog 10/1/25
More tree planting was done yesterday and today by the students at Bright Futures Secondary School and I think there are still more saplings to plant!
As you can see from the photos, the pine tree saplings are mostly being planted round the perimeter to act as a windbreak and prevent soil erosion. In the videos, the students are saying that they are helping the climate and planet too.
Teaching agroforestry in schools is hugely important as it is helping to inform the next generation about farming and the benefits of planting trees with agricultural crops too. The students at Bright Futures Secondary School are gaining practical skills as well as learning theoretical knowledge. They can feel proud watching the trees that they have planted grow bigger each year and know that they are making a positive difference. They are also showing the adults in their community how important it is to replace the trees that have been previously cut down for fire wood.
I hope you enjoy the photos and videos. You will see how hard the students have worked digging the holes prior to planting. The ground is damp because of rain the previous day so that will help the saplings to take root. Eventually, we would like the students to all have wellingtons or boots while they are working on agricultural projects. This will be safer for their feet and also the shoes they are wearing are, for most, the only shoes they have so we don’t want their footwear to get ruined by the mud.
Here is the link to make a small donation so that more pine trees can be planted round the village to help with reforestation https://donorsee.com/project/25914?share=1 and here is the link if you would like to help buy notebooks and pencils for the students at Chambo Primary School https://donorsee.com/project/25617?share=1 Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
The Feeding Programme needs your help to ensure it has enough resources to feed 500 children.
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Sarah’s blog 5/01/25
Firstly, I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! Hoping 2025 is a good year for everyone. We hope that 2025 continues to bring more positive changes in Malawi, thanks to our supporters.
The Feeding Programme was on today and Levison kindly made a couple of videos for me. Whilst the end goal has always been self-sufficiency and sustainability, the children need feeding now. They are all hungry and most are suffering from malnutrition. The night after they have been fed is the only time of the week that these children do not go to sleep hungry. Most of the children are orphans, living with extended family. There is not enough food to go round and girls are at real risk of being married off at age 11 or 12 so that there is one less mouth to feed.
There are no big charities working in the rural far north feeding children in primary schools so children are walking for miles to get a proper meal at the weekly feeding programme. Once a week isn’t enough, but it is all we can afford whilst we set up sustainable and income generating projects.
Food prices continue to rise in Malawi and life is a huge struggle. Will you help us to ensure that there is enough food for all the children who come to the weekly feeding programme please? you can either donate here https://donorsee.com/project/26104?share=1 or contact me for bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . Thank you for your ongoing support and I hope you find these videos interesting. Thanks, Sarah x
Levison has made a great video update on the progress of the first Agribusiness Group.
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Sarah’s blog 28/12/24
Levison made this video a few days ago to show the successful maize crop that the first Agribusiness Group have had. In his video, he says that the more groups that can be set up then there will be less hunger in their village. The people we are helping to support with these agribusiness groups are all living in extreme poverty and either volunteer their time helping to cook for the orphans at the weekly feeding programme or are looking after vulnerable children.
By giving them the basic tools and seeds each group will be able to grow their own crops, sell what they produce and reinvest the money towards buying more seeds. So far, only one group has been funded but we are hoping that, with your help, it won’t be long before groups two and three have been established. Will you help please?
Here is the link to donate to our current small projects DonorSee or you could donate through our website or contact me for bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you so much for your continued support, Sarah x
Wishing all our supporters a very Happy Christmas and Happy & Healthy New Year.
This week has been extremely busy for Levison and his team with organising two Christmas parties in addition to the usual daily chores.
Despite the rains having started, it has been dry for a few days so the tree planting has been delayed until the ground is wet and the saplings will have a better chance of survival. Hopefully, we can bring photos of this in the next couple of weeks. This was probably good that it will take place at a later date because of how busy it has been.
Firstly, there was a party for the students at Bright Futures Secondary School to celebrate their exams finishing and it being the end of term. After helping care for the animals, the students shared a meal and played some games. All the students at BFSS were given a sports top to wear at home. Then, yesterday, on Christmas Day, there was a party for all the children.
Because it had not been raining for a few days, the water levels in the rivers and streams were low so children came from miles around – even children who do not usually use the feeding programme. News had spread that there would be food and, because they are so hungry, children were prepared to walk a long way to take part – some walking from up to 20km away.
THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN FAR EXCEEDED 500. Food prices have almost doubled and most children are malnourished and families are really struggling to feed the children each day. We are going to have to try to do more to ensure children have more to eat as there are no porridge programmes in primary schools that far north. We need more help to make things better. So yesterday was a real treat for all the children who attended.
All children received a nourishing and filling meal. The youngest children are fed first and it takes several sittings to feed them all. After that, there were games to play. Many children, were very interested in looking at the pigs. Because of religious reasons, lots of the children hadn’t ever seen pigs before as they are scarce in that area. The pigs found themselves the centre of attention!
We want to take this opportunity of thanking the supporters who gave money to help provide food for the Christmas parties and also to thank Levison and his team for all their hard work and enthusiasm for making this happen. If it wasn’t for them giving up their free time, none of these children would have had a proper meal on Christmas Day.
We are trying to help this community towards self-sufficiency. So here are some ways that you could help us please if you are able to make a small donation;
I think, next year, we need to have someone dedicated to taking photos as Levison was far too busy helping with feeding the children and organising everything to take lots of photos this time. We hope you enjoy these photos and videos of the children and thank you for helping to make a difference. Sarah x
It’s going to be a busy week with two Christmas parties and lots of tree saplings to plant…please read today’s blog and have a look at the two short videos.
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Sarah’s blog 22/12/24
There will be an additional feeding programme this week. The volunteers decided that they would have it actually on Christmas Day as, otherwise, children wouldn’t have any proper meal to have at home. We are so grateful to these volunteers for all their hard work and to those who have donated to ensure the orphans can have a Christmas party.
Levison has looked out all the Santa Hats again and I had sent some disco and Christmas lights as well as a small karaoke machine. I suggested to Levison that he’d better make sure it was working and try it out ahead of the Christmas Party. He sent me these videos which I think are brilliant. We take so many things for granted. Of course the majority of children wouldn’t have seen a microphone, let alone speak or sing with one. The videos of Blessings Nyondo, age 10, using a microphone for the first time are lovely.
There will be two parties this week; one at Bright Futures Secondary School and one for all the children who use the feeding programme. In addition, students at Bright Futures Secondary School, even though the school term has finished, will be planting fruit tree saplings too. So it will be a very busy week! I look forward to sharing more photos and videos with you as I get them.
This is the link if you’d like to contribute to the children’s Christmas party https://donorsee.com/project/25004?share=1 and this link is for notebooks and pencils for the students in the senior classes at Chambo primary school https://donorsee.com/project/25617?share=1 We would be so grateful if you could make a small donation. Thank you, Sarah x
Blessings, age 10, tests out the microphone for the first time
It will be interesting to see what the other children think of the microphone and speaker
Planting Christmas trees at Bright Futures Secondary School today as part of their practical agriculture classes.
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Sarah’s blog 19/12/24
The rains have started in Malawi. Thankfully, the only damage from the recent cyclone was that one of the solar power systems was hit by a lightening strike and will need to be repaired.
The students at Bright Futures Secondary School finished their exams yesterday so were happy to be out of the classroom and starting on an environmental project. The pine tree sapling planting has been planned for a while and over 300 saplings were on order. Now the ground is softer and the saplings will be well watered, now is the right time to get busy planting!
There are several reasons for planting pine tree saplings; to provide a wind break, help prevent soil erosion and flooding, replace trees that have been cut down, and to provide shade. Planting trees is obviously helping combat climate change too.
Pine trees will be planted around the edges of fields to help prevent crops being washed away. There will be more tree planting on Monday and students at BFSS will each be given a Christmas tree to take home and plant on Monday afternoon. As well as the above reasons for planting trees, this will help spread the message through the community about how important tree planting and reforestation is.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to enable these pine tree saplings to be bought. We do hope that we can raise some more funds for reforestation during this rainy season. This is the link to our small fundraiser to buy more pine tree saplings https://donorsee.com/project/25914?share=1 or you can donate via the link on our website Donate money and gifts to the Changing Lives Malawi foundation . I hope you enjoy these photos and videos from earlier today. This work that the students are doing is very important and I am hoping that they are able to see that their efforts are appreciated by this project growing and getting the attention it deserves. Well done students and teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School! Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
Extreme Poverty…what does it actually mean? What does it look like for the children we are helping to support and how we are changing lives with the help of our supporters.
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Sarah’s blog 13/12/24
I had been asked to talk to Eyemouth & District Rotary Club and Allander Rotary Club about our projects and about how Allander Rotary Club have been supporting us for the last 18 months. So last night, over Zoom, thankfully all the technical things worked and I shared about the difficulties and successes in helping to support the orphans and their families/care givers in rural northern Malawi.
I keep using the phrase ‘Extreme Poverty’ but what does this mean? And what does it look like? During my talk I explained some of the information below;
Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations as “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.”
Extreme poverty – what does that look like for the children and young people we are helping to support?
Extreme poverty means children not eating every day.
Extreme poverty means children not having proper clothes or shoes to wear.
Extreme poverty means not having toilet facilities at their homes and having to relieve themselves in the bushes with no dignity, at risk of attack and no sanitation. No water and soap to wash their hands.
Extreme poverty means no clean drinking water at their homes.
It means that children are sleeping fully clothed, cuddled together on the floor of their hut trying to keep warm at night as the temperatures drop because they don’t have blankets or mattresses.
Extreme poverty means living in a small mud hut with a leaking roof, no windows and an ill-fitting door. There will be bugs living in the grass roof.
Extreme poverty means they can’t sleep properly because they are hungry and malnourished, and they wake up exhausted.
Extreme poverty means that some girls, as young as 10 or 11 are at risk of being married off as it is one less mouth for the family to try to feed.
Extreme poverty means missing big chunks of school to try to earn a pittance to help your family. This happens to a lot of older siblings who miss school to work so their younger siblings can attend school.
Extreme poverty means that girls, if they have no sanitary protection, miss one week of schooling each month.
Extreme poverty means that children and their families cannot afford to buy malaria tablets if they get ill.
Extreme poverty means that even though a child passes their primary school leavers exams. If they cannot afford to pay the fees for secondary school, that is their education finished.
Extreme poverty means that families cannot afford to buy notebooks, pencils and uniform for their children’s education.
The older students are, the poorer their families are as they’ve missed so much schooling. There are students at Bright Futures Secondary School who are age 20 now as they are desperate for education.
Extreme poverty means that children regularly walk, with a bag of maize on their head, to the nearest maize mill approximately 15km away. They walk in groups to help stay safe from being attacked. They walk all day with no food or drink then walk back again. The maize isn’t even their own…it belongs to someone else who is giving them a few coins for their effort.
These are just some of the examples of what life is like for the hundreds of children and young people whom we help to support. HOWEVER, they now have HOPE. Things are getting better and they do have a brighter future.
I’m sharing last year’s Advent Calendar again as it has some great examples of how, with the help of our supporters, we are Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thank you so much for reading and for supporting the children we are helping. We couldn’t do what we do without your help. Teamwork always. Sarah x
Look at this amazing first harvest for the agrigroup. They have worked so hard and are grateful for the opportunity they have been given.
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Sarah’s blog 10/12/24
Levison sent these great photos and video yesterday. The first agribusiness group have worked so hard and yesterday they harvested their first crop of beans. This crop will be bought by The Feeding Programme at market value and the money will be reinvested into the Agribusiness to purchase more seeds to grow more vegetables.
The group are absolutely delighted with the success they have had from their hard work and are thankful for the opportunity they have been given. All the adults we are supporting are living in extreme poverty and volunteer their time to help hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children. So these adults are hard workers and deserve to have this opportunity to start up their own small business.
Thank you to those who donated to help start up this project. We are trying to raise enough money to fund a second group. Will you make a small donation please so that we can buy some tools and seeds for a second agribusiness group?
Will you help us fund our small projects for #GivingTuesday please? The Team at DonorSee will top up the funds we raise.
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Sarah’s blog 2/12/24
Tomorrow, 3rd December, is Giving Tuesday. This day of giving to charity was established in 2012. As some of you know, we have some fundraisers for small projects on DonorSee which is a great way for people to give, whether the donation is big or small. Although the currency is shown in $$, it will automatically be converted whatever the currency is where you live.
We’ve had the following information from the team at DonorSee:
Based on funds raised on DonorSee, between now and midnight (ET) December 4th, 2024, they will gift us the following amounts;
A gift of $100, if you raise between $250 and $499.00
A gift of $250, if you raise between $500 and $999.00
A gift of $500, if you raise $1,000+
WE NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE. This opportunity of a top up donation is too good to miss. Together, we can make this happen and use #GivingTuesday to make a big difference to hundreds of children, living in extreme poverty, in rural northern Malawi. Click on the link DonorSee and have a look at our open projects and choose which one you’d like to donate to.
So please do help us make the most of this great offer.DonorSee Will you choose to help fund the Christmas Party for 500 orphans? Or to make a small donation towards purchasing science equipment for the vulnerable students at Bright Futures Secondary School? Or will you give to one of the sustainable, income generating projects that will help the community become self-sufficient? DonorSee
I have attached our Advent Calendar from last year. The son of one of our sponsors gave me some help putting it all together. It’s a good reminder of all the positive things that are happening with the help of our supporters. It’s good to pause and reflect that if we all make a small donation, together we can continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thank you everyone so much, Sarah x
