Sponsor an orphan Archives

Agroforestry at Bright Futures Secondary School

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

Christmas Tree Planting

The Feeding Programme Update

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

Agribusiness Update from Levison

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

https://videopress.com/v/DkPFkI4H?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

A helping hand to self-sufficiency – Agribusiness Group 1

Christmas Parties

Well over 500 hungry children turned up to be fed at the Christmas Party yesterday. http://www.changinglivesmalawi.com

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Sarah’s blog 26/12/24

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;

This is the link to buy some more piglets https://donorsee.com/project/25707?share=1

If you’d like to help provide notebooks and pencils for the students at Chambo Primary then here is the link https://donorsee.com/project/25617?share=1

To help the students at Bright Futures Secondary School grow there own crops then please donate here https://donorsee.com/project/24114?share=1 or you could contact me for bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

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

Christmas Party Preparations

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

Christmas Tree Planting

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.

This week, the vice-president in Malawi has been encouraging tree planting and here is the link to a news article Usi Launches 2024/2025 National Forestry Season in Chitipa, Urging Action on Climate Change – Malawi Nyasa Times – News from Malawi about Malawi

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

Agribusiness 1 – first harvest

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?

Here is the link if you would like to help. https://donorsee.com/project/24574?share=1

Have a look at the photos and videos. A great start for this group. Thank you, Sarah x

Agribusiness Update

Hunger and malnutrition in Malawi

#Giving Tuesday & Advent Calendar

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

Hunger and malnutrition in Malawi

Please read this news article. The children we help to support are some of the most vulnerable in Malawi and need your help.

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Sarah’s blog 30/11/24

I saw that a friend on Facebook had shared this newspaper article on hunger and malnutrition in Malawi. I asked Levison if he was ok with me sharing it. I am aware of trying to get a balance between positive and good news stories against those stories that are about how people are struggling and need our help. Levison said ‘This is the truth. It is pathetic to see how kids suffer from hunger in Malawi and we expect them to do well in class.’ So here it is. (I will retype some of it as it will be difficult to read if looking at it on a phone).

A 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report has indicated that the hunger situation in Malawi is serious….According to the report, Malawi faces significant challenges regarding food security and nutrition, exacerbated by several factors which include high levels of poverty, reliance on subsistence farming and vulnerability to climate shocks. The report says that, despite progress being made, hunger has declined only marginally since 2016 and that the prospects for achieving zero hunger by 2030 are grim. Malawi has about 4.7 million food insecure people. The report says progress in reducing all four GHI indications – under-nutrition, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality – is lagging behind international targets.

This is why we need you help. Yes, progress is being made and we (thanks to our wonderful supporters) have several successful building projects under our belts now including; Bright Futures Secondary School, Emma’s Rainbow Library, a shower block, latrines, and Teachers’ accommodation. There is clean drinking water too as well as an orchard, hens and now three pigs.

However, whilst progress is being made for future sustainability and self-sufficiency… 500 of the most vulnerable children are only being fed at The Feeding Programme once a week. It’s not enough. Some are walking from up to 20kms for that one proper meal of the week. Some are carrying toddler siblings. One nutritious meal per week is not enough but it is all we can afford. Some girls are still at risk of being married off too young as families cannot feed them.

There are no big charities are feeding children in schools in the rural north. That immediately puts these children at a huge disadvantage. How can they sleep properly if they are hungry and cold? How can they concentrate if they are tired? How can we expect them to retain information if they are malnourished and not eating properly each day?

This is why these children need your help and why we keep appealing for donations. The end goal is sustainability and self-sufficiency but the children need more – now. We need to do more to relieve the hunger and malnutrition amongst the children we help to support. Will you help?

We are now in the run up to the end of 2024… another year that has gone so quickly! And we are hoping that you might include one of our projects in your charity giving. We have a page on DonorSee where there are a few projects – some of which are food for the future while others, like the Christmas Party appeal, are to give children an extra meal and a party. Will you help us please? As we are volunteers, all money we receive goes to the projects we support.

You can either email me for bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com , or give via the link on the website Donate money to Changing Lives Malawi or via our page on DonorSee. The link to the children’s party is here https://donorsee.com/project/25004?share=1

Thank you so much to everyone for your support. We always say it’s about teamwork and we need you on our team to continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thank you for reading and giving, Sarah x

Bananas – a sustainable project

Some of the children queuing up to be fed

children are fed in age groups with the youngest ones being first

Please help us ensure that there is funding for the children’s Christmas Party

Your support means that some of the most vulnerable children in Malawi will receive an extra meal and a fun time with their friends.

Agribusiness Update

Look at this field of maize…thank you so much to everyone who donated to help the first agribusiness group start on their journey towards self-sufficiency.

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Sarah’s blog 26/11/24

This is just a quick update on the brilliant progress being made by the first agribusiness group that was funded a few months ago. People want to be self-sufficient and be able to work hard and have a better future. They just need a helping hand to start their journey to a better and brighter future for themselves and their families.

Thanks to the donors who contributed, the group have been working hard and are now seeing the results. Levison sent this video and photo yesterday. Their maize crop is looking…well it’s looking AMAIZING!

Well done to them and to everyone who has supported them. Can we now fund a second group to help them out of extreme poverty? The people who are being helped are the ones who have been volunteering their time to help feed the orphans. Despite having hardly anything themselves, they have been giving of their time to support those even more in need. It’s wonderful to see change starting to happen. Together we can continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thanks, Sarah x

Sustainable Development Goal 1 #NoPoverty, Goal 15 #LifeOnLand

Here is the link to the second agribusiness group. https://donorsee.com/project/24574?share=1

World Children’s Day

For World Children’s Day today, this blog is about the right to health and health care. The Ministry of Health paid a visit to Bright Futures Secondary School.

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Sarah’s blog 20/11/24

This date was chosen in 1989, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of a Child. The Convention has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life regardless of gender, religion, disability or any economic, social, cultural, or political status.

Unfortunately, for the children and young people we are helping to support, not all of their rights are currently being met. However, things are improving and eventually we hope that all will have enough food, and a sufficient standard of living (article 27) and have good health and health services (article 24). I will attach the link to yesterday’s blog at the end of this post as it is a good example of how some things are improving for the orphans and other children living in extreme poverty.

Yesterday, officials from The Ministry of Health visited students at Bright Futures Secondary School. They were there to talk to students about Sex Education, HIV/Aids and other STIs as well as having a counselling service available and a voluntary testing service. I asked whether students felt embarrassed by this sort of visit. However, Levison said that the team visit schools on a regular basis and that everyone was happy to take part and used to talking about issues like this. Older students from Chambo Primary were also invited to attend the sessions. So this is one way the government are being proactive with supporting children’s health and their visit was very welcome.

As you can see from the photos and videos, when some of the younger children saw the visitors’ vehicle and heard their loud speaker they came to see what the excitement was about. They weren’t included in the educational sessions but had fun dancing and looking at the vehicle.

We are trying to make real change for these children through a variety of small projects on the DonorSee site. We would welcome any donation, big or small, to help us achieve our goals, especially on the run up to Christmas and the New Year. The link to our page is here https://donorsee.com/changinglivesmalawi?follow . Thank you everyone for your support, it’s much appreciated, Sarah x

Facts & Figures from Chambo Primary School

Facts & Figures from Chambo Primary School

Some amazing facts and figures from Chambo Primary School. Thank you everyone who has helped us to support them.

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Sarah’s blog 19/11/24

Levison had been to visit the headteacher at Chambo Primary School this morning. I had asked him to ask for some figures regarding exam rate passes when he was there. I wanted to know, and be able to share, some actual figures in relation all the support that has been given to the students at Chambo Primary School over the last five years. Primary School Leavers Exams are a good way to do this.

Let’s remember that these students are amongst some of the most vulnerable in the whole of Malawi. Many are malnourished. All are hungry. Most have experienced trauma through family members dying. Lots of families have been affected by HIV. Many children are living with an elderly grandparent and are having to care for them as well as trying to get an education. Many people cannot afford to eat, let alone buy clothes and shoes for their children.

Lots of children miss huge chunks of school due to having to work for a pittance to help bring a small amount of money into the home to buy food. Many girls are at risk of being married off too young as families cannot afford to feed them. Girls were missing a week of school each month as they did not have any sanitary towels and had to stay at home. Life is so so hard for these children. Yet they continue to try their best. They know that education is their way out of the extreme poverty in which they live. Class sizes are large – there are approx 500 children across 8 classes at Chambo Primary.

In 2019, 59% of p8 students passed their primary school leavers exams. In 2020 and 2021 the figure was 60% for each of these years. In 2022 the figure rose to 63% pass rate. In 2023, 69% of students passed their exams and in 2024 that figure had risen to 78% of students passing their primary school leavers exams.

That is an amazing difference and we are delighted for the students. Here are some of the reasons that the headteacher and some of the teachers at Chambo Primary were able to attribute to the improvements and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped make all these changes happen:

The Feeding Programme. This runs once a week at the weekend and ensures that 500 of the most vulnerable children eat a substantial, nutritious meal once a week. Some children can go for days without eating properly so they know they will have this one meal to look forward to. However, children are walking long distances to access this feeding programme…some are walking 15km, even 20km. Some carry their toddler siblings much of the way to be fed. Feeding them just once a week isn’t good enough. However, it is all we can afford whilst we help them set up sustainable projects.
Clothes. Especially donated school uniform. Some months get quite cold overnight and many children do not have blankets and are sleeping on a mat on the floor. An outgrown school jumper and shorts/trousers or a skirt that have been donated can make all the difference to a child who has been wearing rags. They are warmer, look smarter and know that someone cares enough about them to want to help.
School Holiday Study Classes have made a big difference to students helping them to revise for exams and get help from teachers should they need it. Each p8 student who attended these lessons, that we financially supported for the past two years, has been given a free school lunch each day. This was a great incentive to turn up for extra lessons each day!
Thanks to grants we successfully applied for, Chambo Primary now has three classrooms with desks and benches (previously they only had one). We also facilitated the school to have clean drinking water and water for handwashing and provided buckets, soap, and cups for the students.
A girls’ latrine block was built with money from another grant. The girls now have dignity, privacy and safety when they need to relieve themselves. Previously they had to go in the bushes. Thanks to being given reusable sanitary towels, girls no longer miss a week of school every month. So the girls now can attend the same amount of lessons as the boys.
Exercise books & pens – students have been helped by receiving gifts of stationery.
School Literacy Project – We started with 17 boxes of preloved books that we gifted to Chambo Primary School, then more have been added. The books range from picture books with a few words for the lower school to more advanced stories for teenagers to enjoy. There have been dictionaries and many non fiction books donated too. The feedback has been great about how engaged students are with the books and colour pictures are really helping to ensure that the books are well used. In particular, girls have become more interested in books that they wouldn’t normally have been because of the pictures/photos. They see pictures of girls in subjects that would previously have been aimed at boys. We are excited to see how the School Literacy Project continues to make a difference as there are lots of boxes of books due to arrive early next year. Some of the boxes include group reading programmes that two primary schools local to me were updating. Having multiple copies of the same book will really be helpful in helping students become confident readers.
An orchard of fruit tree saplings is about to be planted at Chambo Primary thanks to another successful grant. This will help the students with practical agricultural lessons and will provide future food for the students as well as being good for the planet.

To give things a bit more context, the average pass rate for primary school leavers exams across the whole of Malawi was 86% in the 2024 exams. Chambo students will have to walk a lot further than the average. Chambo students and all the surrounding primary schools in the north do not have a big charity running a school feeding programme each day. These are just two ways they are at a huge disadvantage compared to the rest of the schools in Malawi. There will be so many children benefitting from a porridge programme. Sadly that isn’t the case for the forgotten children in the rural far north.

Yet, despite these issues they are succeeding. They are doing their best. They do want a good education to ensure they have a better future. They are attending school and working hard. We hope you agree that these children and young people are amazing and deserve a helping hand.

Again, a big thank you if you have donated to any of the above projects. We couldn’t do what we do without your help. You can see from the above that together we are Changing Lives (in) Malawi.

We are raising funds to help give the children a Christmas Party and an extra meal…will you help us please? https://donorsee.com/project/25004?share=1 Or you can email us to help with any of the above projects or anything else at contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you again, Sarah x

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