Tag: advent

Advent Calendar – highlighting projects & children – day 3

Sarah’s blog 3/12/23

On day 3 of our advent calendar we are highlighting education. Secondary education needs to be paid for in Malawi. Did you know that all of the students at Bright Futures Secondary School would not have been able to attend secondary school without support? Their education wouldn’t have gone past primary school. Even if they had passed their primary school leavers exams they would not be able to attend secondary school because they are so poor. Also, the nearest secondary school did not have enough spaces. All these students have missed chunks of education whilst at primary school so they could work for a pittance to try to buy food. They are all older because of that. The older they are, the more vulnerable and poor they are.

Thanks to our supporters and some generous grants, Bright Futures Secondary School was built. At the moment, class sizes are small because we cannot afford any more free places. However, every new sponsor matched with a young person ensures a brighter future for that vulnerable teenager. Education is their way out of extreme poverty. Being a sponsor only costs £25 per month. You can sponsor as an individual or a family or two friends can share the cost.

Students at Bright Futures Secondary School receive a cooked free school lunch each day. This is the only proper meal these young people eat every day, so it is vital for their wellbeing as well as being able to concentrate on their lessons. Could you support us with the cost of feeding the students please? Several people, committing £5 or £10 per month to ensure there is enough food for these teenagers each day will make a big difference. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

We were delighted that all S2 students passed their national exams in the summer. The fact that Bright Futures Secondary School had only opened in November 2022, it was an amazing achievement that the whole class passed. This story was even picked up by the national news, putting Bright Futures Secondary School well and truly on the map.

As part of our School Literacy Project, we are gifting books to the preschool children and putting boxes of books into local primary schools to raise attainment and help children be more confident readers. How can children learn to read properly if they don’t have books to practice with? Hopefully, we will start seeing the benefits of this project in the next few years as exam grades continue to rise.

Obviously, if primary school children were receiving food every day then this would make a huge difference too. Unfortunately, we can only afford to feed 500 once a week, with some children walking up to 20km to receive this nutritious cooked meal. Due to food scarcity, their currency being devalued again and prices continuing to rise, it is expected that the number of children attending this weekly feeding programme might increase to approximately 700 children. No big charities are feeding children in the rural far north and we cannot do this on our own without your support. Please help?

Please help us to support the children. Education is their way out of poverty. Thank you for reading and supporting, Sarah x https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Advent Calendar – highlighting projects & children – day 1

Sarah’s blog 01/12/23

It’s December already! This year has gone so quickly! As we approach Christmas Day, I am going to take this opportunity to highlight some of the projects we are supporting and also some of the vulnerable children and young people who are benefitting from our support.

Of course, we can’t do what we do without your support – it’s teamwork! Thank you so much to everyone who helps and supports our charity. Together we can continue to change lives and help the young people have a brighter future. So, if you are able, we would appreciate, if you could spare a few ££ to help us continue feeding 500 children once a week and also supporting the start up of some sustainable projects. All our projects have The Sustainable Development Goals in mind.

Today, on 1st December we are highlighting the need for clean water. Children at the Foundation have clean water to drink and wash their hands. Also Chambo Primary School now have clean water on site, thanks to a recent grant we applied for. In this photo which is one of my favourites and a couple of years old now, Josephine Nyondo and her nursery friends, tried the new tap for the first time. It was such a special moment for them being able to drink clean water straight from the tap and wash their hands. #SDG6 Clean Water & Sanitation

I hope you enjoy looking at these photos as we countdown to Christmas and, if you would like to help us, we would be very grateful for your help. Thanks, Sarah x https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Meaningful Cards & Gifts

Sarah’s blog 9/12/21

Whether you’ve got gifts to post, cards to send, something to buy for the person who has everything… then stop relax… we can help you and you can help us… hassle free.

https://www.dontsendmeacard.com/ecards/charities/changing-lives-malawi

That’s the link where you can find e-cards and e-gifts to purchase. Christmas cards and for other occasions. Also you can send one card to multiple people, saving time and effort. Meaningful gifts. Gifts that are going to change lives. A blanket for a vulnerable child, a football to help children take their mind off their problems whilst they play, soap, fruit tree saplings… we have lots of gifts to choose from. It would mean so much if you could support us to support the hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children in Northern Malawi. Whether you want to spend £5 or £50 you will be helping us http://www.changinglivesmalawi.com thank you for reading and please ask if you would like any help selecting cards and gifts. Gifts can also be printed out and posted in a lovely card on your behalf. Sarah x

The Second Sunday in Advent

Sarah’s blog 5/12/21

The second Sunday in advent is traditionally about peace and waiting. I have had no choice this week. I wasn’t going to write this but I think it’s important and I would be very grateful if you would be patient with me whilst I write this.

I have been in a very large hospital since Tuesday morning. On Tuesday afternoon I had some of my right kidney removed using robotic assistance. If this operation had taken place at my usual hospital, they would have removed my whole kidney. So I am thankful for the opportunities I have had. Everyone has been so lovely and kind and I have felt precious and cared for.

I am very conscious of the differences between my opportunities here and the lack of health care opportunities in Malawi, something we need to try to work on next year.

I feel I am being ‘asked’ to write this and believe me I am double and triple checking things as I am on a lot of medication for pain relief and my concentration isn’t good. At least I’ve kept my eyes open! My care,post op, has not gone to plan. My oxygen levels have been extremely low and, I spent two days in high dependency. Yesterday was my first day since Tuesday with no additional oxygen…again the comparison isn’t lost on me that Malawi doesn’t have enough oxygen in hospitals.

So without you having to know all my aches and pains, I am here to wait and recover. To recover from the big operation I have had but also the stress of 2021 which has been huge.

Every day has been a worry about where money will come from to feed children, to sponsor them, to provide for them. I have been volunteering 7 days a week. I can’t continue at that rate. It’s not going to do me any good, therefore the charity any good, if I don’t start putting myself first. I don’t know what the new working hours will look like but, for now, I will wait with peace and listen. Of course, I couldn’t have worked so hard without my husband who is my biggest supporter.

All of this would have been hard enough but there have been people on social media trying to destroy our charity. People who have never met me. People who are happy to side with others without knowing facts or thinking about the consequences of their actions. I cannot apply for grants for our charity at the moment because the awful things that have been written. People might not like me or like what I say (and that’s ok) but every decision I make is to benefit those hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children to make lives better for them.

Of course, I should have been at home this last week sharing posts; getting children sponsored, selling paintings for Christmas or lovely cards; sharing the links for e-cards and e-gifts and generally working as hard as I can for every £1 to help make a difference in Northern Malawi. Hopefully, people do find the items via our website and please share posts if you can. Hoping I will be home in a few days although this week away, courtesy of the NHS, has been amazing. I couldn’t have asked for better care.

So instead of being busy selling, I’ll wait patiently for what’s going to happen next. It might be that you decide you want to help, it might be a magazine wants to write about our work… who knows? But I do know that 2022 is going to be a better year and we hope that you will continue to journey with us http://www.changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x

My room with a view of the helipad

The first Sunday in Advent

Sarah’s blog 28/11/21

As we approach Christmas, today is the first Sunday of Advent. I’m sure, whether you are a Christian, of a different faith or none, most children and adults enjoy the celebrations at this time of year. Advent calendars filled with chocolate, decorations, sparkling lights, parties, concerts and presents and also the lovely food are some of the special things we can enjoy as well as being with people we love. Whilst there have been some restrictions recently, they are nothing compared to what people living in extreme poverty are facing every day of the year, wherever they are in the world.

The first Sunday in Advent is traditionally of HOPE like a light shining in the darkness. That is what The Foundation is for the hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children that it supports. Hope of better things to come. Hope of food, of full tummies. Hope of clean water. Hope of education. Hope of jobs. Hope of health. Hope of better housing. Hope of fun and friends. Hope of a childhood without trauma. Hope that they will no longer be forgotten. Hope of sponsorship. Hope of clothes & shoes. ALL children deserve these things.

We are making great progress but with so many children there is never enough money. It costs £100 to feed 500 children once a week. This is their most nutritious, substantial meal of the week….some children do not eat every day and most suffer from malnutrition. We need to reach more people to help us continue to improve the dire situation that these children face. Can you share our posts or tell your friends about our charity?

There are many ways you can help us support the children and continue to send money to feed them. Donations of money are extremely helpful as are purchasing our e-cards and e-gifts as meaningful Christmas gifts with all the money we receive going to Malawi. The link is here https://www.dontsendmeacard.com/ecards/charities/changing-lives-malawi

Please help us to bring hope to hundreds of the most vulnerable children. If we don’t support them…..they have nobody. Together we CAN make a difference. Together we can change lives in Malawi. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . I am working tomorrow then I am taking the rest of the week off as I have a hospital appointment. I won’t be away for too long though as the children really do need us to help them. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

The Foundation, now with electricity, is a shining light of hope in the darkness

Reverse Advent Calendar

Sarah’s blog 22/11/21

Christmas is coming and the season of advent will be here next week. Some organised people might have finished all their shopping and wrapped their presents, some might have already thought about putting their tree and decorations up. Or are you a last minute type of person? If you are able, could you please spare a thought for the hundreds of vulnerable children whom we support in rural Northern Malawi. Their Christmas celebrations are very, very different to ours. We will be giving them a meal, a bar of soap and a pencil but we would love to be able to plan ahead as it takes months for gifts to arrive. It would be amazing if you could help us provide gifts for a summer and Christmas party. These children do not eat properly every day, so never have any soap, pencils or toys apart from what they are given at The Foundation. So a party and gifts mean a great deal to them and are very exciting. Let’s spread a little love this Christmas…can you help us?

If you can manage the whole Reverse Advent Calendar, that would be fantastic. But even if you manage a few of them while doing your own Christmas shopping we would be very grateful. A pack of pencils, a couple of packs of pens or a few bars of soap etc. Or some books in good preloved condition that your child no longer reads. These children and young people have had NOTHING. If we all give SOMETHING it WILL make a difference and bring joy to many. They will know that people care about them. They will know they are no longer forgotten. A little kindness goes a long way. In this season of goodwill, please help us send some joy to Malawi. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Reverse Advent Calendar

Sarah’s blog 1/11/21

Now we are in November, thoughts for some of us will start to turn towards Christmas and Christmas shopping. We hope that when you are doing your shopping, you keep the hundreds of vulnerable children, supported by The William Stewart Foundation in the rural north of Malawi, in your thoughts. Could you put a few extras in your basket for children who have nothing? I’ve put a selection of things on our Reverse Advent Calendar as suggestions. However, if you’d like to buy 25 pencils or 10 bars of soap and 15 bags of wrapped sweets or donate 25 x £1 coins, that would be very much appreciated. It is totally up to you.

During December, we would ask that you spare a thought each day for these vulnerable children and young people. Perhaps you could use the traditional season of giving to help bring a smile to a child who doesn’t receive gifts, to a child who can’t go to school without a pencil and notepad, to a child who doesn’t own a toy, who has never hugged a soft toy. These orphans and other vulnerable children have missed out on much of their childhood due to working for a pittance. They have had the trauma of losing family members and of malnutrition and hunger. Could you support our reverse advent calendar by buying some gifts for a vulnerable child? thanks for reading, Sarah x

If an item has a * beside it, we are happy to accept items in very good preloved condition.