Tag: blanket

Bright Futures Nursery Update

Could you sleep at night without a blanket or food in your tummy? Please read today’s blog to see how we are helping vulnerable preschool children.

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Sarah’s blog 22/6/24

Bright Futures Nursery is more than just a place for preschool children to meet. The nursery was first started because these young children were hanging about with nowhere to go whilst their older siblings were at school.

Of course, there are no adults at home during the day as they are either doing chores or out trying to earn some money for their family. Many of these children are orphans living with extended family and living in extreme poverty.

As well as being a place to meet with their friends and spend time, these children are fed each morning. This is making a big difference to their health and wellbeing. There aren’t so many children with stunted growth as there were and overall health has improved, although there is still a long way to go.

We give care bags to children who start nursery; that way we know everyone has received one. The bag has, a fleece blanket, two red tshirts (nursery uniform), three pairs of underwear, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste and now we are adding a soft toy/knitted teddy and two picture books. These children don’t have a soft toy of their own to cuddle so they will have either a soft toy that has been donated to us or a teddy knitted by one of several talented people who knit for us.

We added the books because when the first boxes of books were sent, the pre-school children didn’t even know how to turn the pages properly. They had never had access to books before. Imagine all the years of bedtime stories and sitting on an adults knee listening to stories they have missed out on. So we want every home to have at least two books so that children of all ages can read together with their families.

At Chambo Primary School, where most of the orphans go to school, the headteacher has already reported that they are seeing that children in primary 1 are ahead of those in previous years because they have had access to books before starting school. We are delighted to hear this and look forward to having more feedback from the school.

I am in contact with Levison Mlambya, the director and co founder, almost every day and we had a catch up phone conversation this morning. I was asking him about if he still had any supplies there to give out to the children at nursery. He has a few t-shirts but nothing else. So I will need to start trying to gather what is needed to put in the nursery bags. I mentioned the small fleece blankets we send. Levison said something that really made me very sad. He asked if, as well as sending blankets for the nursery children, could we send more for their siblings. He said children are sleeping on the floor in their huts but most don’t have blankets. He said that three children might try to share this one little blanket that we give out.

I knew children slept on mats on the floor and that they just had a sheet or blanket to cover themselves with but I did hope we were making more progress with making these children’s lives easier. In many ways we are, but if children don’t even have a blanket to cover themselves at night – and it does get cold as it’s in the hills – then this is one of their very basic needs that isn’t being met. Children are going to bed (well their space on the floor) cold and hungry. How can we expect them to get a good sleep? The fact that there are over 500 children all living in extreme poverty and needing support makes it all the more challenging and food costs are huge.

So if you can spare any money to help us continue providing food for the pre-school children and gifting each one of them a care bag full of gifts when they start nursery, that would be very much appreciated. Even if we cannot give all children a blanket, knowing that each of the preschool children have a blanket is helping them. Here are the links to our two nursery projects on DonorSee. As they say ‘Every little helps’ so please do give if you can and share news of our projects with your friends. Thanks so much, Sarah x

https://donorsee.com/project/23629?share=1

https://donorsee.com/project/23502?share=1

Care bags given to the preschool children last year; blankets, tshirts, underwear, soap, toothbrush & toothpaste, soft toys and books. Being fed every morning at nursery and these care bags are making a difference to these very vulnerable children living in extreme poverty.

Eliza’s children

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Sarah’s blog 09/02/23

I’m feeling really sad looking at these photos I am going to share with you today. You might remember that recently Eliza, one of the lovely hardworking volunteers, sadly died after having an asthma attack. Eliza had been volunteering since Levison started feeding the children and had understood the importance of his vision for improving the lives of the most vulnerable. She also understood it wasn’t going to happen without volunteers. Eliza worked tirelessly, cooking for and serving 500+ children, cooking for the nursery children and, more recently, for the students at Bright Futures Secondary School. She is missed very much by everyone.

I said I would try to find sponsors for her children. Her husband is a peasant farmer, working very hard for not much return. They had four children. Unfortunately, the eldest two have gone to live with relatives quite far away as their dad couldn’t support them all. So these older children have not only lost their mum, they are now separated from their dad too and their two youngest siblings. Who knows when they will all see each other again. Life is so hard.

The two youngest children are still living with their dad. The girl, Chifundo, who is 13, has had to start doing the chores her mum would have done, including looking after Junior, 8 years old, while their dad is working long hours. Chifundo will have to cook and do the washing. What will she cook? They don’t have much. They need food. They need soap to wash the clothes. They need some new clothes. And they need some blankets. You can see the mat, in one of the photos, where they sleep sharing a dirty old blanket.

So, who will help them? Who could help support these two children whose world has been turned upside down. They’ve lost their lovely mum and their two older siblings. They need our help. It costs £25 to sponsor a child each month. They receive a food parcel each month, clothes, a blanket, welfare checks and medicine if they need it. Please will you help? You can sponsor as an individual or two friends can share the cost or your club or business could sponsor a child. Please email me if you’d like to help Chifundo or Junior contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and thanks to all our sponsors who are making a big difference to each child, Sarah x

Having a sponsor – making a difference – Changing Lives Malawi

Very sad news from Ibuluma – Changing Lives Malawi

Gifts for the nursery children

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Sarah’s blog 10/1/23

There are 75 vulnerable pre-school children, ages 4-6, in the nursery at The Foundation. All are malnourished, some have stunted growth. We are doing what we can in order to help them have a better start in life.

Today, because of the rains, only about half of them were there to receive the gifts we had sent. The others will get their gifts another day. Proper records are kept to ensure none of them miss out.

Today is an exciting day for them…it’s the first time they have received a book of their own to keep and take home. This is part of The Literacy Project. I am an Early Years Educator and so am passionate about these children having the opportunities that our children have. When we have access to books pre-reading starts when babies are on an adult’s knee, having a story read to them. They look at the pictures and can anticipate certain points in the story because of the way the adult reads and shares this special time with them. Toddlers will bring their favourite storybook to an adult in order that they can share the story together. They can point to things in the pictures, they know that you turn the pages and they ‘pretend’ to read by tracing the words with their fingers. They know that these letter shapes are where the story comes from.

The children at The Foundation nursery have missed out on all of these experiences. We want story books to become an every day part of their lives. We want every home to have at least two books to support literacy. I had a video call with the headteacher of Bright Futures Secondary School yesterday and she was delighted that books were being given to the children in the nursery. She said they are trying to ‘play catchup’ with the students at Bright Futures Secondary School as they have missed out on having access to reading materials from a young age. Many of the students missed a lot of school to work for a pittance to buy food….it’s been so hard for them. We look forward to seeing how having books at home makes a difference to these children and their families.

Today, each child received a drawstring bag containing, a blanket, 2 red t-shirts, pants, toothbrush & toothpaste, soap and a picture book. As I said in a recent post, in future, we want to be able to include a knitted teddy in each bag for children starting nursery. If you are able to help support this nursery project in any way then please email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Here is the link to Sunday’s post 10 Teddies – supporting the nursery children – Changing Lives Malawi Enjoy the photos and thanks for your support, Sarah x

It’s a great day for Brighton!

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Sarah’s blog 7/6/22

I’m so pleased to be able to share the news that little Brighton Ng’ambi has a sponsor. I have been emailing with a lady today who has kindly offered to be the helping hand that Brighton needs. Thank you so much! We appreciate all our sponsors…it’s not easy for some to set aside £25 every month to commit to sponsoring a child. But it might be the most important thing anyone has ever done for them. We understand it is a big commitment which is why we say that two friends can sponsor a child together if they would like.

Brighton, an orphan, now has the helping hand he needs. He will receive clothes, a blanket, welfare checks and a monthly food parcel as well as being encouraged to access the weekly feeding programme. The gift of sponsoring a child is priceless. More food means better concentration and growth. A blanket means a better sleep. New clothes means more confidence and self-esteem. All of these together add up to better school attendance and learning and a happier healthier child.

As well as the Feeding Programme, children have access to the library with lots of lovely books to read and are being taught how to use computers (although there is no internet yet as that is an extra cost we cannot afford at the moment). They are encouraged to learn life skills like growing crops, cooking, sewing and knitting, basket making, mat weaving and brick making. They also learn to care for the chickens and goats. Children are cared about holistically and love to play team sports when they are at The Foundation; football, netball, rugby and also hockey.

So on behalf of Brighton, and all the other sponsored children, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are making a difference. You are helping us continue Changing Lives Malawi. There are lots of other children waiting for a sponsor so please get in touch if you would like to be part of our team of sponsors contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com You can change a life today. We will update you about Brighton when we can. Thank you for reading and your support, Sarah x

Yay! Good news for Brighton. He has a sponsor! Thank you!
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