Tag: chambo primary school

12 weeks to find sponsors for 14 vulnerable students

I have been asked to find sponsors for these vulnerable students so they can attend secondary school. I cannot do this without your help. Please read today’s blog and help if you can.

Sarah’s blog 14/06/24

It’s bad enough for our children waiting for exam results but, in Malawi, did you know that only primary education is free? So depending on their national primary school exam results their education might stop at the end of primary school. Also, if their families cannot pay, their education stops at the end of primary school. Imagine if our children only had primary school education? Think of everything they would miss out on.

There are 8 years of primary school and children start school at age 6. Class sizes are 50+ children. For example, Chambo Primary School, in the rural far north of Malawi has 500+ students over 8 classrooms. Only one classroom had desks and benches, until we successfully applied for a grant to install clean drinking water and desks and benches for two further classrooms. This grant was thanks to the Kitchen Table Charities Trust. Another grant from the Eleanor Rathbone Trust, meant that a girls toilet block was built. Meaning that girls no longer had to squat in the bushes which left them at risk of attack and with no dignity or privacy.

Five classrooms are remaining with children sitting on the concrete floor. There were hardly any resources until we started our School Literacy Project, gifting boxes of preloved books to help students become more confident readers. We gave students at Chambo Primary school notebooks and pencils in January…nowhere near enough for what they need…but better than nothing. Thanks to our fundraising on the site DonorSee these vulnerable children are about to receive more notebooks and pencils (one now and one in September).

Imagine not being able to afford a notebook and pencil. Imagine not being able to afford soap. Imagine not eating properly each day. No big charities are working in the far north yet. We can only afford to feed 500 children once a week whilst we try to set up sustainable projects to help them be self-sufficient.

Many of these students in primary school are older than they would normally be. If they are one of the eldest children in a family, they might have dropped out of school for a while to work for a pittance to help bring money into their family to provide food whilst the younger children in the family attended school. Or maybe all the children in the family had to work. Or they might have had to look after an elderly relative. So there can be many different ages in one class of students.

I need your help. I have been asked to find sponsors for 18 students who have just done their primary school leavers exams. They are bright students and are all expected to pass. None can go to secondary school without financial support. I have managed to find sponsors for 4 of them – many thanks to those sponsors for coming forward. However, I still need to match 14 students with sponsors and I’ve only got 12 weeks to do it before the new term starts in mid September. THESE STUDENTS ARE HOPING THEY WILL BE ABLE TO GO TO BRIGHT FUTURES SECONDARY SCHOOL BUT THEY NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE. They wait in hope of a brighter future. They know that education is their way out of poverty. This will be the most important gift these young people have – the gift of education. Will you reach out and help one of them? Please?

Being a sponsor is less than £1 per day. How many people buy a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps that we don’t really need? Could you spare less than £1 per day? It’s only £25 per month to make a difference to one of these young people. You can sponsor as an individual, two friends could share the cost (making it less than 50p per day) or your club, school or church could sponsor a young person’s education. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com When you meet a friend for a coffee or have a few glasses of wine with your friends, would you ask them please if they can join you in sponsoring a young person’s education? If we have lots of little groups of friends or colleagues sponsoring one young person, just think what a difference we could make. It’s always about teamwork. You have the ability to change a life.

Being sponsored means these students will receive free education at Bright Futures Secondary School where class sizes are kept smaller than average. They will receive school uniform and stationery and other gifts. Each student will receive a free nutritious lunch each day. For most, this is their only meal of the day so it is vital for their health and concentration.

Will you help one of these vulnerable young people please? Many are orphans, living with extended family or some are from single parent families. All are living in dire poverty. Your help and support to gift these young people a secondary education and a brighter future will be so welcome. Will you help us help them today? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Together we can keep Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thanks, Sarah x

Thank you for the books Balfron Primary School!

Thank you Balfron Primary School!! We need some families to help with this project too…so will you read today’s blog and make a difference please?

Sarah’s blog 12/6/24

We are delighted as we have had a brilliant donation from Balfron Primary School of all their books from their reading programme that they are updating. Headteacher, Angus Black, brought five big boxes of books to us which are going to benefit hundreds of very vulnerable children in primary schools in rural northern Malawi through our School Literacy Project. This project is working towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education.

This is an amazing donation of books which will help so many vulnerable children to learn to read.

Most of the primary schools in the rural far north of Malawi have large class sizes and minimal resources. How can we expect children to read well if they don’t have books to practice? These books will make a huge difference to the children’s knowledge as well as helping them to be more confident readers.

So a big THANK YOU again to Balfron Primary School for supporting School Literacy amongst some of the most vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi. We will have photos to show when the books finally arrive in a few months time. We sort and repack all the books into age groups and into strong boxes and label them up to go to Dundee where they await the next container.

Although our School Literacy Project is relatively cheap as the books are all donated, it still costs us £17.50 to send every box on the container. If you can please help pay towards the transportation costs of these books then here is the link to donate on our DonorSee site https://donorsee.com/project/23626?share=1

When students leave primary school at the end of p8 they have to sit national primary school leavers exams. They cannot go to secondary school if they don’t pass these exams. We expect, through our School Literacy Project, to start to see improved exam results within the next few years as literacy levels improve.

None of the hundreds of vulnerable children we help to support can afford to go to secondary school, which has to be paid for in Malawi. So, even if they pass their primary school leavers exams, if they cannot pay for secondary school then that is their education finished.

That’s why we match students with sponsors to support their secondary education. It’s only £25 per month to sponsor a student and you can share the cost between friends and family….it’s less than £1 per day to give the gift of education. Sponsored students are given a place at Bright Futures Secondary School where they receive free education, uniform, stationery and everything else they need for school. They get a free nutritious school lunch each day. For most students, this is the only food they get every day so it is really important to enable them to study and concentrate.

Here is the link to my blog about the students who are looking for sponsors so they will be able to attend Bright Futures Secondary School in September. If you could help support the education of one of these very vulnerable young people then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2024/05/23/sponsors-needed-for-p8-students/

Thanks again, Balfron Primary School for supporting our charity which is just round the corner from the school. It’s always about team work and together, with your help, we can make a difference, Sarah x

Students at Chambo Primary School where three out of eight classrooms now have desks and benches. These children were delighted when we paid for them to have new notepads and pencils in January. They are about to receive another gift of notepads and pencils thanks to our fundraising on DonorSee site.
We applied for a grant on behalf of Chambo Primary School to enable them to have a toilet block and a clean water supply.
The first 17 boxes of books gifted to Chambo Primary. After this shipment of books, we will start collecting books for another primary school in that cluster.
Children looking at the first boxes of books that were sent on the container

Community Magazine Article – Allander Rotary, Allander Probus, Scotland Malawi Partnership & Changing Lives Malawi

Four organisations, working together to support some of the most vulnerable people in northern Malawi to self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Sarah’s blog 24/5/24

The Rotary Club of Allander (Milngavie) have been supporting Changing Lives Malawi in a variety of ways over the past year and we are very grateful for their support. We are attending Bearsden & Milngavie Highland Games with them on Saturday 8th June, so if you are attending the event, please come and say ‘hello’.

In March, I was invited as a guest of Stuart Sharkie, President of Allander Rotary, to attend a talk on Malawi at The Probus Club of Allander. We were both made extremely welcome by William Ho, President of The Probus Club and all the other members.

Changing Lives Malawi is a member of The Scotland Malawi Partnership which promotes positive relationships and connections in Scotland and Malawi where people in both countries can learn from each other and work collaboratively. Chad Morse, is Deputy Chief Executive of The Scotland Malawi Partnership and was giving the talk. This was the first time I had met Chad in person and his talk was fascinating as he and his family had lived in Malawi for many years.

As well as benefitting from hearing Chad’s talk about the work of the SMP and his time of living in Malawi, he had some wonderful photos of the beauty of Malawi. There was also an opportunity to chat with people and I met some lovely people.

William arranged for an article to appear in Bearsden & Milngavie’s Community Magazine and he has sent me a copy of it as it was delivered yesterday. I’m thankful for the opportunities and support that The Rotary Club of Allander, The Probus Club of Allander and The Scotland Malawi Partnership have given to Changing Lives Malawi and I hope that we can all continue supporting the hundreds of vulnerable children, and their community, through a variety of projects with the end goal being sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Stuart, William and Chad – thank you for your support of our work. I’m grateful for your help and kindness. I always say it’s about teamwork and, little by little, our team is expanding.

I’ve included the link to two recent blogs I have written to give examples of some of our projects, then the magazine article and photo. If anyone would like to get involved then please let me know contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Two new video appeals
Sponsors needed for p8 students
l-r: Stuart Sharkie, William Ho, Sarah Black, Chad Morse

MYEBOOK – Community Magazine – Bearsden & Milngavie – June 2024

Sponsors needed for p8 students

Sponsors needed to support these vulnerable students to get to secondary school! http://www.changinglivesmalawi.com

Sarah’s blog 23/05/24

***SPONSORS NEEDED for P8 students***

Students in their final year at Chambo Primary School started their national primary school leavers exams yesterday and we wish them the very best of luck.

We are hoping, with your help, that this isn’t the end of the road for their education. Imagine passing your exams but being so poor that you couldn’t go to secondary school.

None of these young people can afford to go to secondary school, which needs to be paid for in Malawi. These 18 students are all expected to pass their exams. We now need to match these vulnerable students with sponsors to help pay for their education at Bright Futures Secondary School. It’s only £25 per month per student. This pays for their education, uniform, stationery and a cooked school lunch each day – for many this is their only proper meal of the day.

Let’s help give these young people the brighter future they want and deserve. If you would like to make a difference to a young life please get in touch. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

NB – the older these students are, the poorer their family is. They have missed big chunks of school to try to earn a living to by food. They have missed out so much of their childhood. Let’s give them a Brighter Future!

Myless Ng’ambi had dropped out of school due to family circumstances but they managed to get her back to school which is why she is 17 already. She (like the others) is desperate for an education. I am delighted to have matched her with a sponsor, so providing she passes her exams, she will be attending Bright Futures Secondary School in September.

Seventeen more young people are still needing your help! You can sponsor as an individual, share the cost with a friend/s or family, or a business can sponsor a young person or a school, church or club could share the costs. It might be the most important thing you ever do for one of these young people. Thank you, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Child Sponsorship/P8 Chambo Primary

Sarah’s blog 20/5/24

Morning everyone! I’d said that, as our 5th birthday is coming up at the end of May, I would be highlighting some of our projects. We have received lots of preloved books recently for our School Literacy Project which will have a big impact on literacy levels. We are collecting another big donation of books from Strathblane Primary School today and are very grateful for their support.

Most of the orphans and vulnerable children we support attend Chambo Primary School where there are over 500 children across 8 classrooms. The students in p8 are about to start their national exams on Wednesday. They cannot go to secondary school unless they pass all these exams. Even if they pass these national exams, unless they have the funds they cannot attend secondary school as only primary education in free in Malawi. None of the children we help to support can afford school fees. So should they only have access to primary education because they are living in extreme poverty?

https://donorsee.com/project/23503?share=1 This is a link to our fundraiser to supply the students with stationery at Chambo Primary School. Please click on the link to see the video. A generous donor has agreed to match what we raise up to the total of $200. Please support this project.

With a lot of help from our supporters, we built Bright Futures Secondary School for the most vulnerable students. We have generous supporters who have kindly agreed to support students through their 4 years at secondary school. It costs £25 per month and this helps pay towards their education, a cooked school lunch each day, school uniform and stationery. However, Bright Futures Secondary School has lots of space for more students.

So, highlighting our Child Sponsorship Project, we need to find more kind hearted sponsors to enable more of the young people who live in extreme poverty to go to Bright Futures Secondary School. Will you sponsor a young person? Or a group of friends could share the cost? It might be the most important thing anyone does for that vulnerable young person. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Please, please help us fill Bright Futures Secondary School with sponsored students giving them opportunities for a much brighter future. Silvia, Elizabeth and John are all expected to do well in their exams…please give them a chance. Through education, these children can be the brighter future for their community. Thank you, Sarah x

Easter Study School

Some photos and videos from Easter Study School at Chambo Primary and Bright Futures Secondary School…everyone is taking advantage of this great opportunity.

Sarah’s blog 09/04/24

Today I have some photos and videos from the Easter Study School. The ones from Bright Futures Secondary School were taken by one of the teachers yesterday. Levison visited Chambo Primary this morning and sent the photos and videos from there.

To help us pay for the nutritious school lunches each day during the holiday school for 100+ students please donate here; https://donorsee.com/project/23049?share=1

We are grateful to everyone who is supporting these very vulnerable young people to have these extra eight days of study and a proper cooked lunch each day. Teachers have given up their holiday time, cooks have prepared and cooked lunch each day and other volunteers on campus ensuring that things run smoothly for the young people. The lunches are important as it’s probably the only proper meal each of these young people will get each day. How can we expect them to walk a long distance and concentrate all day if they haven’t eaten properly?

In Malawi, national exams are taken at the end of primary school (p8). If you don’t pass then you don’t go to secondary school. Also you don’t go to secondary school if you cannot afford to pay. So for most of these students at Chambo Primary, even if they do pass, unless we have managed to match them with a sponsor to help support their education at Bright Futures Secondary School, their education is still finished at the end of primary school. We need more sponsors please and it’s only £25 p/m…that’s less than £1 per day. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

National exams are also at the end of S2 and the end of S4. There aren’t any S4 students at Bright Futures Secondary School until September, so this study school is for the S2 and S3 students. BFSS is only half full currently. There is capacity for more vulnerable students, but we need your help and financial support for their education. It might be one of the most important things you do for one of these young people.

Students at Bright Futures Secondary School were asked ‘What is good about school being open during the holidays?’

Bethsheba said ‘It helps us to cover the load that haven’t been covered during second term so that we stay focused to the curriculum of Malawi Government’ (for info – may students have missed classes due to heavy rains preventing them cross the swollen rivers). She also said ‘It helps us that we are not supposed to be playing at home so that we maintain the striving of excellence.’

Lawrence stated ‘It helps us to have more knowledge about school and it helps us to avoid bad behaviour that might happen when you don’t go to school. It helps us to have access to have lunchtime food, since we are coming from far distance with emptied belly. So during the holiday we continue to have access to food which improve our health so that we stay focused on our studies without thinking about hunger.’

Mathias added ‘It helps students to maintain a good position such as a student may proceed in working hard whether during holidays or school days. It helps students to have full information about the subject which haven’t covered in the past term.’

Mphatso said ‘It helps to have more experience on how can we handle subjects during holidays hence improve experience of subject. It helps us always to think about our career journey through our studies during holidays or school days and it helps students to spend more time in reading and concentrate on school activities hence improvement in academically.’

Agness commented ‘ It helps us to continue with our studies regardless of it being holiday time. It lets us improve our knowledge. It also stops students joining in bad behaviour during holidays. Being at school gives students to have ample time to do revision work for the past term and looking for areas of improvement.’

One of the teachers, Mr Byfore Kalambo, at BFSS said ‘It’s most important to provide studies to our students because it helps us to cover all the topics from the previous term. It also helps us as the teacher to be well prepared and focused about the coming term because we are more aware about students weakness during the previous term and finding ways of improvements. It provides us more time to do revision work with students so that when the school is open we stay focused on the scheme of work (lesson plans) prepared while we are maintaining the whole curriculum. We also have the chance to be more flexible and relaxed with classes so students find it easier to ask questions freely during holiday time hence good interaction between us teachers and students.’

To help us pay for all the food for the 100+ students during the eight days you can donate here: https://donorsee.com/project/23049?share=1 or email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

I hope these photos and videos help to give you an insight into the schools and the vulnerable young people we are supporting. Supporting these students to succeed is always about teamwork. Will you be part of our team? Thanks, Sarah x

Easter Study School, School Lunches & hungry students

S2 English at BFSS
S3 Social Studies at BFSS
p8 at Chambo Primary School
p8 at Chambo Primary
p8 at Chambo Primary
p8 maths at Chambo Primary
S3 Social Subjects BFSS
English S2 BFSS
Biology S3 BFSS

More Sponsored Children & Young People

Sarah’s blog 10/1/24

It has been so busy with all the projects that are benefitting the many vulnerable children we help to support, that unfortunately we haven’t had as many photos of sponsored children and young people as we would have liked. Thank you to the sponsors for being patient with us and for understanding. Hopefully, we will have a better system in place this year and be bringing regular updates.

If you would like to sponsor a child or young person to make a difference in their lives then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com It’s only £25 per month to be a sponsor, or you could share the cost with a friend. 

There are hundreds of vulnerable children and young people who would benefit from being matched with a sponsor. Especially those who are in their last couple of years at primary school and hoping to attend Bright Futures Secondary School. With a helping hand from a sponsor, their education is free of charge, they receive clothes and stationery and they have a nutritious school lunch each day. For most, this is their only meal each day. So your help would be much appreciated by us and gratefully received by the young people. Many thanks, Sarah x

Chambo Primary School thanks The Kitchen Table Charities Trust

Sarah’s blog 9/1/24

I shared some photos before Christmas of the official handover of the improvements at Chambo Primary School thanks to a £6,000 grant we applied for and received from The Kitchen Table Charities Trust.

The story starts in springtime last year when we applied for a grant to KTCT on behalf of Chambo Primary School. What we were asking for wasn’t straightforward but, with a few emails back and forward and a bit of waiting, we were absolutely delighted to receive £6,000 on behalf of Chambo Primary School. This is the nearest primary school to the Foundation and where most of the orphans and other vulnerable young people we support attend. There are eight classes, each with at least 60 children.

No big charities are feeding children in schools in this area so all these children are really hungry. Many of them are suffering from malnutrition. We only have enough money to send to feed 500 children once a week and some of those children are walking up to 15km to 20km to receive this one decent meal of the week. It’s not good enough but it’s all we can afford. If anyone would like to help us provide food for the children then please do email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com 

As well as no food, the children had no clean water supply for drinking and washing their hands. Their drinking water came from the river which isn’t a clean supply. The children and their families still use the river as a water supply when they are at their homes. After liaising with and receiving permission from staff at Chambo Health Centre (which has it’s own clean water supply), we paid for a survey to check that it was possible to bring water via an underground pipe to the primary school and have taps installed outside the primary school.

We were delighted when we got the green light from the water department staff, health centre staff and, of course, The Kitchen Table Charities Trust. As you might imagine, all this took time to implement. Prices have been escalating in Malawi and this has also caused issues whilst we have been trying to stick to a budget. The headteacher at Chambo Primary, whilst being extremely thankful and pleased that the school would have clean water, rightly wanted the digging of the trench delayed by a few weeks until school holidays. No one would have wanted either children or staff tripping and falling into a hole in the playground! We also had to wait for this part of the project to finish to check costs before moving onto the next part of the project.

In addition to the clean water part of the grant, we asked for money for desks and benches. Only one classroom out of the eight classes already had desks and benches. We originally thought we would have enough money to get desks and benches made for three classrooms but unfortunately, due to price rises, we didn’t manage to do this. However, two classrooms now have new desks and benches and the students are enjoying not having to sit on the floor.

Whilst employing qualified plumbers and carpenters, part of what we wanted was the opportunity for some of the young people who are supported at the Foundation to be able to gain some experience by observing and helping with some of the more straightforward tasks. It’s been a real team effort.

We had previously gifted seventeen boxes of books to Chambo Primary School as part of our School Literacy Project. We hope to help children become more confident readers by having access to a wide range of reading material. What I hadn’t understood until recently is that all these boxes of books were being stacked and kept in the headteacher’s office. This was the only place in the school with a door that locked so poor Mr Nyondo was surrounded by boxes of books! So, with the grant money, locks were bought for the four classrooms that have doors and book shelves are being made so the books can be distributed between those four classrooms and they will be kept safely as these classrooms now have locking doors. We hope, in future, that we might have money to put doors on the remaining four classrooms.

I could keep writing about this project as I’m so pleased at how it has all worked out. I’m so thankful that The Kitchen Table Charities Trust liked our proposal and trusted us to carry out these improvements with their grant money. None of it was to benefit our charity or the Foundation we support directly, however this was a project that we could see would have huge benefits for vulnerable children we support and the community in general. It makes the hard work worthwhile when you see photos of smiling children enjoying sitting at desks, drinking clean water and reading books. We also provided buckets and cups with the grant money and our charity donated exercise books, pencils and bars of soap.

Thank you so much to everyone involved in helping us continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. I also want to thank Levison Mlambya, the Foundation Director, whom we work with very closely on a daily basis. Levison works tirelessly for his community and always puts others above himself. As well as project managing these improvements for Chambo Primary, he has also been project managing the building of classrooms 3 & 4 of Bright Futures Secondary School and a teachers accommodation block. The carpenters were going back and forward between projects when they were needed so there was a lot to organise! 2023 was a very busy year! I hope you enjoy the photos and videos, Sarah x

Chambo Primary School – School Literacy Project Visit 18/10/21

Great News for Chambo Primary School

Chambo Primary has clean water!

Chambo Primary: Clean Water/Latrines/Desks & BFSS gifts of clothes for students

Thanks to the carpenters for allowing some of the young people to assist them
The new desks being delivered to Chambo Primary School. L-R Mr Msukwa, Primary School Education Adviser, Mr Levison Mlambya, Director of The William Stewart Foundation and Mr Nyondo, Headteacher of Chambo Primary School
Everyone helps to bring the new desks inside
Students at Chambo Primary thanking Changing Lives Malawi for their notebooks and pencils
Children were always keen to observe what was happening
Drinking the clean water
As you can see, the headteacher’s office was used as a storage room too as there were no doors that locked on any of the classrooms. Now four out of the eight classrooms have book shelves and locks on their doors. Mr Nyondo will get his office back!
https://videopress.com/v/ky03hFb5?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Teachers at Chambo Primary having received stationery and chalk from Changing Lives Malawi. Mr Nyondo, headteacher, is thanking The Kitchen Table Charities Trust, The William Stewart Foundation and Changing Lives Malawi for enabling the changes at the school.
Mr Msukwa, Primary Education Adviser drinking water from one of the new taps.
The students at Chambo Primary are delighted to have clean water. It’s been a day to celebrate.
Everyone wants a turn to fill their cups with clean drinking water.
Washing hands with clean water and with soap that we donated.
The Primary School Education Adviser, Mr Msukwa, with Levison Mlambya, Director of The William Stewart Foundation.
Changing Lives Malawi donated soap to Chambo Primary School.
https://videopress.com/v/3WrLMnLL?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
A very happy day at Chambo Primary School.
https://videopress.com/v/Mm1xv1F6?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Washing hands is so important in helping keep the children healthy.
The first 17 boxes of books that were gifted to Chambo Primary as part of our School Literacy Project. They have received a few more boxes since then and we have since started donating books to other primary schools.

A recap of 2023 in pictures

Please read about our successes and challenges and look at all the great photos of the children we help to support.

Sarah’s blog 31/12/23

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in 2023. As I always say, it’s teamwork. We couldn’t do what we do without our generous supporters. Much has happened in 2023 and we need you even more in 2024 and need to reach more supporters to ensure that the hundreds of vulnerable children we support continue to have brighter and better futures.

Here are just some of the success stories of 2023, thanks to teamwork;

  1. 75 preschool children continue to meet five times a week at nursery and are fed at each session. They each receive a bag containing; a blanket, two red t-shirts, three pairs of pants, toothbrush & toothpaste and soap. They are now also receiving two picture books as part of our School Literacy Programme. This will ensure that all homes have at least two books and that children have daily opportunities for reading and becoming confident readers.
  2. Bright Futures Secondary School opened in November 2022 with two classrooms. Classrooms 3 and 4 were constructed and ready for term starting in September 2023 thanks to fundraising and donations. Education is free to students and they receive a free school meal each day, the only meal for many of these teenagers as they don’t have food at home.
  3. A grant was received for a teachers’ accommodation block for four teachers has been built. Once plastering and painting have been done, will be ready in mid January.
  4. Two plots of land, adjacent to the current land, have been purchased. One for the teachers’ accommodation and one for future building.
  5. Over 100 more fruit tree saplings have been purchased are will be planted by young people during the next couple of weeks. Other projects promoting self-sufficiency and sustainability are being put in place too.
  6. Solar panels were bought with grant to provide electricity to the library and the classrooms and teachers’ accommodation.
  7. Clothes, shoes and books continue to be sent to provide for the hundreds of vulnerable children we help to support. This helps to reuse preloved items to gift to those who cannot afford clothes because of the dire poverty they live in.
  8. Thanks to our supporters, we sent lots of sports kit, paid for and facilitated a two week rugby festival for the local schools led by the Malawi Rugby Union sports development coach, Jack Mphande.
  9. Chambo Primary School had no clean water for drinking or washing hands. They had no toilets. Only one of their eight classrooms had desks and chairs. Thanks to two grants we applied for, they now have a girls’ latrine block, clean water for drinking and washing hands and desks and chairs for another two classrooms. We also donated exercise books and pencils and stationery for the teachers. To date, we have donated twenty boxes of books as part of our School Literacy Project. Bit by bit, life is improving for the most vulnerable children.
  10. We continue to send money for The Feeding Programme. No charities are feeding children in schools in the rural far north of Malawi. Children are being taught to grow crops which are then used to feed them at the feeding programme.

As you can see, there has been a great deal happening and much success. We are so grateful that we have been supported to achieve the above for the children and their community. 

However, the Feeding Programme has got to be our biggest ongoing challenge as, despite having asked for help from several big charities with feeding, none are helping us. Most children are suffering from malnutrition as they do not have enough to eat, the situation is getting worse. We can only afford to send money to feed 500 children once a week. Even this is getting harder as food prices continue to rise and food is scarcer. Children are walking up to 20km for this one nutritious meal of the week which includes vegetables grown by the children. We need your help to feed these children as families are really struggling. If you could commit £5 or £10 per month, it would make a huge difference to us and to them contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com or https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a

Advent Calendar – highlighting projects & children – days 21 & 22

Clean water & quality education are being highlighted today. Please read today’s blog about some of our important projects that are having an impact.

Sarah’s blog 22/12/23

Clean water and quality education are the highlights on 21st & 22nd of December. Thankfully, all the children using the Foundation have access to clean drinking water, handwashing facilities, proper showers and latrines. We have just facilitated girls’ latrines and clean drinking water at Chambo Primary School. Much still needs to be done in the community though as, when all the hundreds of vulnerable children return to their homes, they are drinking river water and have no toileting facilities and no soap.

The School Literacy Project is making a big difference to the education of hundreds, if not thousands, of vulnerable children. Primary schools in rural northern Malawi have hardly any resources. Thanks to our supporters, we have been sending boxes of preloved books (and many new books too) and gifted them to primary schools local to the foundation that we support. Initially, 17 boxes of books were donated to Chambo Primary School and other primary schools have benefitted to. It costs £17.50 to send a box of books on the container and we would love it if you would help by paying for a box of books to be transported. It is a fairly low cost project having a big impact on literacy, ensuring children become more confident readers.

We have included the 75 nursery children too. We want all pre-school children to have at least two books of their own to keep in their homes. All of these children have missed out on the stages of pre-literacy, sitting on an adult’s knee as a baby looking at the pictures in a book and hearing a story. Then as a toddler, knowing that the story would continue if you turned the page and being able to point to things in the pictures. One of the next stages of pre-literacy is pretending to read the story whilst moving a finger along the words.

The orphans and other vulnerable children have missed out on all of these stages. We are excited to see if the exam results will rise over the next few years in primary schools that have received gifts of boxes of books. Will you please make a donate this Christmas to ensure we can reach more children with the gift of books and quality education? https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Hope you enjoy the photos and the advent calendar video that I’ve attached. Thanks everyone, Sarah x

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

In the news!

Good news from here and Malawi!

Sarah’s blog 21/08/23

It’s been an extremely busy week here and in Malawi with lots of good news.

I had been contacted by my MSP, Evelyn Tweed, asking to meet with me. So we met at Doyles Cafe in Balfron last Tuesday. I was able to tell her all about the great things that are happening in Malawi and also ask her advice. She was very supportive of me and the charity and has suggested a few ways she can offer some help. https://twitter.com/EvelynTweedSNP/status/1693563601213378648?s=20

Jackie and I had a very busy Saturday at ‘The Balfron Bash’. We had a stall with info about the charity, lovely home baking for sale and a tombola. We made £263 on Saturday…so thank you to everyone who supported us and came to say ‘hello’. Big thanks to Ewan and Stuart for their help with the gazebo and to Jackie for organising the tombola.

David, one of our trustees, took the last lot of boxes to Dundee today. The Bananabox warehouse is full and they will order a container for the first weekend in September so, hopefully, those boxes might be there by Christmas (or early January).

Chambo Primary School had their clean water taps connected yesterday. We had received a grant from The Kitchen Table Charities Trust and part of the grant was to use the clean water supply at Chambo Health Centre and run a pipe to Chambo Primary School. They now have three taps and clean water to drink and wash their hands. We are so pleased to have been able to play a small part in helping to improve lives for so many children. Chambo Primary has clean water!

The national press in Malawi have picked up on the story that, although Bright Futures Secondary School only opened in November, 100% of the second year students who sat their national exams all passed!! Such good news for them, the school and the teachers. Malawi24 – School for needy students in Chitipa appeals for… | Facebook Bright Future scores 100 percent JCE pass rate – The Malawi Guardian

We are still fundraising for phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School to ensure there are enough classrooms for the next intake of students. We also need to raise funds for text books as, currently for s3, there is only one set of books for the teacher. Any help that you can give will be so appreciated https://gofund.me/ece5753a Thank you so much for all the support everyone, Sarah x

Me with my MSP, Evelyn Tweed at Doyle’s Cafe in Balfron
The builders are working hard to ensure the new intake of students have a classroom next month
Some of the students from Bright Futures Secondary School. They get a free lunch each day at school but, as it’s school holidays, they came to collect food parcels instead

Chambo Primary has clean water!

Thanks to The Kitchen Table Charities Trust, Chambo Primary School now have a clean water supply.

Sarah’s blog 20/08/23

Another great news story!

Months ago we applied to The Kitchen Tables Charities Trust on behalf of Chambo Primary School. The criteria for their grant was to help primary schools and, as most of the younger children we help to support attend Chambo Primary, we decided to try to help them.

There are 8 classes at the school and only one classroom has desks and benches. There are no latrines and no clean running water for the students to drink or wash their hands. Chambo Health Centre is a short distance away and we paid for a survey to be done to ensure it was viable to tap into the Health Centre’s water supply and pipe it to the primary school.

We were awarded a £6,000 grant to be split between clean water and supplying desks and benches for another couple of classrooms. The water project is almost complete…just the concrete bases to put round the three taps at the primary school. It was such hard work digging the ditch from the Health Centre to the school. It is the dry season now so the ground is hard. They had to wet the ground to make it a bit easier to dig. Some of the young people wanted to help, as you can see from the photos, and also some of the apprentices were paid to help with digging the ditch.

We feel very humbled to have been able to help in this small way. All we did was fill in the grant application and the hard work has been carried out in Malawi. Thank you so much to The Kitchen Table Charities Trust for entrusting us to carry out the work to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi. They may not have anyone feeding them in school yet, but having clean water to drink and wash their hands is a great start in changing their lives for the better.

Enjoy these photos and videos – I’m sure there will be more to come once the children start back to school on 11th September. Now the clean water project has been completed, Levison will engage carpenters to make the desks and benches with the remaining grant money. The plan is that the apprentices will be allowed to help the carpenters with some of the easier tasks.

Gracious Nyondo, who is in p8, is the boy in the video who is thanking the donors for bringing clean water. Mr Enock Nyondo is the headteacher. As well as thanking the donors he says that they used to have to draw water from a well or the river and is delighted that they no longer have to do this and that the children have clean water to drink.

Things we take for granted make a HUGE difference. We are so happy to see that things are changing, bit by bit, for the most vulnerable children. They deserve so much more. Thanks for reading and supporting us, Sarah x

Levison (blue Maple Leafs t-shirt) discussing the height for the taps with the plumbers
Gracious Nyondo, in p8, thanks us and the donors for the clean water at Chambo Primary
Enock Nyondo, Headteacher at Chambo Primary is thankful for clean water at the school
Enjoying clean running water