Tag: children

Rugby videos

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Sarah’s blog 6/4/22

We’ve paid to upgrade our website so that we now have fancy features like being able to show videos. David, one of our trustees, very kindly provides technical support so I have been trying out a few new things. So here are some videos from the recent rugby coaching camp led by Jack Mphande, Malawian International rugby coach. We were so lucky that Jack was able to spend some time with the children. Just look at all the fun they are having whilst they learn new skills playing a team game they’ve never even heard of previously. Obviously, a big thank you to Jack for coming to teach rugby in the far north, to Community Sports Leaders Africa for facilitating Jack’s travel north, Strathendrick RFC for providing rugby balls that we sent out and a huge thank you to our supporters who donated money to enable the rugby coaching to happen for so many children. Enjoy the videos, Sarah x

Having fun whilst on lunch break at rugby camp
Practicing whilst waiting for lunch

Each child deserves a chance

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Sarah’s blog 6/4/22

These amazing children need a helping hand to reach their potential. To be the best they can be. Isn’t that what we all want for our children? Each of these children suffers from malnutrition. They need more food, clothes, education. Can you be a helping hand for one of these children? It’s only £25 p/m to sponsor a child. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com please look at each photo and help a child today. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Some of the most vulnerable children

These are the most vulnerable children and most in need of a sponsor. Can you be a helping hand to one of these children?

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Sarah’s blog 5/4/22

I wanted to highlight some of the orphans and vulnerable children that Levison has taken photos of previously. He’s done this as they are some of the most vulnerable and most in need of a sponsor. It’s only £25 per month to sponsor a child and you can do that as an individual, a group or two friends. 85p per day will mean the world to these children.

I’ve highlighted each child with a coloured background because I think they deserve to be seen. They deserve to have the same chances our children have. They deserve to have food, clothes, education. They deserve to reach their potential. They deserve to have a helping hand. They deserve to know that someone cares.

Please…can you be a helping hand to one of these children? It might be one of the most important things you ever do. It might be one of the most rewarding things you ever do. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thank you for reading and I hope to hear from some of you and match you with a child. Sarah x

Care packages from sponsors

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Sarah’s blog 1/4/22

Sponsoring a child is probably one of the most important things anyone will ever do for them. They will know that someone they have never met cares about them enough to want a better life for them. Sponsor money provides food, education, clothes and shoes for these vulnerable children.

Some sponsors choose to also send gifts for their sponsored child. This isn’t a necessity at all but a choice over and above their sponsorship. Whenever any gifts are sent, Levison will also make sure that any siblings receive some clothes and soap at the same time so they aren’t left out. Here are a few more children who have received gifts recently. NB Amos is still waiting for a sponsor but his sister Roda’s sponsor kindly sent gifts for Roda, Amos and Manuel, their cousin who lives with them. Thank you so much to the sponsors for changing their lives. If you would like to sponsor a child, it’s only £25 per month so please get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x

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SHANARRI Wellbeing Indicators

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Sarah’s blog 26/03/22

Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included

These are used in Scotland as a simple way of checking on a child’s wellbeing. We are trying to ensure that the hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children supported by The Foundation in northern Malawi are all of the above. Levison and team are doing an amazing job and by taking an holistic approach the children’s self-confidence and self-esteem is growing. There is much more to do but little by little things are changing for the better.

While you look at these photos from the rugby training, please keep in mind the above eight words. It’s a good way of measuring how change is happening for these most vulnerable children. Some in these photos have been lucky enough to be matched with a sponsor…some would love a sponsor so they have a monthly food parcel and their secondary education paid for them. If you would like to sponsor a child to help them achieve their potential email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com it’s only £25 p/m to change a child’s life. Elizabeth, Fortune and Pemphero would love you to support them. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

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Video – Nursery Children ABC

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Sarah’s blog 15/3/22

Now that we have the added bonus of being able to play videos on our website, I thought it would be nice to see this little video again that was previously shown on facebook. Tables and chairs were sent on the last container and this is the children from the nursery in Emma’s Rainbow Library.

These children (ages 4-6) are sitting at tables for the first time and have been given books to look at. Compared to our children they have missed out on lots of stages of pre literacy; sitting on an adult’s knee as a baby whilst an adult reads a story, learning whilst a toddler to turn the pages of a book to continue the story, looking at all the pictures and talking about that with the adult or pointing to items in the pictures. Then children usually will follow the text with their index finger, even though they aren’t at the right word they know by that stage that words go left to right and that the words make up the story.

Hopefully, now there are books in the library the children will have lots of opportunities to look at books and have stories read to them. There are nursery bags on the container that is about to leave Dundee next week that will be given to each child who starts at The Foundation Nursery. These bags contain; a blanket, two red t-shirts, 2 pairs of pants, toothbrush & toothpaste, soap and a picture book. Each child will then have a book at their home and books and reading will become more of an everyday part of life. Enjoy the video, Sarah x

Asante & Madalitso playing recorders

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Sarah’s blog 9/3/22

I sent 5 recorders to The Foundation on the container….looks like Asante (red trousers) and Madalitso have found them! This is great playing as they’ve never seen a recorder before. Well done boys!

I’m quite pleased too….David (one of the trustees and the technical expert) upgraded the website….so this is the first time I’ve been able to post videos! I promise I’ll leave it a few days before there are any more videos of recorder playing! Thanks for reading, watching & listening, Sarah x

A Generous Donation

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Sarah’s blog 23/2/22

It’s been another busy day at Changing Lives Malawi HQ (our house) and the Logistics Manager (my ever helpful husband, Stuart) has been kept extremely busy and I’ve been busy helping him.

At 8.30am this morning we had a delivery of 22 large boxes of school uniform. Most of it is new. Very sadly, a school closed and all of this is their excess uniform. I saw a post on a fb charity site so made contact. The lady that has collected and sent all this uniform was determined that it wasn’t all going to go to landfill.

We are only about a third of the way through repacking it in stronger boxes but here are some photos of the lovely clothes and bags that will be on their way to Malawi very soon. There will be lots of very smartly dressed children who will be delighted to have the gift of brand new clothes. We will, of course, post lots of photos when things eventually arrive at The Foundation. Many thanks for your generosity. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

approximately 20 new backpacks are on their way to the children at The Foundation, jumpers, cardigans, trousers, shorts, pinafores, skorts, polo shirts, shorts, trousers and waterproofs (and that’s only the boxes we’ve opened so far….all clothes age 4 – 10 years)

Chisenga School Visit

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18/2/22

Exam fees needed to be paid by today and Angela’s school fees too now that she has a sponsor.

Levison visited the school and was able to take some supplies to the young people that had arrived on the container recently. They’ve had underwear, toothbrushes & toothpaste and other toiletries, some clothes and calculators.

All the young people are doing well and were pleased to receive their gifts and they look very smart in their school uniforms.

Levison managed to take some individual photos too, which I will post tomorrow, before the torrential rain started again. I’ve made a note of who had photos taken and will ensure that anyone who didn’t will get their photo taken next time.

Many thanks again to all the sponsors for giving these young people opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have had.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the photos, Sarah x

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Did you know…..?

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Sarah’s blog 15/12/21

I thought another few facts might be helpful as sometimes I forget that not everyone has seen all the posts from the past couple of years. If you ever want to know about anything in particular then please let me know and if I don’t know then I’ll try and find out for you.

  1. Approximately 800 orphans and other vulnerable young people are supported by The William Stewart Foundation in rural Northern Malawi.
  2. The age range is from age 4 to early 20s.
  3. There are no other big agencies feeding children in that area.
  4. Most children suffer from malnutrition and their one substantial, nutritious meal of the week is at the Foundation.
  5. At the moment we can only afford to run the feeding programme once a week.
  6. It costs approximately £100 to feed 500 children and young people.
  7. We fundraise for The William Stewart Foundation and raise awareness of the wonderful work going on to improve the lives of the most vulnerable.
  8. The cost of maize, cooking oil and so many other things have risen in Malawi recently.
  9. Changing Lives Malawi is a small group of 7 volunteer trustees, with a few others who help us, trying hard to change these children’s lives for the better.
  10. We have over 70 children and young people matched with sponsors now but there are many more waiting in desperate need. It only costs £25 per month to give a child the gift of secondary education and food.
  11. Nursery schools and secondary schools charge fees in Malawi and the majority only attend primary school.
  12. Dependant on exam results, there are 36 young people whom the Foundation supports and who now have sponsors, who will be going to secondary school in January. Before the Foundation, and sponsorship, young people didn’t go to secondary school. This is a huge achievement and is something to celebrate.
  13. Changing Lives Malawi sends money from a donation to The Foundation each month to help run the nursery for 50 children age 4-6. This meets 3 times a week and the children are given some food at each session.
  14. A clean water supply has been installed and a shower block thanks to fundraising and generous donations.
  15. We are looking for your help. Can you buy some e-cards or e-gifts? Providing a football will make a big difference as will fruit tree saplings to provide future food and income. Can you share our posts? Do you have a jar of coins or a drawer full of coins that you could donate to us please? As there are so many orphans, vulnerable young people and the elderly needing help and support, it does cost a lot to feed and support them until the Foundation becomes more self-sufficient. But we do not take any money for admin costs here…all the money you donate is used and the small team of volunteers cover the cost of petrol for taking boxes to the container, buying boxes and buying certain things to send.
  16. We are fully committed to the Foundation that the late William Stewart and Levison Mlambya founded. It is amazing what has been achieved in a few short years. So much has been done but there is so much more still to do to change the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Will you join us on this journey? Whether you have £5 to spare or £25 per month, we need you to help us please. It’s about being part of a team of helpers and we’d love you to help us Changing Lives Malawi. Thanks for reading, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Waiting for exam results

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Sarah’s blog 14/12/21

Four of our sponsored girls (Telinah, Jean, Milliam & Dinales) have all left school now and are busy helping at The Foundation until their exam results are announced in the new year. They can then decide if they want to stay and work at The Foundation, get a job elsewhere or if they want us to try to help them into further education.

36 sponsored young people will be heading to secondary school in January. This includes 22 who have just finished primary school. As long as they pass their exams, which should be out later this week, 22 will be starting first year, 12 young people will be going into second year and 2 into fourth year. This is a huge achievement for a village where it was just accepted that children and young people do not get the chance to go to secondary school. This is one of the many ways that sponsors are helping to change the lives of these young people. SPONSORING A CHILD gives the gift of education and gives these young people chances that they never thought were meant for them. Sponsoring a child is probably one of the most important things you will ever do. £25 per month can change the future for a young person. We still have lots of primary school leavers whom we haven’t found sponsors for yet, so if you can help as an individual, two friends, a family or a business then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

As soon as Levison hears exam results and that all our children have passed we have a big list of shopping to get. Uniforms, shoes, bedding, buckets for washing clothes, bags, plates, cups, towels, flip-flops, soap, exercise books and pens and the list goes on…… Usually, the school term starts in February but this time it’s January 3rd to catch up from schools being closed due to covid last year. So if you do have £25 to spare (or two friends with £12.50 each) could you give one of these children, who still don’t have sponsors, the gift of education? Thanks for reading, Sarah x

The Third Sunday in Advent

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Sarah’s blog 12/12/21

There’s been no rushing around for me shopping and meeting people this advent season. I am so grateful for the care and attention I received from all the NHS staff when I was in hospital recently, but it’s going to be a while before I’ll be back to normal…whatever normal is!

Advent season is about waiting and reflecting and the third Sunday is about love. Who do we love and care about? How do people know that we love and/or care about them? Hopefully, by our actions. Also by our kind words.

How do the hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children supported by The William Stewart Foundation know they are loved and cared about? by our actions. A new football means the world to them. A blanket for two children to share to help keep them warm at night. Reusable sanitary towels, pants and soap giving a teenage girl her dignity back and enabling her to attend school all month like her male peers. There are so many ways we can show these children that they are important and cared about.

So in this season of giving, we would be so grateful for an extra football, or a blanket, or soap for the children. Can you help feed them an extra meal or provide some fruit tree saplings. By your actions they will know they are loved and not forgotten. Thank you for reading and supporting us. You can donate through our website, or by contacting us contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com or through the link below. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

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

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