Tag: food

And then there were ten…

10 vulnerable students are needing sponsors to help with their secondary education. Will you help? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Sarah’s blog 6/7/24

10 students needing sponsors with 9 weeks until the new term!

I’d like to start by saying THANK YOU to the lovely people who answered the call for help for new sponsors. I was set the challenge of finding sponsors for 18 young people who have just left primary school. Now there are 10 to find sponsors for and we are very grateful that eight have now been matched with sponsors to support their education.

In Malawi, secondary education needs to be paid for. None of the young people we help to support would be able to have a secondary education if they don’t have a sponsor to help with the cost of their place at secondary school. Bright Futures Secondary School was built for these students who had no hope of a brighter future….but, with your help, they now can see a way out of the extreme poverty they are living in.

One of the biggest daily costs at Bright Futures Secondary School is food. These young people do not eat a proper meal at home each day. They receive a nutritious, filling lunch each day they are at school. This is their only meal of the day and saves their families having to feed them. So it is vital that they are all fed at school. Apart from their free lunches, they receive free education, free uniform and shoes, stationery and water bottles.

It costs £25 per month to sponsor a young person. You can be a sponsor as an individual or a family or you could share the cost of being a sponsor with your friends or club. Anyone can help and it’s less than £1 per day. That might not seem a lot to us, but it is probably one of the most important things you can do for one of these young people….the gift of education. Please do get in touch if you think you can help or you’d like more information. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for reading and supporting us to help these vulnerable young people, Sarah x

Sponsors needed for p8 students
This was my original post asking for help to support the education of these vulnerable young people

https://donorsee.com/project/24114?share=1 Here is a link to donate to provide vegetable seeds and sweet potato vines to support the agricultural classes at Bright Futures Secondary School. Brian, an S2 student, is saying how much he enjoys agricultural classes and asks for continued support. Growing their own vegetables to supplement their school lunches is something for them to be proud of!

Missing Crops

Crops for use in the feeding programme have been stolen.

Sarah’s blog 4/7/24

Just a short blog today. The mood is low and people are worried.

Life is tough in Malawi when you are living in poverty. I don’t think we will ever realise how difficult it is and totally soul destroying at times. Maize and groundnuts crops had been planted and were being tended. Unfortunately, when the crops were checked today… a large amount of the crops have been stolen.

I can’t imagine depending on food that you have spent hours trying to grow…suddenly it’s not there any more. Someone else took your food. Someone took the food meant for malnourished orphans.

This is terrible news regarding feeding the children and the backbreaking work that has gone into clearing the land, planting and weeding the maize and groundnuts. And how desperate life must be if people are stealing other people’s crops meant to be helping feed hundreds of orphans.

If you can help us continue feeding 500+ vulnerable children once a week, 70+ nursery children 6 times a week and students at BFSS 5 times a week then please donate a little something to the link below. They need to be fed while we set up sustainable feeding projects for the future.

Please help. Together we can ensure that the Feeding Programme can continue. Thank you, Sarah x

https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1 to donate to the feeding programme.

https://donorsee.com/project/23502?share=1 to donate to feed the nursery children.

https://donorsee.com/project/23627?share=1 to buy fruit tree saplings.

Sustainable Projects

Sustainability and Self-sufficiency are the end goals. Please read today’s blog about how we are trying to help achieve this.

Sarah’s blog 3/7/24

Every day I want to wave a magic wand to do progress all our projects asap. Clearly that doesn’t work and my magic wand has been sent for repair!

One big issue that we have is that no big charities are feeding malnourished children in primary schools that far north. We cannot ignore this issue. We are feeding 500 of the most vulnerable children once a week. They have a substantial, nutritious meal. Some of them are walking 15km-20km for this food. It’s not good enough but all we can afford. We need your help and support with this please as costs keep rising.

We are trying to help set up sustainable projects for a better future for all of them. By planting fruit tree saplings, they will have future food and a sustainable income – being able to sell surplus fruit at the local markets. The same is happening with a chicken project and a pig project – providing future food and income. There are other small projects that will be set up providing jobs, income and food for families. The community needs and wants a hand up not a handout.

We have started using a fundraising site called DonorSee. We have a page on there with several projects posted. The idea is that the more people who donate to your projects, the more visible the projects are to other potential donors. We are conscious that we are asking a lot of our supporters, so this is one way of trying to find new supporters. The majority of the people on DonorSee are in USA.

What I would be really grateful if you could do please… is I need 15 people to each donate £5 (or $5) just a small amount. Login or make an account on DonorSee and just give a small amount and we will move further up the page that others will see our projects….we’ve already received over £1,000 and fully funded 4 projects. Please? It’s always about teamwork and we need you on our team.

https://donorsee.com/project/23894?share=1 is the link to the Pig Project.

https://donorsee.com/project/23627?share=1 is the link to donate to our Fruit Tree Sapling Project.

https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1 is the link to help feed the vulnerable children each week.

Thank you for all the support we receive, Sarah x

Brighton Ng’ambi, then and now

For less than £1 per day…you could change a child’s life. Brighton’s sponsor has…will you give a brighter future to a child or young person today?

Sarah’s blog 29/06/24

I just wanted to show you the difference that having a sponsor makes. Brighton Ng’ambi was traumatised and malnurished when I first wrote about him. He was covered in lice and one of the women volunteers gently helped him shower and get clean. He was then given clothes and fed. However, it was just too much for him to be with the other children so Levison sat quietly with him in the library while he ate his food.

I appealed for a sponsor and, thankfully, a kind lady came forward and has been sponsoring him for two years. He has had a monthly food parcel to take home to his extended family that he lives with. He also comes to the weekly feeding programme. Life is still hard for Brighton and he is still hungry but he has hope. His smile has returned and what a lovely smile it is. He has a brighter future thanks to his sponsor and the team in Malawi.

Please read his story that I wrote two years ago and look at the photos then and now. If you think you could help make a young person’s life better then please do get in touch. There are many more like Brighton who need our help. It’s only £25 p/m to sponsor a child or young person….that’s less than £1 per day. You can sponsor as an individual or why not share the cost with a friend? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Together we can change lives but we need you on our team! Please help a child like Brighton.

https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1 This is the link to our fundraiser to help feed 500 vulnerable children once a week at the feeding programme. Please make a small donation if you can and spread the word. Thank you for reading and supporting us to continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi, Sarah x

A little boy in need of your help – Brighton Ng’ambi

Happy Children at Chambo Primary

Thank you to everyone who donated to help provide stationery for approximately 150 vulnerable students at Chambo Primary School

Sarah’s blog 24/6/24

We are trying out a fundraising site called DonorSee where we are putting small projects that we wouldn’t usually be able to fund without support. Today’s blog is about one of those projects.

Levison had done a video appeal for notebooks and pencils for the students at Chambo Primary School. These are some of the most vulnerable children in Malawi, many are orphans, and their families struggle to feed them. There are no feeding programmes in primary schools in the far north….we can only afford to feed 500 of them once a week. Some children walk 15km or 20km for that one proper meal of the week. So there is certainly no spare money for families to buy notebooks. Children just go without.

So we put Levison’s appeal on DonorSee and there were some lovely people who saw the video and donated money. We are very grateful. Once the money was sent, Levison organised notebooks and pencils to be bought. There are three classrooms out of eight which have desks. These students were each given a notebook and pencil. They still have another month before school stops for summer holidays. There are enough notebooks and pencils left for them to have the same again in September. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed.

The three classes were brought outside when Levison visited Chambo Primary this morning. I’m sure they wondered what was going on. You can see how happy they were to get these gifts. One student told Levison ‘I don’t know how life would have been without the support we are being given.’ Levison said, apart from the obvious benefits to their education with being given stationery, it is showing these orphans and other vulnerable children that people care about them.

Here is the link to our DonorSee page DonorSee – if you can give a little donation it would be very much appreciated – there are a few different projects for you to see. Many thanks again. With help, good things are happening, Sarah x

Happy students at Chambo Primary School with their gifts
The students are thanking the donors of their exercise books and pencils
Approximately 150 students from 3 classes received stationery today
Lots of happy students
Most of these children are suffering from malnutrition and are some of the most vulnerable in Malawi. No big charities feed children in primary schools this far north so all are hungry.

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.

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.

Food parcels – June 24

Some of the sponsored children and young people receiving this month’s food parcels. Thank you so much to their sponsors for supporting them.

Sarah’s blog 21/06/24

It can be difficult to source enough maize for so many children so it can be time consuming getting everything together for the sponsored children. Plus, they have to receive their parcels at a time when there aren’t other children around.

So here are photos of 20 of the sponsored children. These children and young people are still at primary school. Once a sponsored young person goes to Bright Futures Secondary School, they stop receiving their monthly food parcel because they have a nutritious cooked school lunch each day instead.

This month the sponsored children & young people have been given maize, cooking oil and two bars of soap. Thank you so much to their sponsors for really making a difference to their lives and giving them hope of a better and brighter future.

Here is the link to the young people who are waiting for a sponsor so that they will be able to have a secondary education at Bright Futures Secondary School. https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2024/06/14/12-weeks-to-find-sponsors-for-14-vunerable-students/

There is no free secondary education in Malawi. None of the children we support can afford to pay. At BFSS the biggest cost is feeding the students each day which is why they need sponsors. They must receive a good school lunch every day as that is the only food most of the students will eat. It is vital for their wellbeing and education as there is no point trying to educate students who are too weak to study and cannot concentrate.

Thank you again to everyone who cares about these children and young people. Each sponsored child/young person has their own page on our website which we update with their photos and any writing they do. It only costs £25 per month to be a sponsor. Having a sponsor is probably the best gift anyone can give them, Sarah x

BFSS S2 Essay Competition – June 24

BFSS S2 essays & photos June 24 – could you sponsor a student to have the opportunity of a secondary education please?

Sarah’s blog 19/6/24

Here are essays and photos from the S2 class at Bright Futures Secondary School. They are feeling very relieved to have just finished their national exams. The students will, hopefully, gain their Junior Certificate of Education, and then proceed to S3 in September. As you will see, many of them are older than usual…the older they are the more poverty they live in. They have missed years of school to work for a pittance and are now valuing being given the opportunity to catch up on their education.

Class sizes at Bright Futures Secondary School will always be smaller than average class sizes in Malawi but, as you can see, there is plenty of space at Bright Futures Secondary School for more students. The biggest cost we face is feeding the students a nutritious, substantial school lunch every day. For most students, this is their only meal each day….so free school lunches are vital for their health & wellbeing, concentration and motivation.

If you’d like to help us get more vulnerable students into secondary education next year at Bright Futures Secondary School, then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Secondary education is not free in Malawi and none of these students would be at school without support.

https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2024/06/14/12-weeks-to-find-sponsors-for-14-vunerable-students/ Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for helping to change the life of the young person you support and for giving them a brighter future, Sarah x

The Feeding Programme

https://donorsee.com/changinglivesmalawi Please do have a look at our projects by following this link to DonorSee and donate if you can. Every little helps as the saying goes!

Sarah’s blog 16/06/24

What are you having to eat today? Have you eaten already? Will you eat tomorrow? Will your children have lunch at school tomorrow and for the rest of the week? Yes, prices have gone up here but the vast majority of us won’t ever know what it’s like to go to bed hungry, wake up hungry, go to school hungry and so on.

In rural northern Malawi there are thousands of orphans and other vulnerable children who are really struggling to find food and are malnourished. Unfortunately, there are no big charities working in that area yet. So all children are hungry. No children have lunch at primary school.

While we try and support the community to self-sufficiency and sustainability, we can only afford to feed 500 of the most vulnerable children once a week at the feeding programme. THIS IS THEIR ONLY BIG MEAL OF THE WEEK. THIS IS THE MOST NUTRITIOUS MEAL THEY HAVE. Once a week is not enough but all we can afford. Teachers have noticed these children have started concentrating a bit better at school from just this one meal a week. Imagine they had five or more meals a week. Some children are walking up to 15km or 20km as they are so hungry and desperate to be fed.

So here are some photos and videos from today’s feeding programme. Thankfully, it’s no longer the rainy season. These children have a tough life. They love coming to the feeding programme. As well as being fed, it’s a safe place for them to meet with their friends and chat and play.

We really do need your help to support to keep feeding these children. We have planted fruit tree saplings and will be planting more, and are helping to set up some sustainable sources of income but these children need our help and we cannot ignore their immediate needs. https://donorsee.com/changinglivesmalawi This is the link to our fundraising page on DonorSee. Please do have a look at the projects and donate if you can. As the saying goes, every little helps! Thanks so much, Sarah x

https://videopress.com/v/RDUfTdGS?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
children are fed in age groups, starting with the youngest

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

BFSS Essay Competition – June – S1

Essays from students in S1 at Bright Futures Secondary School about what they like about their school.

Sarah’s blog 13/6/24

One of the teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School supported the S1 students to write their first essays for us. As these young people aren’t used to writing essays like this, the teacher has helped them with the structure.

I think that, for the first time they have written essays, they’ve done a really good job. They give good insights into what sports are played, what subjects are enjoyed and how important it is for them to have free education and free school lunches.

I hope you enjoy reading these essays….I wonder which one will be the winner with a small cash prize? Thank you to all the sponsors of these young people. If you’d like to sponsor one of the young people who want to join next year’s S1, then please do get in touch. Thanks, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2024/05/23/sponsors-needed-for-p8-students/

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