Thank you so much to everyone who has bought our fundraising cards. Oakwood Garden Centre have sold 94 packs! Amazing thank you!
Sarah’s blog 11/4/24
I thought I would do a little update on my mum’s beautiful cards that are copies from her original paintings. My mum, Christine Cresswell, who is one of our trustees, only took up painting a few years ago. She has real talent and found it helped her to paint during lockdown. Mum has given her time and talents to our charity and sells her paintings with all proceeds going to the projects we support in Malawi. She had the cards printed, so all proceeds from those goes to the charity too.
Thanks to everyone who has bought cards and thank you to members of Strathblane Kirk and Strathblane Guild for their support. Also thank you to Torrance Parish Church for having the cards in their foyer for sale, we really appreciate your help.
I also want to thank Oakwood Garden Centre, Killearn. They very kindly agreed to stock our fundraising cards and have sold 94 packs of cards which is amazing. Many thanks to Oakwood Garden Centre and all the customers who have supported our charity by buying cards.
Below is a small selection of paintings and cards. I will do a separate post about mum’s paintings soon. The packs of cards are in 8 of same type that are blank inside for your own message, priced at £5 per pack they make a great gift or are handy to have at home. Thanks again and thanks mum, Sarah x
Just a quick blog tonight as I have been busy doing a grant application. Our four firewalkers were absolutely fabulous and great sports. We are so grateful that they all stepped up to the challenge and stepped out of their comfort zone to raise much needed funds.
They’ve done brilliantly – thanks to everyone who has donated so far. However, if you’ve not donated yet, please could you? We would love both teams to get to £1,000 and they aren’t far off!
You can access photos, videos and links to their fundraisers by clicking on their stories.
Thanks again to Allander Rotary for organising this event and supporting our charity and to Milngavie Guides for hosting the event. Of course the biggest thank you goes to Joanne, Alison, Alistair and David for walking over hot coals for charity. Thanks, Sarah x
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.
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.’
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
I’ve thought a lot about writing this and whether I should or not. Writing blogs has taken me out of my comfort zone as I always want the focus to be on what is happening in Malawi or fundraising here, not about me. However, here are a few thoughts I’d like to share with you.
As a charity, Changing Lives Malawi is growing well and, thanks to our supporters, is continuing to make a big difference to hundreds of the most vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi. A few things do need to change in order for us to continue to grow;
I need some more help as my caring responsibilities have grown over the last few months and I must continue to prioritise my family.
As we grow, there is more to do. I have several large grant applications to do over the next few weeks and these will take time.
We need to continue fundraising and this doesn’t all have to involve me. What I would find really helpful is if supporters could do some little (or bigger) fundraising for Changing Lives Malawi within their own communities. This shares some of the hard work but also lets a new group of people know about our charity. Hopefully, as 100% of donations go towards the projects we support, they will be happy to support us too. You could have a table top sale, a bake stall, an afternoon tea or a car wash…or could you do a sponsored event like the Kiltwalk or a half marathon?
Share our posts please. Or write a post of your own about our charity. Again, a new group of people will see this post and that you have given us your seal of approval!
Invite me to speak at your club, church, event. I love doing this and one of my favourite things is talking about the projects that we support in Malawi. After that, hopefully, that will have made a new connection and that community can become a supporter of Changing Lives Malawi.
Feeding hundreds of hungry children continues to be a big concern as there are no big charities feeding them in schools in the far north of Malawi. Most are malnourished. All are hungry. If you could spare £5 per month to support the feeding programme then that would make a big difference. 100 people committing £5 per month would be £500 extra to spend on feeding children and putting into place sustainable projects that will help people be self-sufficient eg planting an orchard of fruit tree saplings at each primary school in the local area.
Young people’s education is also a priority. Bright Futures Secondary School is only half full currently. We need to match more vulnerable young people with sponsors so that they can go to secondary school. Education is their way out of extreme poverty. It’s only £25 per month to sponsor a young person. They receive school uniform, stationery, a nutritious cooked school lunch (their only proper meal of the day) each day and, of course, free education.
I remain 100% committed to Changing Lives Malawi – it is what I am supposed to be doing and I love it. I love being a small part of a big team. Every one of us has different skills and talents and we all can make a difference. Changing Lives Malawi is nearly 5 years old and I am so thankful of all the support we continue to receive.
Thank you for reading today’s blog and for understanding and supporting our small charity which is making a big difference. Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
The first day of Easter Study School – some of the students are enjoying a break to have their lunch and chat with their friends.
Sarah’s blog 02/04/24
Schools in Malawi have two weeks of Easter holidays like they do here in Scotland. However, as some of the teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School were staying on campus rather than travelling home for the holidays, they were happy to run a holiday study school for four days this week and four days next week.
We enabled this to happen last year too and it was a great success and we provided a cooked lunch for the students and teachers from p8 at Chambo primary too. Primary 8 students have national exams to take on leaving primary school. If they don’t pass then they don’t get chance to go to secondary school. Even if they do pass, unless they have a sponsor to pay for their secondary education then they still don’t get to have a secondary education. Sponsoring a young person only costs £25 per month and they get a cooked lunch each day at school, uniform and the stationery they need. If you could make a difference to a young person and become a sponsor then please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
S2 students also have national exams and this study school will really help them. S3 students asked if they could take part too. So a full timetable has been worked out to accommodate S2 and S3 students to ensure they make best use of time and teachers available. We are really grateful to the teachers for their enthusiasm and hard work and dedication to the young people.
There are no big charities feeding children in primary schools in the far north. Most are malnourished and all are hungry. Most don’t get a proper meal each day. So we are ensuring all the Chambo p8 students (approx 70 of them) and the Bright Futures Secondary School students all get a cooked school lunch each lunchtime during these two weeks. All students and BFSS get a cooked school lunch every day. How can we expect young people to study when they are hungry, tired and unable to concentrate?
So, as you can see from these photos, some of the students were happily chatting with their friends at lunchtime and enjoying their lunch. It’s small things like this that make a big difference to them. Whilst BFSS students all have the exercise books and stationery they need, the last time we gave the students at Chambo Primary exercise books and pencils was in January….they need more otherwise they are just listening to their teachers and not able to write anything down.
Can you help us provide lunch, exercise books and pencils for 70 students in p8 at Chambo Primary please? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and supporting us to support the students, Sarah x
We are grateful to everyone who has supported us to provide clean drinking water, water for washing hands and showering and latrines for hundreds of children.
Sarah’s blog 22/3/24
On World Water Day we just want to thank all of our supporters who have helped bring water to all the vulnerable children and young people we help to support.
We still have lots to do but, thanks to our supporters and grants we have received, children at Bright Futures Nursery, Chambo Primary School, Bright Futures Secondary School and of course the 500 children who come for a meal at the feeding programme each week, all have clean drinking water.
We would like to thank again The Kitchen Table Charities Trust for their funding to enable us to facilitate using the clean water supply at Chambo Health Centre to lay pipes and provide taps for drinking clean water at Chambo Primary School. By letting us ‘think outside the box’ we made best use of their grant. Thank you to those people who have done sponsored events to raise funds and to others who have made personal donations or shared our posts. You have all made a difference.
As well as clean water to drink, it’s also important that there is clean water & soap for washing hands, proper latrines and there is the shower block where all the young people and staff are able to wash. Thank you all for making this possible, Sarah x
Each sponsored child/young person has their own page on our website. Sponsors can visit that page to see photos and information on the young person they sponsor. We need more sponsors for the next intake of S1 students to Bright Futures Secondary School. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Sarah’s blog 15/3/24
We are so grateful for the monthly contribution that all our sponsors make for the most vulnerable children and young people they help to support.
We are trying to ensure that all sponsored children and young people are more visible. Last year was such a successful but extremely busy year with so much building work going on in Malawi that we didn’t get as many photos as we would have liked. However, we are rectifying that now. Each sponsored young person has their own page on our website. There will be a new photo/information posted at least every three months but, hopefully, more regularly than that on their pages. Sponsors will be able to visit their young person’s page for the most up to date photos/information and it is also a good way to look back at previous photos to see the positive difference your sponsorship is making.
Sponsorship for the young people who are at Bright Futures Secondary School gives them free secondary school education. Without sponsorship, their education would stop after primary school as, in Malawi, secondary education has to be paid for. As well as free education, the students receive a cooked school lunch each day. For most, this is their only proper meal of the day. They also have school uniform, stationery and other school supplies all for free.
For those children and young people not at secondary school, they receive a monthly food parcel that supplements the food already coming into their home. They also receive clothes, shoes, soap etc when available. All children and young people receive regular welfare checks.
There are students in their last year at Chambo Primary School who won’t be able to progress to secondary education without your help and support. Bright Futures Secondary School is only half full currently, however we need more sponsors to be able to help the next S1 intake into Bright Futures Secondary School. Will you help a vulnerable young person please? It’s only £25 per month and you can split that cost with a friend. Please help us to ensure the places in Bright Futures Secondary School are filled so that the most vulnerable students know that they have chances and choices that they wouldn’t previously have had. With your help we can ensure young people have a brighter future for themselves and their families. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
There are a few young people who aren’t in these photos but we hope to have photos of them over the next few days. Thank you everyone who supports these young people. It’s always teamwork and we are grateful that you are part of our team. Sarah x
Today the team fed hundreds of hungry children. Most are orphans. All are very vulnerable and suffering from malnutrition.
No big charities are feeding children in primary schools in rural northern Malawi. Most of these children do not eat properly every day. They go to bed hungry. They go to school hungry. They are tired. They cannot concentrate.
We are a small charity, run by passionate volunteers. We can only afford to feed 500 children a nutritious meal once a week. Some walk from as far as 15km-20km to receive their one proper meal of the week. Life isn’t fair. We need to do more. But we need to build our team as we cannot do everything by ourselves.
If you can commit £5 or £10 per month to support the feeding programme then please set up a monthly payment with these bank details: Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, Sort Code 80-22-60, Account Number 21081462 or we would be grateful for single donations too in order that we can keep feeding the children each week as prices are constantly rising and maize is very scarce. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
You will notice that I have zoomed in on one of the photos as a girl has a baby on her back…her younger sibling. Lots of children and young people carry babies to the feeding programme. This baby refused food as he is sick and we hope that the parents have enough money to take the baby to the health centre. As it is the rainy season, malaria is very common from the huge amount of mosquitos.
I’ve struggled to write this tonight as it’s Mothers’ Day here in the UK and I’ve had breakfast, been out for lunch and had a lovely dinner cooked for me and had gifts from my three boys.
The contrast between our lives here and children receiving one proper meal per week is stark. It’s not enough. We must do more. But we need your help. I’ve borrowed some words from others which I thought would help get my message across. Please help if you can, Sarah x
‘Hunger is not an issue of charity, it is an issue of justice.’
Jacques Diouf (former Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation)
‘If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one.’
Mother Theresa
‘Hunger is an outrage in a world of plenty.’
Antonio Guterres (Secretary-General of UN)
‘Poverty is a very complicated issue, but feeding a child isn’t.’
Jeff Bridges (Actor)
‘There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s needs but not for everyone’s greed.’
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Invest In Women: Accelerate Progress’.
‘There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.’
Michelle Obama
Thanks to our wonderful supporters, Changing Lives Malawi is making a difference to hundreds of orphans and other young people each day.
Because we believe in equality and inclusion, girls and women have needed more help and support due to the dire poverty they live in. The women and girls are strong; grandmothers caring for grandchildren, widows bringing up six children alone, mother’s caring for disabled children whilst being judged by society as it must be their fault that their child is disabled. When things are so bad, these brave women, who have been strong for so long, need a helping hand to get back on their feet. We try to get their children matched with sponsors so that their is some food going into that home to supplement the meagre amount they have.
The end goal is that all families will have enough to eat, all children will be thriving and in education and the community will be self-sufficient through employment and sustainable projects.
One of the first things that happened is that we sent hand turn sewing machines and fabric to Malawi. A group of girls were shown how to make reusable sanitary towels for all who needed them. This is an ongoing project. Hundreds of girls have and will continue to attend school ALL MONTH the same as the boys. Previously they had to stay at home for one week each month so missed out on a quarter of their education. So equal access to education is improving for girls.
Another way that girls are being helped is that, although illegal, some girls are still at risk of being married off too young, whilst still children, as their families cannot afford to feed them. By matching them with a sponsor, they have food coming into their home and have welfare checks and, of course, access to quality education.
All the young people are desperate for education. They know that this is their way out of poverty. We are ensuring that girls, as well as boys, who wouldn’t normally be able to go to secondary school, receive a quality secondary school education and a cooked school lunch each day. This is free of charge as we match them with sponsors whose monthly contribution of £25 helps pay for their place at Bright Futures Secondary School.
In September, there will be the next intake of S1 students to Bright Futures Secondary School from pupils who are in p8 at Chambo Primary. Very few families can afford to pay for their child’s secondary education at one of the state secondary schools, which is why it was so important that Bright Futures Secondary School was built. However, each of these young people will need to be matched with a sponsor to enable them to attend Bright Futures Secondary School.
If you would like to help a young girl, in her last year of primary school, have the opportunity to be the best she can possibly be by sponsoring her through secondary education then please do get in touch. It’s only £25 per month and the cost can also be split between two friends or a group. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com On International Women’s Day 2024, this might be the most important thing you ever do for one of these girls.
We have good, strong role models in female teachers and staff and, of course, this offers employment and makes women independent in their own right. Also, there are wonderful women who volunteer their time to support the work in Malawi and of course here in Scotland and internationally. I personally want to thank them. I have strong women supporting me everyday and I am grateful and want them to know how much I appreciate them.
So on this International Women’s Day, will you invest in a young woman and accelerate progress? Will you stand up for girls’ education?
‘Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.’
Maya Angelou
Thank you for your support and hope you enjoy the photos from Bright Futures Secondary School and nursery this morning. Happy International Women’s Day, Sarah x
Miss Chisenga is the humanities teacher at Bright Futures Secondary School.Miss Mkumbwa, Head Teacher and English Teacher.Group discussions outside. It’s good to see some sunshine after the heavy rains.Miss Chisenga, humanities teacher, Miss Mkumbwa, Head Teacher & English Teacher and Miss Siyame, nursery teacher. All are good role models for the vulnerable girls we help to support.Miss Siyame is the nursery teacher.The preschoolers (4-6) enjoy coming to nursery and are fed at each session.
Lawrence has won February’s S3 essay prize…. well done Lawrence
Sarah’s blog 7/3/24
The S3 students are becoming more confident at writing essays and their writing is giving some very good and useful insights into how hard life is for each of them, how important education is and what they like to do.
Lawrence was the winner of February’s essay prize. Just like so many young people all over the world, he likes listening to music and dreams of being a famous singer.
It has been an amazing achievement that we, as such a small charity, and all our dedicated supporters, have been able to build Bright Futures Secondary School and that the most vulnerable young people are benefitting from a good education that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford.
We have had to concentrate on the necessities like desks and chairs, textbooks and exercise books to start with. We still need to buy textbooks for the new s4 next year (Lawrence and his fellow students). We have provided some basic science equipment but much more is needed. We also need more books on a variety of topics for the library. However, we hope, in time, to be able to provide some art equipment and also some musical instruments to extend and enhance their learning, opportunities and overall school experience.
S4 text books are approximately £10 each. There are 12 subjects and we need at least 15 sets…so that is £1,800. For science we need some electric circuit kits, a molecular model kit for chemistry, some magnet sets, more safetly goggles, various chemicals etc. We’d like to provide pastels, drawing paper and other basic art materials as well as a CD player with a variety of CDs to listen to difference genres of music and eventually some musical instruments and recording equipment. If anyone would like to contribute then please do contact me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com It might be that, if you live local to us, your own children might have finished with their circuit sets or CD player etc. Providing things are in very good condition, we would love to repurpose them. Each box we send does cost £17.50 on the container so we do ask for a financial contribution to help towards costs.
I hope you enjoy reading Lawrence’s essay. Thank you for your continued support, Sarah x
Our charity and our brave firewalkers have made the local and national news!!
Sarah’s blog 4/3/24
Well, last week the story of our four amazing firewalkers appeared in our local paper, The Stirling Observer. This week it is in the national paper – The Daily Record. Thank you to both of these newspapers for running this story and raising awareness of our charity and the firewalking event organised by Allander Rotary. The firewalk is taking place in Milngavie on 24th March.
We are raising funds for a staffroom at Bright Futures Secondary School and to buy more textbooks. All of the money that my sister Joanne and her best friend Alison raise will go to our charity. Their link to donate is https://gofund.me/c127c5e9
Also, we have Mr Braid and Mr Blair, teachers from our local school – Balfron High School. Their fundraising is half for our charity and half for next year’s school trip volunteering in Zanzibar. Their fundraising link is https://gofund.me/9430b2af
Please show your support for these four brave volunteers as they raise much needed funds. Thank you for your support, Sarah x
David Braid and Alistair Blair
Alison Rennie and Joanne Byrne
Allander Rotary Club are organising this firewalk on 24th March in Milngavie
I wanted to share this photo with you. I wish I had a magic wand I could wave to make things better. This is the reality in rural northern Malawi for the team supporting over 500 orphans and other vulnerable children.
There are no ‘proper’ roads. In the rainy season, they turn to mud. There is no maize to buy….. the situation is serious…no big charities are feeding children in schools in the rural far north so most children are malnourished. We can only afford to feed 500 children once a week – of course it’s not enough – but we are trying to help set up sustainable projects for a better brighter future.
Levison heard about some maize for sale 40km away….. in the towns that would be quite straightforward….not in the rural far north ….. Levison sent this photo….stuck in the mud. It’s a labour of love looking after these children. It would be easy to say that they aren’t able to fetch maize with the road conditions….but the team care about these children so much. They are living in extreme poverty and they are going to bed hungry each night.
If you can spare £5 or £10 per month to commit to helping us with the feeding programme, it would be so appreciated. Rice is available but it is more expensive than maize. The situation is dire. The charity bank details are; Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, Account no 21081462, Sort Code 80-22-60. Or could you make a one off donation to help towards sustainable projects like buying fruit tree saplings or sweet potato vines or other vegetable seeds? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed today and feeling like a huge responsibility for feeding these children is on my shoulders. Life is such a struggle in that part of the world. Please help us build up a bigger team to feed and support hundreds of very hungry children living in extreme poverty. Thanks, Sarah x
Trying to fetch maize to feed the children. Maize is scarce and expensive and the team have had to travel 40km today…. ‘roads’ turn to mud in the rainy season…life is a constant struggle
