Tag: help

Getting ready for school

Sarah’s blog 26/7/22

As you know, we are trying our best to raise money to build the first block of a secondary school. Bright Futures Secondary School will be a community school for the orphans and other vulnerable young people to attend.

Education should be available for everyone. There are currently not enough places at local secondary schools. If you don’t get picked for a place, even if you have passed your primary leavers exams and can afford the school fees.

This is what happened to eleven of our sponsored young people this year. They are resitting their last year of primary school, hoping for better grades, hoping to be picked for a place.

As the local secondary school is a distance away the young people, who are sponsored and do get a place at school, have to board at school. This adds to costs and also means they aren’t available to help their families with chores.

A secondary school in the village would make such a difference to so many people. Education is their way out of dire poverty – their way to a better future for themselves and their families.

Bricks are being made…about 40,000 so far, and kilns are going to be built soon to fire the bricks.

There are people working hard in Malawi and here to try our best to help these vulnerable children. As well as education, a school will help prevent teenage pregnancies and girls being married off too soon. Already, The Foundation has proved that if the young people are kept busy and given opportunities then there will be far less teenage pregnancies. The young people’s self-esteem has increased as they learn new skills, play team sports with their peers and read in the library. They know people care about them. They have hope for a better future. We need to continue supporting the projects that support them. This is absolutely vital to protect these vulnerable young people.

Here, we are trying to raise funds and awareness. It’s really hard as we know that some people have less available cash. We need to reach a wider group of people and if we all give a little, that will add up to a lot!

Also, we are trying to source supplies to provide for the young people when the school is built. We need to plan ahead as the container takes approximately 3 months for its journey.

There are over 100 chairs at The Bananabox Trust warehouse that we are sending for the first phase of the school. Someone donated boxes of new laptop bags. We are sending 80 of these for the young people to use as school bags. Pencil cases and pens are in boxes too as well as some secondary school uniform.

Stuart, my husband, delivered some boxes and 72 rugby balls to Dundee today and took a photo of all the chairs to show Levison.

I also received a photo from one of our supporters today who put a shout out on her village Facebook page asking for preloved secondary school uniform. People have been very generous as she’s collected a great amount which will kit out some of the pupils who will attend Bright Futures Secondary School.

There’s still so much to do and so much money to raise but we WILL do this. The children are relying on us. So if you can spare a few £££ we would be so grateful. Thank you for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Donate here: https://GoFund.me/44a92444 or get in touch contact_us@changibglivesmalawi.com

The donations that Stuart took to Dundee today including 72 rugby balls from Annan rugby club and Merchiston Castle School. You can see that the warehouse is getting full.
The chairs that we are sending for Bright Futures Secondary School
We are grateful for this huge pile of secondary school uniform donations that we will send for the pupils when they start school

Jackie’s very wet adventure

Sarah’s blog 25/7/22

Jackie is one of the people who has embraced our kilometre challenge and has been doing lots of cycling. She is also keeping a note of the totals for me.

Jackie and family have been helping to move a boat through the locks on the Crinan Canal. There are 15 locks along the canal to move the boats from one level to the next. Jackie had her bike with her and was running and cycling between the locks adding to her total kilometres.

If you want more info on the canal here is a link: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/crinan/crinancanal/index.html

It is a beautiful place and I had said to Jackie last week that there would be lots of tourists watching them open and close the locks as the boat travelled through the different sections. There were no tourists! The rain could not have been any heavier and poor Jackie (and everyone else) got absolutely soaked. She is very brave for allowing me to post a photo of her looking a little bit wet and fed up! Well done Jackie and thank you for adding lots of kilometres to our total.

So I’m going to post a couple of photos to show you how beautiful the scenery is then Jackie’s photos and the route she was running/cycling back and forward!

The new totals are U.K. 1,250.285 kilometres, Malawi 320km = 1,570.285 kilometres which is 11.95% of our total.

To take part in our challenge to travel one of the routes the boxes of aid take from here, Balfron, to northern Malawi… over 13,000km click here https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 and to donate to help us build a much needed school … Bright Futures Secondary School https://GoFund.me/44a92444

If you think Jackie has done a brilliant job this weekend then please donate a few £££. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Internet photo – One of the locks on the canal on a sunny day
Another photo from the internet… this is what Jackie would have been doing but in the pouring rain!
Jackie’s bike and the boat they were helping to move through the 15 locks in the torrential rain
The Crinan Canal
Jackie covered quite a few kilometres running and cycling back and forward
A very wet and tired Jackie! Well done Jackie and thank you for sharing your kilometres with us!

Our website visitors

Sarah’s blog 24/7/22

Just a short post from me today as I’ve got an issue with my laptop that will hopefully be sorted by tomorrow. It’s times like this that I realise that technology isn’t my forte… but thank goodness for friends who can help.

Douglas & Lynda delivered another load of boxes to Dundee yesterday. Stuart & I spent a couple of hours yesterday packing boxes. The Bananabox Trust shed in Dundee will soon be full again and then they will book another container. It won’t be long until the current one arrives at it’s destination .

Hopefully, I’ll have an update on the kilometre challenge for you tomorrow with some photos too.

So I want to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ again to everyone who supports us. We really do appreciate you.

I love this photo from The Foundation Christmas Party where younger children were all given a rain jacket, a pencil and a lolly. Smiles like this are so good to see.

Our website is having visitors from all over the world which is brilliant! This week some of the countries from which people have viewed our website are; Thailand, Spain, U.K., USA, UAE, Canada, Israel, China, Netherlands, Malawi, Ireland, Peru, Zimbabwe, Libya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Antigua and France.

You can keep up to date with the most recent news by signing up to receive my blog. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

The children need food

Sarah’s blog 20/7/22

Running a Foundation is a huge responsibility and the rural location of The Foundation adds to the pressure that Levison is under.

There are no big agencies feeding children in schools in the far north of Malawi. The responsibility has fallen to The Foundation to feed 500+ children once a week. Children are walking from up to 20km away to have that one substantial meal each week.

This is all we can afford at the moment. There are so many calls on finances as we try our best to support a community back to self-sufficiency.

The Foundation teaches life skills to the children and young people. Growing crops is part of the skills the children learn. Unfortunately the crop of maize was affected by the flooding earlier this year and part of the crop was washed away. This year’s crop will only feed the children for two months.

The price of buying maize fluctuates throughout the year depending on availability and time of year.

The Malawian Kwacha was devalued a few months ago and all prices have gone up. However, maize is more than double the price it was this time last year.

Thank you to the few people who have given £5 per month towards the feeding programme as we have been grateful for this to top up the money we send each month to feed the children.

We know that we are asking for a lot of help but the more people who know about our charity and The Foundation, the more we can spread the help we need across more supporters. So I urge you to please share our posts and also tell your friends about us and the help we need.

All of us in the U.K. are volunteers and no money is spent on admin costs as we donate our time, petrol for transporting boxes to Dundee etc. So you can be sure if you donate money for feeding children, that’s where it will go.

Please, please can you donate £5 per month towards our feeding programme? I need 20 people to commit to £5 per month to enable the children to still be fed a substantial meal each week at The Foundation.

Please, if you can, donate £5 p/m by emailing contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com for bank details. The children have come to rely on that one substantial meal each week…we can’t let them down.

Please help us continue helping the children by donating £5 per month for food. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com to help feed the 500+ vulnerable children today. Thank you for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Some of the children having their one nutritious meal of the week.

Imagine a world with no school

Sarah’s blog 18/7/22

Imagine a world with no school. Lots of children might initially be cheering. But think of your life…if you’d not been to secondary school, would your life look very different now?

Would you be ok if your children didn’t have the opportunity to go to secondary school? I think we can all agree, no matter whether you liked secondary school or not, secondary school enabled us to learn more. Whether you liked science or languages or PE or arithmetic or music, or whatever subjects you had at your school, you had the opportunity to learn and to try different things.

You may have gone on to college or university or gone straight into the workforce. Could you have done that with just your primary school education?

The point of my rambling is that education is every child’s right. All children, wherever they live in the world, whatever their background or circumstances, should have a chance to go to school. We would be different people to the people we are now if we hadn’t had those opportunities. Please help us ensure that the children The Foundation supports have access to education. It’s their way out of poverty. It’s their way to a better future for themselves and their families.

Currently, there are not enough secondary school places available for the young people whom The Foundation supports in rural northern Malawi. Secondary school needs to be paid for. None of the children supported by The Foundation can afford to pay school fees, which is why we try our best to match children with sponsors to help pay their school fees.

Children can only go to secondary school if they pass their primary school leavers exams. However, because there aren’t enough secondary school places, even if you’ve passed your primary school leavers exams, if you don’t get picked for a place at secondary school then you can’t go. It’s heart breaking for these children who have so many problems in their lives not to be picked even though they have tried their best.

Also, as the nearest secondary school is a distance away, pupils who are supported by The Foundation and who are picked to go to secondary school, have to board at school making it even more expensive. Families and caregivers who rely on these teenagers for help with chores or looking after younger siblings also miss out on having them at home.

Bright Futures Secondary School is going to make a difference to so many. It is going to change lives. It will be in the village, for village children who cannot afford school fees. The first year classrooms will be built during the first year, then the second in the second year and so on until all four years are built. However, we cannot do this without you. We know it is a huge project and a huge ask but we have a responsibility to ensure that all children have an education. We want the same things for the children supported by The Foundation that we want for our own children.

Can you help us please? Can you make a difference? Can you change lives? Here is the link to our fundraiser for the school. https://gofund.me/44a92444 Even just a few £££ will make a difference. Here is the link to our kilometre challenge https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 and we would love you to get involved. It’s always about team work and we cannot do what we do without your help. Please?

We don’t want children leaving primary school and going straight into work. They would be working for a pittance with what prospects of a better future? One boy, who is now sponsored, was working for a farmer for the equivalent of £1.50 per month. We need to ensure all children have a childhood and have the opportunities they deserve. Please help us to continue Changing Lives Malawi.

Laston, the boy in the video, was the boy who was working for £1.50 per month and only had rags to wear. He is thriving since being matched with a sponsor. There are hundreds of children like Laston who need our help. What will you do today to help a child like Laston? Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Laston had no other clothes. His shoes had huge holes in them.

Thank you to The Souter Charitable Trust

Sarah’s blog 17/7/22

We were extremely grateful to receive our second grant from The Souter Charitable Trust. We had a cheque for £3,250 to spend on secondary school text books.

When Levison was in Mzuzu this week, he was able to call in at the book store to collect the order. That is a very large number of books and is a huge contribution. Thank you so much to The Souter Charitable Trust for helping us support some of the most vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi.

However, prices keep rising and Levison wasn’t able to get quite as many books as he thought. There are 12 subjects in the curriculum. He managed to get 10 books in some subjects, 15 in other subjects. So we will need to spend the same again or more just to make sure that students at Bright Futures Secondary School have the textbooks they need. Ideally, we would love all students to have their own books but we know this is far beyond our means at the moment. So our aim would be that we get enough copies for two students to be able to share a textbook. https://gofund.me/44a92444 is the link for our school fundraiser (and you can leave a comment ‘books’ or email me)

Each text book costs approximately £8-£9 currently. So to continue with our gift of education we really do need your help. Can you buy a book for a vulnerable student? If every person reading this blog donated their own coins and asked their family and friends to donate their loose change, I wonder how many text books we would be able to buy? Let’s give the gift of education. Let’s give our loose change to continue Changing Lives Malawi. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Thanks to The Souter Charitable Trust, Levison was able to purchase all these textbooks

Bright Futures Fundraiser – join in!

Sarah’s blog 30/6/22

Every child, no matter where they are in the world, deserves an education. Let’s build a school! We need you on our team.

Here is the link with the information you need to join in our challenge! https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 It is a huge challenge for our team to travel the 13,144 km that is one of the routes the container travels. It also includes the journey from here (Balfron, Scotland) to Dundee to the Bananabox Trust warehouse and in Malawi the distance from Ekwendeni which is the final destination of the container back to Chitipa that Levison will make. We have used Chitipa as the nearest destination on all maps to The Foundation.

https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9

So we are looking for families to join in as well as serious athletes and gentle walkers. Oh and bored teenagers who would like to keep their fitness up over the school holidays – we’d love to hear from you too! Maybe you could have an element of competition with your friends? Do you need to learn something new for your Duke of Edinburgh Award? Or do some volunteering? This challenge could be used for either of those.

The more people who help us, the quicker we can do this challenge. The more people that take part and are sponsored, the more money we raise. The more people who share our posts then the wider the audience so we aren’t always asking the same people. We would absolutely love people right across the world to take part in our challenge. This is a challenge to raise funds to build a secondary school for some of the most vulnerable children in Northern Malawi. It would be fantastic to have people from our global community taking part and raising funds to build a school and give the gift of education.

The challenge starts tomorrow, 1st July, and you can do as many or as few kms as you want. Please ask your friends to join in and please ask people to sponsor you. Together we can keep Changing Lives Malawi. Together we can build a school. Land clearing has already started and bricks are being made. Thanks so much for your continued support and let me know if you have any questions, thank you, Sarah x

https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9

https://gofund.me/44a92444

some of the first bricks being made for Bright Futures Secondary School

Please help us build a school

Sarah’s blog 24/6/22

This is a secondary school for the most vulnerable children that the Foundation supports. Children who are orphans or their families are extremely poor. Also some other very vulnerable children from nearby villages will be able to attend.

The school will start with S1 classrooms and teachers accommodation and more of the school will be built over the next few years for S2, S3 and S4.

This is a community school for the most vulnerable in the community. This school is the key to a brighter future for this community. They need a helping hand to achieve this and that is where all of us can help.

£1,400 has already been sent to help pay the wages of locals who are making bricks and clearing land….so that is creating employment. More money will be needed for wages to complete the process of building the school.

Here are some of the ways you can help. It is a huge project for a small organisation to undertake but the children have always been the priority and all children have the right to an education. Please help us continue Changing Lives Malawi. I’ll be posting photos in the next few days of the land clearing and brick making. Thank you so much for your continuing support. Even a few £££ will make a difference so please give if you can. Sarah x

Let’s Build A School!

Help us give the gift of education. Help us build a school in Ibuluma.

Currently there are not enough secondary school places so, even if you pass your primary school exams, if you aren’t picked for a place at secondary then you can’t go. Education should be available to all and is the way to a better future. Please help us build a school.

Please buy from the following list to help us continue Changing Lives Malawi. We can send a card (from an original painting by Christine Cresswell, trustee) to the recipient on your behalf if you’d like this to be a gift, or post to yourself to give, for £1 extra.  (costs can be saved on desks if anyone knows of any high schools of similar getting rid of desks/tables to send via the Bananabox Trust rather than ones being made in Malawi)                                                                       

  • Roof panel @ £50 x 100 =£5,000
  • Chalkboard @ £50 x 4 =£200
  • Bookcase @ £100 x 1 = £100
  • Chair @ £5 x 120 = £600
  • Desk @ £40 x 60 = £2,400
  • Textbook @ £8 x 100 = £800
  • Door @ £100 x 4 = £400
  • A name on the wall of the school @£100
  • Name a classroom @£500   

Contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com www.changinglivesmalawi.com

schoollistdoc.docx

On Father’s Day….

Sarah’s blog 19/6/22

https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2022/06/17/a-family-in-need-of-help/

It’s Father’s Day in the U.K. today. A day for celebration for some, a day for reflection for others and a bittersweet day for others as they remember the fathers who are no longer here.

I’m not going to do a long post today as I’ve been writing quite a lot recently but I just wanted to ask you to spare a thought for the orphans and fatherless children in Malawi who need our help and support.

If anyone of you could help a child, we would be so grateful. £25 a month will give a monthly food parcel, a blanket, clothes, welfare checks and education. That’s only 85p per day. If you cannot afford £25, could you and a friend sponsor a child between you? £12.50 a month each for two people to sponsor a child will change their life. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

I’ll share Mercy’s appeal again in the hope generous sponsors come forward for her and her brother. Thank you, Sarah x

Mercy has had to drop out of school due to lack of funds. She needs someone to sponsor her so she can complete her last two years of school.

Mercy’s mum is on her own with two children. Her son is disabled. Please could someone sponsor him to make their lives just a little bit easier?

A family in need of help

Sarah’s blog 17/7/22

Levison contacted me late yesterday to tell me of a family in great need of help and asking if we can please help them. He doesn’t usually plead on behalf of families or individuals unless they really are in a bad situation. So here is what he’s told me;

Mercy is a 17 year old girl living with her mum and younger brother. Mum is a full time carer to the younger brother as he has significant additional needs. Mercy was at secondary school in S3. She has had to drop out of school as the elderly relative who was paying her fees is now ill.

So what I am looking for please is a sponsor for Mercy so she can return to school and her studies. I am also looking for a sponsor for the little boy so that it means there is regular food to top up the small amount they manage to get from others who help them. Blankets and clothes will be given and, once I’ve done a bit more investigation into the little boy’s needs, I will put together a care pack with appropriate toys and nappies (if needed).

So can you sponsor Mercy or her brother please. It’s only £25 per month per child to make a big difference to them. You can sponsor as an individual, as a family, two friends sharing the cost or a club, church or business. It’s only 85p per day to change a life. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com to make a difference today. This might be the most important thing anyone does for this family. Thanks for reading and caring about the vulnerable children in Malawi. If you can share this post I’d be very grateful. Thanks, Sarah x

Mercy needs a sponsor to pay for her school fees. She is in S3 but has had to drop out.

Mercy and her little brother need your help please
Mercy’s mum and younger brother. He needs a sponsor as his mum is his full-time carer and therefore cannot work. Please help this little family.

Please will you sponsor me?

Sarah’s blog 8/6/22

After the wonderful response to the appeal for a sponsor for Brighton and also finding sponsors for Temwa and Ketti, I thought I would highlight some other children who are most in need of sponsorship. These are very vulnerable children who need a helping hand to change their lives. They need someone to take a chance on them, to give them opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. They will know that someone cares about them…someone cares about their future.

There are 11 children who I am highlighting on this post. They are all in need of a helping hand. They are all living in dire poverty. Thankfully, they have been given clothes from the generous donations we have collected. Please consider sponsoring one of these children to change their lives. You can sponsor as an individual, as a family, two friends can share the cost of only 85p per day, or a club or business could sponsor a child. Can you make a difference today? Will you commit to one of these vulnerable children today? Please? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for reading, Sarah x

We were glad to be able to send money to Levison to pay for Judith to go to the health centre and get medicine for her eye infection. Levison was able to give her clothes and shoes from the generous donations we sent.
Fortune is looking like he’s going to be a promising rugby player…are there any rugby fans who could sponsor him please?
Flary is a real cutie and enjoys attending the nursery. She would benefit from having a sponsor.
Chimango enjoyed the rugby coaching camp. He would love a sponsor to help him continue having new opportunities.
Hopeson also enjoyed the rugby training. You can see from his legs and arms that he’d benefit from having a monthly food parcel once he’s matched with a sponsor.
Elizabeth was one of the girls on the rugby training camp. Are there any rugby fans who could sponsor her please?
Patricia is very pleased with her new clothes and shoes. She would be very pleased to be matched with a sponsor too.
Josephine would benefit from having a sponsor. She is the girl in the photo drinking water from the new water tap.
What a lovely smile Junior has. He would love you to sponsor him.
Ramsay looks like he’s loving his new clothes and shoes! Can you sponsor Ramsey?
Chawanangwa borrowed his sister’s clothes so he had something to wear to go to The Foundation. He was given clothes and shoes. His growth has been affected by malnutrition. Chawanangwa would really benefit from having a sponsor. Can you help him? He’s wearing uniform form Riverside Primary in Stirling.

Good News for Ketti & Temwa – these sisters have been matched with sponsors!

Sarah’s blog 7/6/22

Today has been a good day for matching vulnerable children with sponsors. Changing the lives of these children and giving them food, clothes, education and opportunities is such a privilege to be part of. We always say it’s about teamwork and we cannot support The Foundation to help these children without you. To each and every sponsor we thank you and are very glad you have agreed to help the child you support.

The Mlenga family consists of a mother on her own, struggling to bring up her 6 children. Rodrick and Lucia were photographed in October 2021 at The Foundation. They had turned up in rags…Rodrick with no top. You can see by their tummies that they suffer from malnutrition. They were fed and given new clothes and I put out an appeal for sponsors. It wasn’t until recently, however, that a sponsor came forward asking to be matched with Lucia. Levison visited the Mlenga family home to tell Lucia and mum the good news and that they would be receiving a food parcel every month. Mum was very grateful.

Looking at the ages of the 6 children and the classes they are in at primary school, we can see that the older children have had to go to work and miss school to help mum try to feed the family. The younger children have attended school whilst the older children’s education has suffered. Now, thankfully, I have managed to match the two older girls with sponsors so there will be three monthly food parcels going into that home to supplement the meagre amount that they manage to earn. I can’t imagine how difficult life must be for this family but thanks to three generous sponsors their lives have just changed for the better. We are so grateful to every sponsor who agrees to be a helping hand to one of the vulnerable children we help support.

Now 89 children and young people have a sponsor to give them opportunities they would not previously had. These children know that someone cares about them. They know that they haven’t been forgotten. They now have hope for a better future. There are also a few children who are the most vulnerable who do receive help despite not being sponsored. I will feature them another day to see if we can match them with some help. Thank you sponsors for making this happen. To Ketti and Temwa’s sponsors….thank you again for changing these sisters lives.

There are lots more children waiting to be matched with a sponsor to help improve their lives. Can you be a helping hand to one of them? You can sponsor as an individual, a family or two friends can share the £25 monthly cost. Or your club, business or church could sponsor a child or family. Who will be sponsor number 90? Please do get in touch if you think you might like to join our team of sponsors email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thank you for reading and for your support, Sarah x