Tag: hungry

Please help the Kasonda children

please read about this family who really do need our help

Sarah’s blog 09/07/23

Sometimes when Levison sends me photos they make me happy when I see the children and young people smiling, having fun, achieving and benefiting from learning new skills to enable them to have a better future.

At the end, it’s not about what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.

Denzil Washington

Other times, like today, when I look at photos I am sad and I am upset. I’m also angry that we don’t have a magic wand to be able to help everyone more than we are. Let me tell you about the Kasonda family.

Mum and dad are, in Levison’s words, peasant farmers. They are very poor and neither of them is in the best of health. Levison and team have been helping clothe the children and the older ones come to the feeding programme. Their home is 5km away and today Logical Kasonda (age 9) and her brother Kumbukani Kasonda (age 11) each carried their one year old twin sisters, Selida and Queen, the 5km to the Foundation, fed the twins before themselves, and carried them the 5km home again.

My heart is breaking for these children (and the many, many more like them). As you can see, Logical and Kumbukani are both in p3. This means that Kumbukani has missed 4 years of school to work to try to bring in a pittance to help his parents, and Logical has missed 2 years of school for the same reason. NO BIG CHARITIES ARE FEEDING CHILDREN IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THE FAR NORTH OF MALAWI. We send enough money for the feeding programme to feed 500 children once a week. This is the biggest meal they have each week. Some children walk up to 20km for this food and then 20km home again.

Crops are being grown at the Foundation but it’s nowhere near enough to feed all the children. We have 80+ of the most vulnerable children matched with sponsors. This costs £25 per month. This helps pay towards school lunches for the older sponsored children at Bright Futures Secondary School and the younger sponsored children receive a food parcel at their home each month. All children receive clothes, school supplies and a meal at the weekly feeding programme.

As The Foundation that we are helping to support is in a very rural location, we are trying to do everything. We need people (and other charities to partner with us). Please help?

Why should Kumbukani and Logical each carry a one year old sibling 5km for food and 5km back again? Why should they only get one decent, nutritious meal a week? How can we expect Kumbukani and Logical to be able to learn at school with sore, empty tummies? How are the twins expected to grow properly and not be stunted and suffer from malnutrition by only having one proper meal each weekend?

These children deserve food, clean water, safety, warmth, clothing, rest, education, play etc etc just like our children. These children have names; Kumbukani, Logical, Queen and Selida. These children need sponsors. Can you please sponsor one of them for £25 p/m? you can share that cost with a friend. Or why not help us run the feeding programme more often than once a week by committing to £5 or £10 p/m? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Our bank account details are Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, S/C 80-22-60, A/C 21081462. Or could you make a one off donation? Just put ‘feeding’ as your reference please.

My heart is with these vulnerable children and I know that together we CAN make a difference. Together we can give these children brighter futures. Together we CAN continue Changing Lives Malawi. Please get in touch today. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Appeal for help to feed 500 vulnerable, malnourished children

How far should you walk for lunch?

These children are desperate for help. How can they thrive without food?

Sarah’s blog 14/6/23

How far do you think is an acceptable distance for a child to walk to get some food? How far would you let your child or grandchild walk to have a meal? What if you had absolutely nothing to feed your family?

We help to support a feeding programme that runs once a week. We wish we could afford for it to operate more often. 500 orphans and vulnerable children are fed a substantial and nutritious meal each weekend at the feeding programme. This is their biggest meal of the week. Some days these children do not eat at home and are left to fend for themselves, to forage for food or beg for scraps. All of these children are malnourished. THERE ARE NO CHARITIES FEEDING CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS IN THIS AREA OF RURAL NORTHERN MALAWI. We need your help. We cannot do this alone. It is too big a job for us to ensure that 500 children have enough food every day of the week.

Crops are being planted to supplement the feeding programme. Vegetables that the children have helped to grow are being served at the feeding programme. Fruit tree saplings have been planted for future food and for future income as the surplus fruit can be sold at market.

The sweet potato crop is doing well and will be ready in another 6 weeks. But how many sweet potatoes will a field produce? How long will this crop last divided by 500 children and young people? A few days maybe…..

We need people to partner with us. We need people to invest in the future of these very vulnerable children who don’t eat every day. To start a pig project at Bright Futures Secondary School, as part of their agricultural classes, to breed pigs to sell (and also pass on to the community) will only take £300 to set up. This will bring in money to help pay for school lunches for the students at Bright Futures Secondary School, helping them become more self-sufficient and giving the students skills for life.

They need to plant more fruit tree saplings in the orchard. Each sapling costs approximately £2.50. Banana tubers cost approximately £2 each. We could pay for these project start ups but we cannot continue paying to feed the children at the feeding programme each week AND invest in these projects….unfortunately it is either one or the other and we are not going to stop the feeding programme as it is the only one proper meal that these children receive each week. How can these vulnerable children and young people be expected to thrive on one decent meal a week? It is heart-breaking. They deserve far more and they deserve our help and support. Please help us? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

I have said several times that some children walk up to 20km for this one proper meal of the week at the feeding programme. I can’t comprehend what that must be like. Energy levels must be at a minimum already as the children haven’t eaten, then to have to walk up to 20km for a meal and 20km home again…they must be absolutely exhausted and any calories they have from their lunch will be used up on the long walk home. Can you help us help them please?

Levison sent me photos of 6 children who each walked approximately 18km to be fed on Sunday….so a total of 36km for their one proper meal of the week. Levison wanted me to show you these children. They, and others like them, are really struggling and we cannot expect them to thrive unless we give them a helping hand. Will you help us help them? Tasiyana, Praise, Atusaye, Kalebu, Esther and Nema all are hungry and malnourished.

All of them would benefit from having a sponsor. It costs £25 per month to sponsor a child and they will receive clothes, extra food and welfare visits. Two friends could share the cost of sponsoring a child. Or you could commit £5 or £10 per month to help support the feeding programme and help us to make it more sustainable by being able to plant more crops and fruit tree saplings. What will you do to help today? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Thank you for reading and for your support, Sarah x

https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2023/06/12/the-sweet-potato-crop/ https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2023/06/11/activities-for-the-kids/

Praise looks so tired and is suffering from malnutrition

Tasiyana looks so hungry and exhausted
Atusaya is wearing one of the navy cord pinafores donated by Sinclair House Prepatory School in London
you can see by Esther’s tummy that she is malnourished

Sports Kits donations & team sports

We are grateful to receive more sports kit to send to Malawi for teams that do not have matching kit.

Sarah’s blog 31/3/23

We have been very fortunate to have had several individuals and organisations donating sports kit and equipment to us for use by the vulnerable young people we support in rural northern Malawi.

Strathendrick Rugby Club and Merchiston Castle School have very kindly donated kit, boots and rugby balls and there will be some other donations coming soon from other supporters.

Via Julian Chenery from ‘Wear a Sports Shirt Day’ there has been hockey kit from Bromley & Beckenham Hockey Club, and numerous football kits as well as Christmas Jumpers and Christmas hats. Julian spends nearly every weekend collecting preloved kits from clubs to pass on to a variety of charities. Sports kits then are able to be reused by teams who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to afford to buy matching kit.

Julian messaged me the other day to say that he has sent football kits kindly donated by Swale Ladies Football Club and Borden Village Football Club which made it in time to be loaded onto the Bananabox Trust container which is now on its way to Malawi. We will, of course, show photos when those arrive.

Julian also met with Mark Meekings who runs ‘Kitz4Kidz’ who have donated kit they have collected for use in Malawi. Thanks to Julian and Mark and to those who donated kit – photos to follow when the kit arrives in Malawi. Thanks also to the volunteers at Bananabox Trust for their hard work ensuring everything is recorded and packed safely into the containers.

During the two week Easter holidays, we are facilitating the running of an Easter Study School for the 66 p8 students at Chambo Primary School and the students at Bright Futures Secondary School. Lessons will run Monday – Thursday during the first week and Tuesday – Friday the second week. On Good Friday and Easter Monday, the young people will be playing organised team sports.

For 10 days during the holidays all these students will receive a substantial, nutritious cooked lunch. This will probably be their only proper meal of the day. This meal might be the only food that they eat that day. We would be very grateful for help towards providing this food. You can email me at contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com for bank details or you can text FEEDING to 70480. Every £5 or £10 donated will make a huge difference to these vulnerable students and help them concentrate whilst they study. Thank you, Sarah x

Easter Holiday Exam Preparation – Changing Lives Malawi

Sunday lunch – Changing Lives Malawi

Thank you to Swale Ladies and Borden Village football clubs who have donated their kit through Julian at ‘Wear a Sports Shirt Day’

Julian from Wear a Sports Shirt Day (left) with Mark from Kitz4Kidz
Students at Bright Futures Secondary School with rugby kit donated by Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh
Kit from Bromley & Beckenham Hockey Club kindly donated via Wear A Sports Shirt Day
Fakenham Town FC kit kindly donated via Wear a Sports Shirt Day
Can you please help us feed vulnerable students during the Easter holidays?

Sunday lunch

Sarah’s blog 20/03/23

What does Sunday lunch mean to you? I guess it means something different to each of us. It might be that some people are working on a Sunday so it’s just a quick sandwich. Or that your kids are involved in sport so it’s something quick to eat when you can. Are you able to sleep late and have a lazy brunch on Sundays? Or do all the family come and eat together round the table and have a roast dinner?

Whatever the traditional Sunday is at your house, I doubt you look forward to the food you will eat as much as these children do. These children are mostly orphans, living with extended family, or vulnerable children from very poor families. None of these children have a proper meals every day at home. No big charities are feeding children in primary schools in this area. This is the most substantial and nutritious meal these children will get each week.

I cannot imagine only eating once a day. I cannot imagine eating less than this meal for six days of the week. I cannot imagine going to bed so hungry that I couldn’t sleep. I cannot imagine not being able to feed my children. I cannot imagine having to walk a long distance in order to have a meal.

Some of these children have walked up to 20km for this food. And then they walk up to 20km home. We can only afford to run The Feeding Programme once a week. These children need and deserve more. The end goal for this community is self-sufficiency but, until that can happen, we need to feed these children. Up to 500 children of all ages come to receive food each week. Yesterday there were 412 came to be fed. The youngest are always fed first. How can they manage until next weekend’s Feeding Programme? Maize prices have risen and things are even harder than they were.

Can you help us please? We are asking 100 people to commit to £1 per week to help us ensure The Feeding Programme can continue and we can provide for everyone who needs food. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Will you spare £1 per week to help us continue feeding these malnourished children? please do help us to continue helping these vulnerable children. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

A family in need – no food to give

Sarah’s blog 06/03/23

People in need arrive at The Foundation every day. Things are tough. The rainy season makes an already difficult existence even harder. Food is scarce and prices have rocketed. Some people Levison can help, others he can’t. Everyone is given time for a chat. Levison, as well as being a teacher and having a degree in Agriculture, is a trained councillor. His skills are regularly put to good use.

Mrs Ng’ambi arrived at The Foundation this afternoon with her three children. Her husband is ill and they are struggling. Mrs Ng’ambi cried and cried after she and her children were given clothes, blankets and soap. Look at the happiness on the faces of these children because they have some new clothes and some flipflops instead of bare feet. Christina is holding a pack of 4 bars of soap.

Levison said sadly there is no spare food at The Foundation so he was unable to give them any food. Prices of everything have increased hugely in Malawi. Food prices usually go up in the rainy season when food becomes more scarce. However, Levison has told me that maize, their staple food, has more than doubled in price. How can people, earning a pittance, continue to buy food? The situation is getting harder and we must continue to be able to at least continue feeding the 500 children once a week. Please help us. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Showing kindness in small ways makes a big difference to people like the Ng’ambi family. That’s why we need people to sign up to commit £1 per week to help us to continue to feed the 500 vulnerable children at the Feeding Programme which runs once a week. Children of all ages receive a nutritious, substantial meal once a week. Some children walk up to 20km for this meal. There are no charities feeding children in primary schools in this area. Children are malnourished and hungry. We need your help to continue feeding the 75 nursery children to give them a better start in life. We need your help to continue feeding the vulnerable students at Bright Futures Secondary School. We need your help to have some ‘emergency food‘ for people in need like Mrs Ng’ambi and her family.

If we can get 100 people committing to £1 per week, that will help us ensure the Feeding Programme keeps running as well as ensuring that the pre-school children are fed. The students at Bright Futures Secondary School need breakfast and lunch to help them study properly as they don’t eat when they go home. And we need some ‘extra’ food for families like Mrs Ng’ambi and her children.

Will you commit to £1 per week please? That’s not much at all to us…. to Mrs Ng’ambi and her children, it means the gift of a meal. Will you please join our team and commit just £1 per month to feed the hungry? Thanks for reading, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

New clothes and flipflops for Benayi and Christina
as you can see, the children’s clothes no longer fit and they are barefoot
Mrs Ng’ambi cried when she and her children were given clothes, a blanket and soap
Such a happy face even though Christina is hungry and her dad is ill
Benayi is happy with his new clothes
please, please give £1 per week to help us feed these vulnerable children

Having a sponsor – making a difference

Sarah’s blog 8/2/23

I want to show you how sponsors ARE making a difference and ARE changing children’s lives. By making a commitment to a child you can help them have a brighter future.

Maria Sibwila was 11 when Levison first asked for help for her. Maria is an orphan living with her grandparents. At age 11 she was in danger of being married off as her grandparents couldn’t afford to feed her. Thanks to having a sponsor, Maria is looking happy and healthier. The difference in her is amazing to see. She no longer worries about child marriage. Could you sponsor one of Maria’s friends?

The next good news story is about a mum, on her own, with six children. The older children have missed out on schooling to earn some money in order to help support the family and the younger children at school. We first saw the two youngest children, Lucia and Rodrick, when they came to the Feeding Programme. They were dressed in rags and very obviously malnourished. They were given food and new clothes and Lucia was matched with a sponsor.

Levison visited the whole family at home and when he found out how much the family was struggling, asked me to try to match more of the children with sponsors. Thankfully, two sponsors came forward for Ketti (not pictured today) and Temwa. So the family have three out of the six children matched with sponsors, meaning that there are three food parcels each month to supplement what they have to eat. All the children are now attending school. Thank you so much to the sponsors for giving these children a chance at a better life.

Thank you to all our sponsors. Through your generosity, these children now have happier lives and brighter futures. If you’d like to change a child’s life by being a sponsor please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

No one has ever become poor by giving (Anne Frank) – Changing Lives Malawi

Lucia and her family – Changing Lives Malawi

Bible Knowledge & the gift of bibles

Thanks to St Michael’s Church Slateford Road, Edinburgh for helping to support the students at Bright Futures Secondary School.

Sarah’s blog 3/2/23

Last year we had a very generous donation of lots of preloved bibles from St Michael’s Parish Church, Slateford Road in Edinburgh.

Bible Knowledge is one of the subjects on the school curriculum in Malawi. Yesterday, there was time to open some more boxes and the bibles were given to the students at Bright Futures Secondary School. These will be so helpful with their studies as previously all the teenagers were trying to share only a few bibles between them. Thank you so much to St Michael’s Parish Church for supporting the students’ education.

I asked Levison when I saw these photos that he sent me yesterday why some of the students were in casual clothes. He said they got absolutely soaked through on their way to school. It’s currently the rainy season and most of these students do not have a rain jackets. You can see in the photos that some of the students have flipflops/sliders or will have walked in bare feet to keep their school shoes clean. Do you have a good rain jacket that you no longer need or that your child has outgrown that we can send to these vulnerable students please? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Also, I mentioned to Levison that everyone looked very serious in the photos. He told me it was because these photos were taken just before lunchtime and these students hadn’t eaten since the day before so they were really hungry and tired. We must try to find more support with feeding these young people. Can you commit a small monthly amount to help provide breakfast to these orphans as well as them receiving a free school lunch? There isn’t much at home for them to eat and they cannot study properly if they are hungry and malnourished. Will you help by committing £5 or £10 per month to help provide food at Bright Futures Secondary School. Because costs have risen so much, we estimate that it will cost £25 per student per month to feed them breakfast as well as lunch, so whatever you can give towards this will make a difference. We can’t do it on our own. We always say it is about teamwork and you are a valuable part of our team. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Thanks for reading and supporting these vulnerable teenagers, Sarah x

Reasons to celebrate

Sarah’s blog 27/12/22

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I just wanted to post a few videos celebrating how wonderful we think the children in Ibuluma are. There are hundreds of them who are malnourished and have suffered varying amounts of trauma but, despite all that they are doing well. They now know that people care about them.

If you have helped us then we thank you. Here are ways you can support us to continue Changing Lives Malawi.

1. Donate to help us build phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School (classrooms 3 & 4) https://GoFund.me/44a92444

2. commit a monthly amount of £5 or £10 to support one of our feeding programmes; the nursery, secondary or weekly feeding programme for 500 children.

3. Sponsor a vulnerable child or young person for £25 per month which supports their education and provides a monthly food parcel. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the videos. I’d be grateful if you could share with others as we try to grow our audience. Thanks, Sarah x

Rugby coaching
no guitar? no problem! let’s make one!
An update from Catherine
Getting used to the new computers in the library. Children are wearing clothes from Strathblane Primary and Riverside Primary Schools in the Stirling area of Scotland.
Food, fun and dancing at the Christmas Party
Chancy thanking his sponsors and telling them he passed his exams
one of the football matches…everyone loves team sports
Trying out the new clippers we sent
Let’s dance!
Laston, one of the sponsored children, asking for a new school. He is doing well now after missing a great deal of school to help a farmer look after his cows for the equivalent of £1.50 per month.

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.

Please will someone sponsor Brighton Ng’ambi? Please give him a chance?

Sarah’s blog 6/6/22

Brighton needs someone to take a chance on him…to change his life. How many traumatic experiences has he had in his young life? I don’t know. This is what I do know;

  1. Brighton is an orphan. Both his parents have died.
  2. Relatives are supposed to be looking after him but he is fending for himself a lot of the time.
  3. Brighton is malnourished and hungry. He told Levison that some days he eats once. Other days he has nothing and has to try and find some fruit to eat in bushes.
  4. Brighton is in his first year at primary school. How can he even concentrate at all and learn anything when he will be so tired and hungry?
  5. Brighton will be cold at night time. Does he sleep properly as he’s cold and hungry?
  6. He was dirty and dressed in rags. He had head lice. Thankfully, he was able to have a shower and given nice, clean clothes and shoes before having a nutritious lunch.

We want this little boy to be matched with a sponsor to allow him to have ‘extras’ that aren’t really extra things at all….they are essentials. Brighton needs more clothes, he needs a blanket, he needs a monthly food parcel and to be encouraged to come to the feeding programme each week. He needs someone to keep an eye on him and nurture him. Levison and his team can do all this but having a sponsor will help Brighton to feel better quicker. Being matched with a sponsor will let him know that he is important, that people care about him. Levison is a trained councillor so he can spend time with Brighton helping him. Brighton needs a team of people around him to ensure that he begins to thrive. Can you be that person? Or can you and a friend split the monthly cost of £25 to support Brighton?

Brighton is a little boy who has found himself in awful circumstances, through absolutely no fault of his own. He needs our help. Can you join Brighton’s team? Can you help this little boy? Can you help him to have something to smile about? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x

Charity, a volunteer, helped Brighton to get rid of the lice in his hair
Brighton came to receive help. He had a shower and was given clean clothes and shoes. Then he had a nutritious lunch.
Brighton is a little boy in need of a sponsor. Can you join Brighton's team to help him feel loved and cared for?
Brighton received help at The Foundation. Now he desperately needs your help – will you sponsor him?

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

Sarah’s blog 5/6/22

Levison has visitors every day. People in need who are looking for work or food or clothes. He can’t always help but if he can help then he will. Everyone is welcome at The Foundation. Levison and his team always try their best.

Little Brighton Ng’ambi turned up this morning. He doesn’t usually come to The Foundation. He was clearly traumatised, malnourished, wearing rags, dirty and with lice in his hair. He has been orphaned and is living with relatives. Either they aren’t financially able to look after him or he is just being left to fend for himself. He has told Levison that some days he eats once a day…other times he just has to look in bushes to see if he can find any fruit to eat.

Levison will go to talk to the people he is living with to see whether it’s best for Brighton to stay there or if Levison should find a kindly person in the village to foster him.

Brighton was taken to have a shower by one of the volunteers, Charity Banda, to have the lice and dirt washed from his hair. (They will shave his hair for him another day). Brighton was then given new clothes that had been donated and Levison took him to the library, where it was quiet, so he could eat his lunch. He told Levison that he didn’t expect all this.

This little boy’s story has touched my heart. There are many, many more children like Brighton who need our help, who need your help. We work hard to improve the lives of the hundreds of orphaned and vulnerable children whom The Foundation helps. This is our passion. To change lives. To bring hope. To give these children the gift of education. A chance to reach their potential.

Will you help Brighton? Please? He needs a sponsor to be a helping hand. It’s only £25 per month to sponsor a child. That will mean he has a monthly food parcel wherever he is living, and a blanket and new clothes. Individuals can be a sponsor. Families can sponsor. Two friends can share the cost of sponsoring a child. Or even a club or business can sponsor a child…it’s only 85p per day to change a life. Can you help Brighton today? Can you change his life? Thank you for reading, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Brighton Ng’ambi is an orphan living with relatives and fending for himself

Brighton sometimes eats once a day…other days he has to look in bushes for a bit of fruit
Brighton was traumatised, hungry, dirty and with head lice in his hair

Brighton had a shower and was given new clothes and shoes
Brighton couldn’t believe he was given a lovely lunch…some days he goes without food….other days he just eats once.

One of the volunteers, Charity Banda, helps Brighton to get rid of the lice in his hair.

31 Days in May – Sarah’s Challenge – Day 10

Sarah’s blog 10/5/22

In some ways this challenge isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. However, there times that the challenge becomes more difficult when I least expect it.

I woke up at 4am needing the loo and I couldn’t get back to sleep. The reason? I was hungry. A gnawing hunger pain that just wouldn’t go away. I didn’t give into it….I just lay there trying to get back to sleep. And then it hit me…. this must be a daily feeling for the hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children supported by The Foundation. How can they function day after long day when they are tired and hungry and malnourished? https://gofund.me/ca9c1629

So this has been a useful challenge. I’m only on day 10 but I am bored of eating just rice and vegetables. I am annoyed at seeing eggs and cheese and other nice things in the fridge knowing I can’t have them. I’d like to go out for lunch or a coffee at least…but I don’t want to be anywhere where there is lovely food and tempting smells. It is very, very restrictive. And very boring. And I’m hungry.

But, guess what? I have a choice. I have chosen to do this challenge to represent what the children eat at The Feeding Programme. I’m still lucky as I am able to eat every day….some of them won’t eat every day. I can choose which vegetables I want. They would love to be able to have choices like that. I know that on 1st June, my challenge will be over. However, for the children in Ibuluma, who live in dire poverty and who are all malnourished, every single day of their lives is a challenge.

I need your help. I need your support. Education is the way out of poverty. Children are desperate for an education. There are not enough secondary school places. We want education to be available for all and we want to build a school in the village so everyone can go to school. These children, like our children, deserve every chance to be the best they can be. They need someone to advocate for their needs. Please help me by raising funds to build a much needed school. https://gofund.me/ca9c1629 Together we can make a difference. Together we can change lives.

Here is a video taken yesterday of some of the children having fun and forgetting their worries for a while. Hope it makes you smile seeing such enthusiasm. Oh, I’ve done 15km today on my exercise bike again! Thanks for reading, Sarah x

such great dance moves! wearing a Strathblane Primary School donated polo shirt
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