kilometers Archives

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

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

Sarah’s blog 3/7/22

As you know, we are raising funds to build a much needed school so that some of the most vulnerable children in rural Northern Malawi will be able to access education. This is their way out of the extreme poverty they are living in and a chance of a brighter future for themselves and their families. The school is being called ‘Bright Futures Secondary School’. Originally, one classroom was going to be named ‘Bright Futures’ by the Bright Family in memory of a very special lady who had recently passed away and who had knitted lots and lots of hats for the children. However, Levison and his trustees liked this name so much and thought it so appropriate that they have adopted it as the name for the new school.

This school is being built on a shoestring, one year group at a time. We need to raise money and the roof will be the most expensive thing, but there’s many more things apart from that to pay for including labour and cement.

We decided, as it is a community school, that we would ask our global community if you could help us and follow the route of the boxes that leave here and travel on the container to Malawi. That journey is over 13,000km and we want you to log the kilometres you complete by cycling, walking the dog, running or anything else. If you could ask people to sponsor you too then we will raise money for the school. The more people that take part, the quicker we will cover these miles. The more people that take part, the more money we will raise as each person can ask different people to sponsor them.

So today, because it’s a community school for the children, they have helped us out by covering some kilometres. I hope you enjoy the photos and videos and will consider sponsoring them. It’s a great effort they have put in to bring down the total kilometres in this challenge, they’ve worked hard and had fun. It would be fantastic for them if people could sponsor them and they found out how much money they’ve raised by their efforts today. Here is the link to sponsor them https://gofund.me/44a92444

80 children and young people chose to be part of this challenge today. They each ran 4km. Their total kilometres covered today was 320km!! An excellent result. It would be brilliant for them if they knew their efforts had raised £320….can you sponsor them please? Let them know that you are part of the community that supports them https://gofund.me/44a92444

To join in with the challenge and for all the info you need click on this link https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 thanks for reading and supporting the children, Sarah x