library Archives - Changing Lives Malawi

BFSS Students Photos

Thanks to teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School for these great photos of students.

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Sarah’s blog 8/2/25

These photos that were taken yesterday at Bright Futures Secondary School are great. Thanks to the teachers who took the photos and sent them to me.

As you can see class sizes are small to give these most vulnerable teenagers the best chance of a good secondary education when everything else is stacked against them. The older the students, the harder their lives have been as they have missed big chunks of school to work for a pittance. All are living in extreme poverty and the free lunch they have at Bright Futures Secondary School is, for most, the only meal they have each day. In September we hope that we can start increasing class sizes a bit now that the school has been open for a little while. Class sizes at Bright Futures Secondary School will always remain lower than government run schools.

Because it’s the rainy season, there are often a few absences as the rivers are too swollen for children and young people to cross. So, unfortunately, if students live further away, and it has been raining for a few days, they cannot reach school. Although things are greatly improved thanks to the wonderful help we receive from our supporters, the community still faces many challenges like having no bridges.

These photos were taken in Emma’s Rainbow Library. There are shelves of books along one wall and there will soon be shelves along another wall for the additional books that have been sent for the library. There are books for all age groups and spending time in the library is a treat to read or look at the pictures in books, as well as being able to do some studying.

All of these students would not have been able to attend secondary school if it wasn’t for us being able to match them with sponsors who help pay for their education and school lunches. This is the difference that having a sponsor makes. These students now have opportunities, choices and chances that they didn’t have before.

I will be sending these photos to sponsors of these students next week. Thank you to everyone who supports them on their educational journey, Sarah x

Advent Calendar – highlighting projects & children – day 19

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Sarah’s blog 19/12/23

19th December and today we are again highlighting Quality Education. It’s the key to a better future for the hundreds of vulnerable children we help to support who are living in extreme poverty.

The photo at the bottom right hand side shows a group of children with looking at a book from the first box of books we sent to them. They had never seen a ‘story book’ with pictures before. Even in their school there were hardly any text books, so these books have opened up a whole new world for them.

Seventeen boxes of books were donated to Chambo Primary School as part of the School Literacy Project and more will be donated later this week. Other primary schools have been receiving boxes of books too. We are hoping children become more confident readers and that literacy levels will rise.

As you can see, money was raised for a library – Emma’s Rainbow Library, in memory of Emma Buchanan – a lovely girl from my village who had cystic fibrosis. Her family helped raise money towards the library. When Emma was poorly, she loved her dad reading to her. Emma had wanted to go to Malawi with a trip from Balfron High School. Her memory lives on and is making a big difference. We have sent lots of books for the library, as well as them buying some locally. It costs £17.50 to send a box of books on the container, so if you would like to support literacy in rural northern Malawi, or any of our other projects, then please do get in touch. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a

As well as a well stocked library that the children have access to, they are learning about computers. These are opportunities that would never have happened for these children without the help of our supporters. The children in the photo are wearing preloved uniform from Strathblane Primary School and Riverside Primary School. We sent these preloved tables and chairs too.

Quality Education will change these children’s lives for the better giving them choices and chances that they previously would not have had. Thank you for caring and helping us to support them, Sarah x

Advent Calendar – highlighting projects & children – day 6

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Sarah’s blog 6/12/23

For day 6 of the advent calendar we are highlighting good health and wellbeing. This is my favourite photo from a few years ago. An holistic approach is taken to supporting the children. There will be photos similar to this from all over the world. Children are relaxing, chatting, playing and having fun with their friends. You can see the enjoyment the girls are having from skipping with a piece of rope. This is what childhood should be like all the time. Things are improving for these vulnerable children but there is still so much that we need your support with. Together, as a team we can continue making a difference.

Hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children know that the Foundation is a safe place for them. They have all experienced trauma and very difficult childhoods. Until recently, they felt like they had been forgotten. All are malnourished. All do not have enough to eat. All are living in extreme poverty. Very basic mud or brick one room housing which let in water during the rainy season. All sleeping on the bare floor. If they are lucky they have a sheet or a reed mat to sleep on. None of the families have spare money for clothes or blankets so the children sleep in their clothes which are rags. Many are orphans, living with a grandparent or extended family if parents have died. Most have missed periods of school whilst they try to earn a pittance to buy some food for themselves and their families.

The Foundation is a place where they can just be children for a little while. Where their worries go away whilst they play with their friends. The Foundation is a place where adults will listen if they need to talk. It’s a place where they can have a shower to get clean. They receive new clothes from time to time. We send small blankets to be given to as many as possible. Some of our supporters have knitted hats for the children which helps to keep them warm at night.

They learn skills for life like planting & looking after vegetables, making mats, knitting & sewing and looking after the chickens and goats. The library is open to the children and young people and quite often teenagers will be seen reading fairy stories and other books for younger children….they have missed out on all of that. Team sports are an important part of life at the Foundation and most enjoy playing football, rugby and netball.

And of course, 500 children are fed a nutritious meal once a week. That number is expected to rise to 700 as food is scarce and costs keep rising. This is why we need your help please to keep this vital feeding programme going. We need your help to plant more fruit tree saplings to give future food security and an income when selling surplus fruit. This project will, of course, help the planet too. We need your help to get the pig project up and running so that piglets can be sold to bring in an income. And we need your help to feed the orphans. Please, if you can, will you help us? https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Thank you Allander Rotary

Thanks to Allander Rotary Club for their generous donation

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Sarah’s blog 30/07/23

I was invited to speak at a meeting of The Allander Rotary Club last month and the response to the photos and videos I showed was really positive. They were really interested in the progress that is being made in Malawi through the various projects we help to support.

One way that they have been able to help us is by donating a laptop and three ipads, all of which are nearly new. These were delivered yesterday along with some football kit.

We are extremely grateful for this support and the laptop and ipads will be used to support learning at Bright Futures Secondary School.

Our fundraiser for phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School is https://gofund.me/ece5753a and if you can spare a few £££ towards the next classroom and toilet block to ensure the next intake of vulnerable students have a classroom we would be very appreciative. Thanks for supporting us, Sarah x

Some orphans learning how to use the computers in Emma’s Rainbow Library at The Foundation. The laptop and three ipads will be great additional resources.

Activities for the Kids

Have a look at what the children have been doing today!

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Sarah’s blog 11/06/23

It’s been another busy day at the Foundation. The Feeding Programme was on today so hundreds of hungry vulnerable children flock to the Foundation to receive their one nutritious, substantial meal of the week. Some children walk up to 20km to receive this food as no big charities are feeding children in primary schools in this area. All are hungry. All are malnourished. All need our help.

Children know that the Foundation is their safe place. A place to have fun and be with their friends. In addition to being fed, children have access to the library and can choose books to read. Some children have been learning about the computers too. Others have been weeding the flowerbeds and some have been playing with building blocks.

Team sports are always high on the agenda. Football and netball matches were played too. Children of all ages can forget about their problems for a while at The Foundation and enjoy themselves as they should. The netball posts were a gift from Community Sports Leaders Africa and we are very thankful for this generous donation. We have plenty of rugby balls on the way in the container but we the children always need footballs and netballs. So if you’d like to make a donation for us to buy a ball on your behalf or to help donate towards the cost of feeding 500 children please email me: contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

I hope you enjoy the photos and video from today. Thank you for your continued support, Sarah x

Rugby Event – Fundraiser

Volunteers work so hard to feed 500 vulnerable children once a week

Everyone queues up (youngest first) for their one proper meal of the week

Taking pride in their Foundation by weeding the flower beds

Looking after the flowers and getting rid of the weeds

Caring for the plants and weeding the gardens as part of the horticulture class

Looks like they have been busy

Having fun with building blocks

There is now a good choice of books in Emma’s Rainbow Library

Relaxing and reading stories in the library

Children of all ages are learning about computers

Learning about computers

This area has been fenced off for the plants to grow…however the children love sitting here and one boy told Levison that he likes reading his book higher up than his friends

Even the little ones love football

Feeding day is always a busy day at The Foundation

Girls enjoying playing netball

Thank you to Community Sports Leaders Africa for the generous donation of two netball hoops

An Amazing & Busy Week for Levison

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Sarah’s blog 16/07/22

Levison Mlambya is a humble man. He is an incredibly hard worker and he has a vision to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in his community. His friendship with William Stewart helped to make this vision a reality and Levison has been hard at work for long hours every day serving his community.

Since William died in January, 2021, Levison has had a difficult time, but he has kept plodding, day by day, ensuring he does everything he can for those in need who come to The Foundation every day.

There has been a lot happening for Levison this week and we, at Changing Lives Malawi, are delighted that he has had these opportunities. We are also very proud of him. He is making some great connections with people and what he and his team do at The Foundation, through the various projects, is getting recognised.

On Sunday, Levison and the children had a visit from author, Ndongolera Mwangupili who wrote ‘Sons of The Hills’ and who kindly donated a copy of his book to Emma’s Rainbow Library at The Foundation. Ndongolera was impressed with the library and spent time chatting with some of the children. Visits like this are so important so the children can see that they can aspire to be writers if they wanted to.

Levison was en route to Mzuzu and stopped off at Karonga on Wednesday. He was delighted to meet and have a meal with Mercy Sibande, Manager of The Maime Martin Fund in Malawi, and Alan Laverock, Treasurer and Trustee of The Maime Martin Fund and also Chair Person of The Bananabox Trust in Dundee. They had a good chat before Levison set off again to The Grand Palace Hotel, Mzuzu.

He was honoured to have been invited to ‘The Regional Consultation of The National Book and Reading Policy in Malawi’. Even more of an honour, Levison was asked to be a speaker about the literacy initiatives that are being implemented at The Foundation. We are so proud of you Levison for making a difference to so many children.

Of course, none of this could happen without our supporters. So if you have donated books, paid for the transportation of a box, driven boxes to Dundee, sponsored a vulnerable child so they can go to secondary school, or donated to the new school project….or anything else…THANK YOU! We value your help and support and we are glad you are on our team as we all do our own little bit to help some of the most vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi.

However, there is so much more to do and we need even more support. Here are ways you can get involved and help us:

Donate £££ to our new school fundraiser https://gofund.me/44a92444
Join in with our fundraiser by walking, running or cycling and logging your kilometres for our kilometre challenge https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9
If you live fairly local to me…can you donate children’s books? They must be in good condition and a few £££ to help towards transportation would be really helpful. Seventeen boxes of books were already gifted to Chambo Primary School and lots more schools have said they would like books too.
Could you sponsor a box of books please? It’s £15 per box on the container.
Pencils/pens/rubbers/sharpeners/pencil cases/maths sets/scientific calculators/English pocket dictionaries are always needed.
Soap, toothbrushes & toothpaste are always needed and very welcome.
There are lots of vulnerable children still waiting to be matched with sponsors. It’s only £25 p/m to be a sponsor, or you can split that cost with a friend or extended family. Also a club or a business could sponsor a child.
Can you organise a fundraiser for us? A coffee morning? A sponsored event?
Sharing our posts online is a great way of helping more people find out about the projects that are happening in rural northern Malawi.
Can we come and speak at your event and show photos & videos from Malawi?

If you’d like to help in any way then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Author Ndongolera Mwangupili gifted a copy of his book to the library

Levison met Mercy and Alan at Karonga for a meal

Levison (next to lady in green skirt) and other delegates outside The Grand Palace Hotel, Mzuzu

The invite to the conference

A visit from an author

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Sarah’s blog 11/7/22

There was great excitement yesterday. As well as each child receiving three pairs of pants courtesy of Smalls for All charity, an author came to visit.

Ndongolera Mwangupili is a Malawian author of a book called ‘Sons of The Hills’ and also works in education. The children, as you can see from the photos, were delighted to have a visitor. Ndongolera spent time talking with them and presented them with a copy of his book for the library. Ndongolera was impressed with the library and the selection of books that the children have access to.

It’s really important that there are books by Malawian authors in the library and the fact that the author came to visit them was even better. They have a role model. They too can be authors if they want to be. They can be anything they want to be. Thank you Ndongolera for spending time with the children and visting The Foundation. Thank you to everyone who donates books and money to cover the cost of sending each box on the container, Sarah x

Thank you for donating a copy of your book to the library

And more learning in Emma’s rainbow library

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Sarah’s blog 20/3/22

Here are couple of short videos of the children using the computers for the first time and also photos of them looking at the new text books that have been bought for The Library to help the children’s learning. New opportunities for these young people to be the best they can be. Thank you, Sarah x

More & more opportunities for learning…this time technology

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Sarah’s blog 18/03/22

This is something Levison is hugely excited about and I guess we can only understand his excitement to a certain degree. I learned to type on an old fashioned typewriter at school but we had a ZX81 at home and my friend had a ZX Spectrum and thought these were the coolest things ever! My brother had a Game Boy with Donkey Kong on it which I preferred as I wasn’t patient enough to programme in pages of instructions just to see a dot move across a screen!! How times have changed!

Almost everyone in the developed world has access to technology. Children can access school work online, you can ‘google’ just about anything and do all your banking via your mobile phone. So it is really important to Levison that the orphans and vulnerable children have access to computers which will open up a whole new world for them. There is no internet at the moment so the children will learn to type and use Word and get more familiar with using a mouse and what a computer actually is. This will take a bit of time as they have never seen or used computers.

When we can afford to pay for internet, imagine how that will extend their learning. The apprentices, for example, will be able to access online learning or look up something on Youtube to see ways to do things. Children will be able to link up with a school here and have a ‘penpal’ and maybe occasionally will be able to email their sponsors. There is so much learning out there that the children will soon be able to access to help their grades: maths practice sessions, spelling games, history, geography and much, much more.

I asked Levison what the children said and this is what he said “The children have said that they never knew and touched a computer. They can’t believe they can work on a computer.”

I asked Levison what he thought “This is the same Ibuluma, a rural place in Northern Malawi. Bringing ICT to the rural setting. Defying the impossibility ideology. My dreams are coming into reality.”

There also needs to be another source of power. Just this morning there was a power cut due to the heavy rain and other times electricity isn’t guaranteed. But little by little life is changing for these children. Opportunities are happening and the children are desperate to learn and know that people care about them. When the children first saw the computers they thought they were televisions. They will be experts in no time, I’m sure! Thanks for reading and if you’d like to get in touch to help in any way it’s contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for being part of the team helping us to continue Changing Lives Malawi, Sarah x

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Video – Nursery Children ABC

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Sarah’s blog 15/3/22

Now that we have the added bonus of being able to play videos on our website, I thought it would be nice to see this little video again that was previously shown on facebook. Tables and chairs were sent on the last container and this is the children from the nursery in Emma’s Rainbow Library.

These children (ages 4-6) are sitting at tables for the first time and have been given books to look at. Compared to our children they have missed out on lots of stages of pre literacy; sitting on an adult’s knee as a baby whilst an adult reads a story, learning whilst a toddler to turn the pages of a book to continue the story, looking at all the pictures and talking about that with the adult or pointing to items in the pictures. Then children usually will follow the text with their index finger, even though they aren’t at the right word they know by that stage that words go left to right and that the words make up the story.

Hopefully, now there are books in the library the children will have lots of opportunities to look at books and have stories read to them. There are nursery bags on the container that is about to leave Dundee next week that will be given to each child who starts at The Foundation Nursery. These bags contain; a blanket, two red t-shirts, 2 pairs of pants, toothbrush & toothpaste, soap and a picture book. Each child will then have a book at their home and books and reading will become more of an everyday part of life. Enjoy the video, Sarah x

Emma’s Rainbow Library now has tables & chairs and even more books!

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Sarah’s blog 09/02/22

There were so many great photos taken yesterday that I thought it was best to split them in half. Yesterday’s photos were of the nursery children in their new clothes and flipflops playing with the train set that had been gifted to the nursery.

Today’s photos are of the library…named after Emma Buchanan who wanted to go to Malawi and who loved her dad reading to her whilst she was poorly. Emma is no longer here but will never be forgotten and her name lives on in Emma’s Rainbow Library. We had a donation a while ago for shelves to be built and books have been donated for the library. On the last container we managed to send some stacking chairs. This time more chairs were sent and 8 tables.

How many things do we use tables for? Preparing food, eating, writing, cutting fabric and resting the sewing machine on….the list is endless. These are the first proper tables and Levison is absolutely delighted that they have tables and chairs now. The library is looking great and, once again, we thank everyone involved in making improvements for the vulnerable children who are supported by The William Stewart Foundation. Thank you to the Bananabox Trust for facilitating the safe delivery of all the boxes, tables and chairs.

The nursery children sat at the tables in the library yesterday…probably the first time they had sat at a table. They each had a book to look at the pictures and turn the pages then their new clothes were given out whilst they were all sitting down. We hope you like looking at the photos of the children and all that is happening at The Foundation to continue Changing |Lives Malawi. Thanks for reading, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

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Reading in Emma’s Rainbow Library

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Sarah’s blog 17/10/21

Fundraising enabled a library to be built and named after Emma Buchanan, a lovely girl who sadly passed away. She loved reading and, if she had been in better health, would have loved to have visited Malawi.

Shelves have been built in the library and we’ve been sending books. There are more on the next container; educational books as well as fiction. Also some tables and chairs.

This morning Levison sent me photos of young people sitting reading in the library. I asked if he could ask a couple of the young people what they were reading and why they picked the books that they had. It was really enlightening to hear from them and find out a bit a more information.

Moses is in the white t-shirt and Lameck in the pink t-shirt. Moses has a sponsor and is on the apprenticeship scheme. Lameck doesn’t have a sponsor and does casual piece work to try to buy food.

Moses said he wanted to look at stories in books and, if possible, wants to write his own stories. Unfortunately, Moses had only completed his first year in secondary school and then dropped out due to lack of resources and money to pay his fees. He then was able to be sponsored to go on the apprenticeship scheme for two years. After hearing he would like to write stories, I contacted his sponsor today to ask if they would be willing to support Moses for three years if he was to go back to secondary school and finish his education as Levison said that is what Moses would love to do. His sponsor was delighted to be able to help with this. Moses will find out tomorrow that he is able to return to secondary school in January and I’m sure he will work hard.

Lameck told Levison that he was interested in learning more about culture so that’s why he chose that book. Lameck has no sponsor. He didn’t even complete primary school and sit his leavers exams through no fault of his own. He only had rags to wear. He didn’t have notebooks and pencils that he needed to write his lessons. He had no choice but to drop out of primary school. So, despite wanting to learn, unless his luck changes, he is destined for a low paid job (if he can find a steady job) or doing piece work as and when work is available.

It would be amazing if someone could sponsor Lameck to go on the apprenticeship scheme for two years to be taught practical skills or if he could finish his last year in primary school, do his exams, and then go to secondary school for four years. It’s £25 per month to sponsor a child or young person. You can sponsor as an individual or a family or share the cost with a friend. Can you imagine if we hadn’t been able to go to school because we didn’t have a notebook and pencil? Sponsoring Lameck might be the most important thing anyone ever does for him. Can you give Lameck the gift of education. Please? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x

Lots of young people reading books in the library this morning. Lameck was reading about history and culture and Moses was reading different books with stories as he’d like to write stories too.

Moses had completed one year of secondary school but dropped out due to poverty. His sponsor has been supporting him on the apprenticeship programme but is going to support him to go back to school. Life is looking good for Moses thanks to his sponsor.

Lameck didn’t even get to finish primary school due to extreme poverty and has been trying to do casual work ever since to buy food. Lameck deserves a chance to finish his last year of primary school and go on to secondary school. He clearly likes learning and reading and is trying to better himself. Please can you give Lameck the gift of education?

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