These young people need a sponsor to help them access secondary education which isn’t free in Malawi. Will you help please?
Sarah’s blog 10/8/24
Thank you so much to the generous people who have come forward and offered to sponsor a young person to go to Bright Futures Secondary School. We are so grateful for everyone who sponsors one of the young people we help to support.
Secondary school is not free in Malawi. So, unless these young people receive help, their education stops at the end of primary school whether they pass their primary school leavers exams or not. This doesn’t seem fair. They are all living in extreme poverty. Many are orphans living with extended family. None can pay school fees. All of them know that education is their way out of poverty and to a brighter future with choices and chances.
The new school term in Malawi starts on 16th September. Will you help us please? We need to find sponsors for all of these young people. You can sponsor as an individual, a family or two friends can share the cost. It’s only £25 per month to change a young person’s life. Or if 5 friends shared sponsorship of a young person then that’s only £5 each per month. Please could you ask your friends?
Apart from paying the teachers’ salaries, the biggest cost is food. At Bright Futures Secondary School each student gets a substantial, nutritious meal each lunchtime. For most this is their only meal of the day, so it is vital. Families, knowing that the students are fed at school, don’t have to worry about feeding them at home. This is how poor families are. They just do not have enough to go round.
I’ve enclosed the link to my original blog about looking for sponsors but the photos in this blog are the young people who still need your help. Please contact me to ensure we can help. It takes teamwork. Thank you so much, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
I have been asked to find sponsors for these vulnerable students so they can attend secondary school. I cannot do this without your help. Please read today’s blog and help if you can.
Sarah’s blog 14/06/24
It’s bad enough for our children waiting for exam results but, in Malawi, did you know that only primary education is free? So depending on their national primary school exam results their education might stop at the end of primary school. Also, if their families cannot pay, their education stops at the end of primary school. Imagine if our children only had primary school education? Think of everything they would miss out on.
There are 8 years of primary school and children start school at age 6. Class sizes are 50+ children. For example, Chambo Primary School, in the rural far north of Malawi has 500+ students over 8 classrooms. Only one classroom had desks and benches, until we successfully applied for a grant to install clean drinking water and desks and benches for two further classrooms. This grant was thanks to the Kitchen Table Charities Trust. Another grant from the Eleanor Rathbone Trust, meant that a girls toilet block was built. Meaning that girls no longer had to squat in the bushes which left them at risk of attack and with no dignity or privacy.
Five classrooms are remaining with children sitting on the concrete floor. There were hardly any resources until we started our School Literacy Project, gifting boxes of preloved books to help students become more confident readers. We gave students at Chambo Primary school notebooks and pencils in January…nowhere near enough for what they need…but better than nothing. Thanks to our fundraising on the site DonorSee these vulnerable children are about to receive more notebooks and pencils (one now and one in September).
Imagine not being able to afford a notebook and pencil. Imagine not being able to afford soap. Imagine not eating properly each day. No big charities are working in the far north yet. We can only afford to feed 500 children once a week whilst we try to set up sustainable projects to help them be self-sufficient.
Many of these students in primary school are older than they would normally be. If they are one of the eldest children in a family, they might have dropped out of school for a while to work for a pittance to help bring money into their family to provide food whilst the younger children in the family attended school. Or maybe all the children in the family had to work. Or they might have had to look after an elderly relative. So there can be many different ages in one class of students.
I need your help. I have been asked to find sponsors for 18 students who have just done their primary school leavers exams. They are bright students and are all expected to pass. None can go to secondary school without financial support. I have managed to find sponsors for 4 of them – many thanks to those sponsors for coming forward. However, I still need to match 14 students with sponsors and I’ve only got 12 weeks to do it before the new term starts in mid September. THESE STUDENTS ARE HOPING THEY WILL BE ABLE TO GO TO BRIGHT FUTURES SECONDARY SCHOOL BUT THEY NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE. They wait in hope of a brighter future. They know that education is their way out of poverty. This will be the most important gift these young people have – the gift of education. Will you reach out and help one of them? Please?
Being a sponsor is less than £1 per day. How many people buy a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps that we don’t really need? Could you spare less than £1 per day? It’s only £25 per month to make a difference to one of these young people. You can sponsor as an individual, two friends could share the cost (making it less than 50p per day) or your club, school or church could sponsor a young person’s education. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com When you meet a friend for a coffee or have a few glasses of wine with your friends, would you ask them please if they can join you in sponsoring a young person’s education? If we have lots of little groups of friends or colleagues sponsoring one young person, just think what a difference we could make. It’s always about teamwork. You have the ability to change a life.
Being sponsored means these students will receive free education at Bright Futures Secondary School where class sizes are kept smaller than average. They will receive school uniform and stationery and other gifts. Each student will receive a free nutritious lunch each day. For most, this is their only meal of the day so it is vital for their health and concentration.
Will you help one of these vulnerable young people please? Many are orphans, living with extended family or some are from single parent families. All are living in dire poverty. Your help and support to gift these young people a secondary education and a brighter future will be so welcome. Will you help us help them today? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Together we can keep Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thanks, Sarah x
Yesterday we were contacted by Arnold Clark to ask if we would like to help with a promotion they would be doing today. They are the new sponsors for the front of the Scotland Rugby Team shirts. Today, they announced that 500 people could swap their last season’s shirt for a brand new shirt at one of the two Macron shops. We were asked if we would like all the preloved shirts to send to the young people we help to support in Malawi.
As well as gifting 500 shirts for us to reuse, Arnold Clark have agreed to pay for the container costs for these shirts which is a huge help. And, what we are really excited about, is that they have promised to donate £500 to ensure we can run another rugby tournament for the orphans and other vulnerable children.
We are absolutely delighted that these shirts will be going to young people in need and that we will have money to ensure that Jack Mphande, Malawi Rugby’s Development Officer can come and visit for a third time. Thanks to our supporters, we were able to pay Jack’s expenses for his previous trips to introduce touch rugby to those in the far north of Malawi.
When the young people meet for training and the tournament, we will have money to be able to feed them all and provide drinks. No big charities are working that far north to feed children in primary schools, so all of these children are hungry (most are malnourished) and need to eat so they will have enough energy to enjoy their games of rugby.
Until recently, these orphans were not used to people visiting and wanting to spend time with them. It really helps their confidence and self-esteem. They learn new skills and have fun with their friends and are able to forget about the dire poverty they live in and the trauma they have been through.
Thank you Arnold Clark for partnering with us to ensure the continuation of grass roots rugby in northern Malawi. Thank you everyone who donates their tops that will ensure the young people have matching tops instead of their old and ripped ones. They will all be delighted. Thank you to the rugby development officer, Jack Mphande, for agreeing to visit again. There will be so much excitement when the young people know you are coming!
There will be lots of photos and videos so please do follow us on social media if you haven’t already done so. Here is the link to the new rugby shirts that came out today https://www.facebook.com/share/v/vm3miom5zWkb5oZh/
We always say it takes teamwork and we are very grateful to be given this opportunity to reach more people through partnership working. To the team at Arnold Clark – thank you. To Scottish Rugby – thank you. To everyone else who supports us – thank you also. We couldn’t do what we do without you all, Sarah. (Below is a photo of the new Scotland Rugby shirt and there are a few photos from Jack’s previous visits to teach touch rugby to the orphans)
All the children are hungry. It’s now school holidays. Please help us continue to feed them and plan for future sustainable feeding projects
Sarah’s blog 1/8/24
The schools in Malawi are now on summer holidays and won’t return until mid September. The sponsored students at Bright Futures Secondary School will receive a monthly food parcel, like the other sponsored children, as they won’t have their usual school lunches.
The Feeding Programme will be needed more than ever as Bright Futures Nursery is closed for the school holidays. These preschool children usually receive porridge at each session so, unfortunately, they won’t have that. https://donorsee.com/project/23502?share=1 to donate to feeding the nursery kids.
The feeding programme runs once a week and up to 500 children and young people are fed a substantial and nutritious meal. Children walk up to 20km for this one proper meal of the week. They are so hungry. Please donate here https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1
Fruit tree saplings have been planted. These will be a sustainable future source of food and income as excess fruit can be sold at the local markets. We are fundraising to buy more fruit tree saplings to add to the orchard. Here is the link https://donorsee.com/project/23627?share=1
Chickens have been bought to lay eggs and more fertilised eggs will be bought soon to put in the solar powered incubator. This will be another food source and sustainable income source. Thanks to the donors who funded this project.
We are raising money to buy piglets and make a pig pen. Future piglets that will be born will be sold at local markets and will provide a sustainable income. Here is the link to donate to this project https://donorsee.com/project/23894?share=1
These, and other projects, are all plans to help the community be self-sufficient and sustainable and also be good for the environment. However, the malnourished children need food now. Will you help us please to ensure that we can continue to feed them? https://donorsee.com/project/23502?share=1 to donate to feeding the nursery kids.
Thank you in advance for supporting and helping the orphans, Sarah x
School holidays always mean that I don’t have as much time to devote to Changing Lives Malawi but that doesn’t mean nothing happens. I’ve applied for two grants this week. There are so many people chasing the same money that it’s not often that we get lucky…but fingers crossed!
At the end of last week, I received a cheque for £4,500 from The Inverclyde Trust, for which we are very grateful. This is the third time they have supported our work and this donation will go towards the next phase of teachers’ accommodation and latrines as more teachers will be needed at Bright Futures Secondary School in September. Thank you so much for making a difference again.
I’ve received two parcels of preloved shoes in the post and also two bags of shoes have been dropped off at our house. These will be great for the teenagers at Bright Futures Secondary School. Thank you again!
All Saints Junior School in Maidenhead emailed me to ask if we are still collecting preloved school uniform. They are changing their uniform and have some new and preloved clothes to send us as well as some new backpacks. This is a great donation and so many of the orphans we support will benefit from some lovely new clothes. All Saints are about to break up for their summer holidays but, once they are back, we look forward to bringing updates of the donations and also some fundraising that the children will be helping with. We are so glad that you got in touch and look forward to partnering with you after the school holidays.
Hopefully, later in the week, there will be photos of the next lot of boxes arriving at their destination. We have heard that the container has reached the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, and is waiting to be released by customs. Once that happens, the container will reach its final destination at Ekwendeni, near Mzuzu. It’s always very exciting waiting for boxes and other supplies to arrive. Sometimes boxes were packed so long ago that we’ve forgotten what was in some of them – although I do keep an overall note of what is in the boxes and who things are for. I’m looking forward to seeing the preschool children with some new resources and also students at Bright Futures Secondary School with some topic books they requested.
We are still trying to raise funds for lots of small projects so any donations will be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x https://donorsee.com/project/23995?share=1
Apologies for the amount of photos and videos from Sunday. Well worth looking at as they will make you smile 🙂
Sarah’s blog 11/7/24
Here are some amazing photos and videos from Sunday 7th July. Approximately 500 children and young people turn up when they know it’s a day when the feeding programme is on. Some walk for 15km or 20km for their one proper meal of the week. We really need your help please to ensure that there is always enough money to buy the food that is needed to feed this many hungry children.
As well as photos and videos of feeding the children, you will see some of what the children get up to on a typical day at Bright Futures Campus. It is their safe place to be with their friends and to be children. They can forget about their hardships for a few hours.
There are always chores like washing dishes, sweeping up and watering the plants. The saplings in these photos and videos were planted last year so they are growing really well. The library is always open for reading, sometimes there will be a video to watch. You can see children playing a traditional game as well as playing with the wooden trainset that used to belong to my youngest son. And there is always a ball to play with! I loved that some children were playing at being teachers too.
Levison gave his phone to a group of children and they did a great job of taking some selfies….some brilliant smiles once they’d figured out what they were doing….it’s so lovely to see them enjoying themselves. In the photos and videos, I spotted maroon sweatshirts from Strathblane Primary School and jade green from Balfron Primary School as well as a navy jumper from Riverside Primary in Stirling. Did you notice any other school jumpers?
It’s a bit of a photo dump/video dump so apologies for there being quite a lot…but they are worth it and hope you are smiling by the end. If you can spare any money for a donation to feed the children, it would be very much appreciated https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1 Thank you, Sarah x
10 vulnerable students are needing sponsors to help with their secondary education. Will you help? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Sarah’s blog 6/7/24
10 students needing sponsors with 9 weeks until the new term!
I’d like to start by saying THANK YOU to the lovely people who answered the call for help for new sponsors. I was set the challenge of finding sponsors for 18 young people who have just left primary school. Now there are 10 to find sponsors for and we are very grateful that eight have now been matched with sponsors to support their education.
In Malawi, secondary education needs to be paid for. None of the young people we help to support would be able to have a secondary education if they don’t have a sponsor to help with the cost of their place at secondary school. Bright Futures Secondary School was built for these students who had no hope of a brighter future….but, with your help, they now can see a way out of the extreme poverty they are living in.
One of the biggest daily costs at Bright Futures Secondary School is food. These young people do not eat a proper meal at home each day. They receive a nutritious, filling lunch each day they are at school. This is their only meal of the day and saves their families having to feed them. So it is vital that they are all fed at school. Apart from their free lunches, they receive free education, free uniform and shoes, stationery and water bottles.
It costs £25 per month to sponsor a young person. You can be a sponsor as an individual or a family or you could share the cost of being a sponsor with your friends or club. Anyone can help and it’s less than £1 per day. That might not seem a lot to us, but it is probably one of the most important things you can do for one of these young people….the gift of education. Please do get in touch if you think you can help or you’d like more information. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for reading and supporting us to help these vulnerable young people, Sarah x
This was my original post asking for help to support the education of these vulnerable young people
https://donorsee.com/project/24114?share=1 Here is a link to donate to provide vegetable seeds and sweet potato vines to support the agricultural classes at Bright Futures Secondary School. Brian, an S2 student, is saying how much he enjoys agricultural classes and asks for continued support. Growing their own vegetables to supplement their school lunches is something for them to be proud of!
Crops for use in the feeding programme have been stolen.
Sarah’s blog 4/7/24
Just a short blog today. The mood is low and people are worried.
Life is tough in Malawi when you are living in poverty. I don’t think we will ever realise how difficult it is and totally soul destroying at times. Maize and groundnuts crops had been planted and were being tended. Unfortunately, when the crops were checked today… a large amount of the crops have been stolen.
I can’t imagine depending on food that you have spent hours trying to grow…suddenly it’s not there any more. Someone else took your food. Someone took the food meant for malnourished orphans.
This is terrible news regarding feeding the children and the backbreaking work that has gone into clearing the land, planting and weeding the maize and groundnuts. And how desperate life must be if people are stealing other people’s crops meant to be helping feed hundreds of orphans.
If you can help us continue feeding 500+ vulnerable children once a week, 70+ nursery children 6 times a week and students at BFSS 5 times a week then please donate a little something to the link below. They need to be fed while we set up sustainable feeding projects for the future.
Please help. Together we can ensure that the Feeding Programme can continue. Thank you, Sarah x
Sustainability and Self-sufficiency are the end goals. Please read today’s blog about how we are trying to help achieve this.
Sarah’s blog 3/7/24
Every day I want to wave a magic wand to do progress all our projects asap. Clearly that doesn’t work and my magic wand has been sent for repair!
One big issue that we have is that no big charities are feeding malnourished children in primary schools that far north. We cannot ignore this issue. We are feeding 500 of the most vulnerable children once a week. They have a substantial, nutritious meal. Some of them are walking 15km-20km for this food. It’s not good enough but all we can afford. We need your help and support with this please as costs keep rising.
We are trying to help set up sustainable projects for a better future for all of them. By planting fruit tree saplings, they will have future food and a sustainable income – being able to sell surplus fruit at the local markets. The same is happening with a chicken project and a pig project – providing future food and income. There are other small projects that will be set up providing jobs, income and food for families. The community needs and wants a hand up not a handout.
We have started using a fundraising site called DonorSee. We have a page on there with several projects posted. The idea is that the more people who donate to your projects, the more visible the projects are to other potential donors. We are conscious that we are asking a lot of our supporters, so this is one way of trying to find new supporters. The majority of the people on DonorSee are in USA.
What I would be really grateful if you could do please… is I need 15 people to each donate £5 (or $5) just a small amount. Login or make an account on DonorSee and just give a small amount and we will move further up the page that others will see our projects….we’ve already received over £1,000 and fully funded 4 projects. Please? It’s always about teamwork and we need you on our team.
For less than £1 per day…you could change a child’s life. Brighton’s sponsor has…will you give a brighter future to a child or young person today?
Sarah’s blog 29/06/24
I just wanted to show you the difference that having a sponsor makes. Brighton Ng’ambi was traumatised and malnurished when I first wrote about him. He was covered in lice and one of the women volunteers gently helped him shower and get clean. He was then given clothes and fed. However, it was just too much for him to be with the other children so Levison sat quietly with him in the library while he ate his food.
I appealed for a sponsor and, thankfully, a kind lady came forward and has been sponsoring him for two years. He has had a monthly food parcel to take home to his extended family that he lives with. He also comes to the weekly feeding programme. Life is still hard for Brighton and he is still hungry but he has hope. His smile has returned and what a lovely smile it is. He has a brighter future thanks to his sponsor and the team in Malawi.
Please read his story that I wrote two years ago and look at the photos then and now. If you think you could help make a young person’s life better then please do get in touch. There are many more like Brighton who need our help. It’s only £25 p/m to sponsor a child or young person….that’s less than £1 per day. You can sponsor as an individual or why not share the cost with a friend? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Together we can change lives but we need you on our team! Please help a child like Brighton.
https://donorsee.com/project/23035?share=1 This is the link to our fundraiser to help feed 500 vulnerable children once a week at the feeding programme. Please make a small donation if you can and spread the word. Thank you for reading and supporting us to continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi, Sarah x
Thanks to generous donors that’s another project fully funded on DonorSee. These children are delighted with their bar of soap.
Sarah’s blog 25/06/24
Another one of our small projects that is on our DonorSee page has been fully funded by generous donors….thank you so much. We appealed for money to buy bars of soap for Bright Futures Nursery, Chambo Primary School and Bright Futures Secondary School. All of these now have clean water to drink and wash hands but soap is also necessary for keeping infection and germs from spreading.
Soap is also provided in the shower block. This is such a useful facility for so many children so that they are able to get clean and get rid of the dust and dirt. By taking a bar of soap home, their caregivers will be able to wash their clothes. They probably don’t have soap very often. Something we take for granted. So enjoy these photos and video of the nursery children who are delighted that they have been given a bar of soap. If you contributed – thank you for making their lives just a little bit better.
As you can see from the building behind – it needs repainting. All the sun and then heavy rain have faded the paint and it’s looking a little bit worn. The writing says ‘Emma’s Rainbow Library’ named for Emma Buchanan who was taken too soon. She loved reading and would have loved to go to Malawi on a school trip but her health prevented that. After Emma passed, a beautiful rainbow appeared. Her family helped fundraise for the library building. So painting is on the list of jobs that needs doing!
Here is the link to our DonorSee page… perhaps you’d like to make a small donation to one of our other projects? DonorSee Thanks, Sarah x
Happy nursery children with their bars of soap – thank you!Two very happy smiley boysThese children are aged between 4 and 6 years old. They start school at age 6.Holding their precious gifts up high
Thank you for the soap
58 happy children having each received a bar of soap this morning
Thank you to everyone who donated to help provide stationery for approximately 150 vulnerable students at Chambo Primary School
Sarah’s blog 24/6/24
We are trying out a fundraising site called DonorSee where we are putting small projects that we wouldn’t usually be able to fund without support. Today’s blog is about one of those projects.
Levison had done a video appeal for notebooks and pencils for the students at Chambo Primary School. These are some of the most vulnerable children in Malawi, many are orphans, and their families struggle to feed them. There are no feeding programmes in primary schools in the far north….we can only afford to feed 500 of them once a week. Some children walk 15km or 20km for that one proper meal of the week. So there is certainly no spare money for families to buy notebooks. Children just go without.
So we put Levison’s appeal on DonorSee and there were some lovely people who saw the video and donated money. We are very grateful. Once the money was sent, Levison organised notebooks and pencils to be bought. There are three classrooms out of eight which have desks. These students were each given a notebook and pencil. They still have another month before school stops for summer holidays. There are enough notebooks and pencils left for them to have the same again in September. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed.
The three classes were brought outside when Levison visited Chambo Primary this morning. I’m sure they wondered what was going on. You can see how happy they were to get these gifts. One student told Levison ‘I don’t know how life would have been without the support we are being given.’ Levison said, apart from the obvious benefits to their education with being given stationery, it is showing these orphans and other vulnerable children that people care about them.
Here is the link to our DonorSee page DonorSee – if you can give a little donation it would be very much appreciated – there are a few different projects for you to see. Many thanks again. With help, good things are happening, Sarah x
Happy students at Chambo Primary School with their gifts
The students are thanking the donors of their exercise books and pencilsApproximately 150 students from 3 classes received stationery todayLots of happy studentsMost of these children are suffering from malnutrition and are some of the most vulnerable in Malawi. No big charities feed children in primary schools this far north so all are hungry.
