Tag: malnutrition

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?

Judith needs medical help

Sarah 24/4/22

Levison sees a lot of children. To a certain extent, he must have to get used to the dire poverty these families live in, as he can’t help absolutely everyone. However, he’s sent me these photos and said he was almost crying because of how this family are struggling. Mum has a 4 month old baby (sitting on the blanket) and three other children. Dad has had to go away to find piece work and no one knows when he will come home. Matthew, John and Judith are all malnourished and all need matched with sponsors. However, poor Judith needs urgent medical attention for her eyes. She must be in pain and needs to be seen as soon as possible.

I realise I am always asking for help, but there are so many children who cannot get out of their awful situation without our help. They need your help.

So today I am asking for three people to each sponsor one of these malnourished children. It’s only 85p per day and you can sponsor as an individual, two friends, a family or a business or club. Judith also needs someone to pay for her to see a doctor. Is this something you can do to help her?

If you will help Judith and her family please email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com This might be the kindest thing anyone has every done for Judith. Will you help? Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

The Munyenyembe Family (baby Miracle is on the blanket). All are malnourished and Judith needs urgent medical attention.

Some of the most vulnerable children

These are the most vulnerable children and most in need of a sponsor. Can you be a helping hand to one of these children?

Sarah’s blog 5/4/22

I wanted to highlight some of the orphans and vulnerable children that Levison has taken photos of previously. He’s done this as they are some of the most vulnerable and most in need of a sponsor. It’s only £25 per month to sponsor a child and you can do that as an individual, a group or two friends. 85p per day will mean the world to these children.

I’ve highlighted each child with a coloured background because I think they deserve to be seen. They deserve to have the same chances our children have. They deserve to have food, clothes, education. They deserve to reach their potential. They deserve to have a helping hand. They deserve to know that someone cares.

Please…can you be a helping hand to one of these children? It might be one of the most important things you ever do. It might be one of the most rewarding things you ever do. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thank you for reading and I hope to hear from some of you and match you with a child. Sarah x

International School Meals Day – but not for all

Sarah’s blog 10/03/22

A few days ago, I found out via a message from my son’s school, that 10th March is International School Meals Day. At his school, there is a different menu choice for today which is why we received the message. I understand, from the internet, that it is a way of promoting healthy eating and having conversations about food. This is a good idea.

However, because of my passion for helping those who are the most vulnerable, once we had established what my son wants for his lunch choice today, my next thought was how many children in the world don’t ever get a school dinner let alone a choice?

500+ orphans and other vulnerable children come to The Foundation Feeding Programme that runs once a week. They are fed a substantial and nutritious meal. Some walk up to 20km to receive their one proper meal of the week. All suffer from malnutrition. We can only afford to support The Feeding Programme to run once a week. There are no agencies in the far north of Malawi feeding children in schools. Already, teachers are able to see that these children’s concentration has improved thanks to one proper meal a week….imagine if we could afford to feed them more often. Some children can go for a day or a couple of days without eating. That is heart breaking.

The end goal is for The Foundation and the village to be self-sufficient, but until that time arrives, these most vulnerable, malnourished children need our help. Please can you support us to support them? Please? If you could commit to giving a regular small donation each month then please contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com for bank details. Or another way to donate to the feeding programme is to text FEEDING to 70490 .Together we can make malnutrition a thing of the past and you can help us to continue Changing Lives Malawi. Maybe one day International School Meals Day will be a day that all children can celebrate and be included in. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

New clothes, shoes & maize for a needy family

Sarah’s blog 2/3/22

We saw this family last week. The roof had almost totally blown off their mud house in the wind and rain. They were able to temporarily ‘borrow’ another house….the roof isn’t much better on this one but at least they have shelter.

The family had been invited to The Foundation to receive some gifts. Today they came. Here are the photos. They cried tears of joy and couldn’t believe the lovely things they had been given. Thanks to Moses and Angela now having sponsors, Levison was able to give the family a bag of maize.

They are all malnourished and extremely sad and upset by what has happened to them. They are exhausted due to lack of food. Levison has assured them that The Foundation will look after them. We will bring you more photos of them which will, hopefully, show the improvements in their health and wellbeing.

If you would like to sponsor a child to help change their life then please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x

The family’s ‘new’ temporary home
The roof of the family’s mud house has almost totally been destroyed by the wind & rain

18 months & a lovely smile!

Sarah’s blog 26/02/22

Manuel has had a tough life. Tougher than most of us will ever know. He has suffered the loss of his parents and another important caregiver and been malnourished and dressed in rags that were literally falling off him.

He was first sponsored 18 months ago after we had shown a photo of him in his only clothes…..full of holes. He has had new clothes, food and a football. Since his mum died, Levison organised for Manuel to live with his aunt and uncle and two cousins. A sponsor kindly came forward to sponsor Manuel’s cousin, Roda. So the family now has regular food going into their home as well as the children being gifted blankets and clothes and books etc.

Manuel’s sponsor gave some money to buy fertiliser for the uncle’s small piece of land. The photos are of Manuel & his uncle, taken yesterday, receiving the fertiliser. Compare these with the original photo of Manuel, and the one with his cousins when he had first moved in with them after his mum had died. Just look at the difference….Manuel looks happy and healthy and his smile is just amazing to see. This is the difference having a sponsor can make. Over 80 of the most vulnerable children are sponsored now. Let’s make things better for more.

Can you be a sponsor to a child like Manuel? A smile like that is all the confirmation you need that you can make a difference to a child by becoming their sponsor. We always say it’s about teamwork….we can’t help these orphans and vulnerable children without you. We need you. Children like Manuel need you. Sponsoring a child like Manuel might be one of the most important things you ever do. It will be the greatest gift you can give one of these children. Thanks to his sponsor, Manuel will now have opportunities open to him that he would have only been able to dream about. Together we can help these children realise their dreams. Together we can continue Changing Lives Malawi. It’s only £25 per month to sponsor a child. Please get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x

You could change the life of a child like Manuel and put a smile on their face. It would be the biggest gift you could ever give to a very vulnerable child.