Thank you so much to Malawi24 news for sharing the story of the important work being done at Bright Futures Secondary School during their agriculture classes.
Sarah’s blog 12/1/25
We area absolutely delighted that my post about tree planting by the students at Bright Futures Secondary School was seen by a news outlet in Malawi. They interviewed Levison yesterday and have published the story today. Levison says he’s had lots of phone calls about the article both from others who are also taking part in reforestation projects and people passing on their congratulations. I hope you are able to read the article below;
Thank you to everyone who has supported this project with financial donations. As you can see, it is a hugely important project and we are delighted that the students at Bright Futures Secondary School are having opportunities like this to make a difference in their community and that they are learning about reforestation, agroforestry, agriculture, climate crisis and being responsible citizens. The students are going to be shown the article tomorrow and I am sure they will be delighted that their hard work is being recognised. Thanks, Sarah x
Thank you so much to Malawi24 news for sharing the story of the important work being done at Bright Futures Secondary School during their agriculture classes.
Sarah’s blog 12/1/25
We area absolutely delighted that my post about tree planting by the students at Bright Futures Secondary School was seen by a news outlet in Malawi. They interviewed Levison yesterday and have published the story today. Levison says he’s had lots of phone calls about the article both from others who are also taking part in reforestation projects and people passing on their congratulations. I hope you are able to read the article below;
Thank you to everyone who has supported this project with financial donations. As you can see, it is a hugely important project and we are delighted that the students at Bright Futures Secondary School are having opportunities like this to make a difference in their community and that they are learning about reforestation, agroforestry, agriculture, climate crisis and being responsible citizens. The students are going to be shown the article tomorrow and I am sure they will be delighted that their hard work is being recognised. Thanks, Sarah x
Please read this news article. The children we help to support are some of the most vulnerable in Malawi and need your help.
Sarah’s blog 30/11/24
I saw that a friend on Facebook had shared this newspaper article on hunger and malnutrition in Malawi. I asked Levison if he was ok with me sharing it. I am aware of trying to get a balance between positive and good news stories against those stories that are about how people are struggling and need our help. Levison said ‘This is the truth. It is pathetic to see how kids suffer from hunger in Malawi and we expect them to do well in class.’ So here it is. (I will retype some of it as it will be difficult to read if looking at it on a phone).
A 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report has indicated that the hunger situation in Malawi is serious….According to the report, Malawi faces significant challenges regarding food security and nutrition, exacerbated by several factors which include high levels of poverty, reliance on subsistence farming and vulnerability to climate shocks. The report says that, despite progress being made, hunger has declined only marginally since 2016 and that the prospects for achieving zero hunger by 2030 are grim. Malawi has about 4.7 million food insecure people. The report says progress in reducing all four GHI indications – under-nutrition, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality – is lagging behind international targets.
This is why we need you help. Yes, progress is being made and we (thanks to our wonderful supporters) have several successful building projects under our belts now including; Bright Futures Secondary School, Emma’s Rainbow Library, a shower block, latrines, and Teachers’ accommodation. There is clean drinking water too as well as an orchard, hens and now three pigs.
However, whilst progress is being made for future sustainability and self-sufficiency… 500 of the most vulnerable children are only being fed at The Feeding Programme once a week. It’s not enough. Some are walking from up to 20kms for that one proper meal of the week. Some are carrying toddler siblings. One nutritious meal per week is not enough but it is all we can afford. Some girls are still at risk of being married off too young as families cannot feed them.
There are no big charities are feeding children in schools in the rural north. That immediately puts these children at a huge disadvantage. How can they sleep properly if they are hungry and cold? How can they concentrate if they are tired? How can we expect them to retain information if they are malnourished and not eating properly each day?
This is why these children need your help and why we keep appealing for donations. The end goal is sustainability and self-sufficiency but the children need more – now. We need to do more to relieve the hunger and malnutrition amongst the children we help to support. Will you help?
We are now in the run up to the end of 2024… another year that has gone so quickly! And we are hoping that you might include one of our projects in your charity giving. We have a page on DonorSee where there are a few projects – some of which are food for the future while others, like the Christmas Party appeal, are to give children an extra meal and a party. Will you help us please? As we are volunteers, all money we receive goes to the projects we support.
Thank you so much to everyone for your support. We always say it’s about teamwork and we need you on our team to continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thank you for reading and giving, Sarah x
Some of the children queuing up to be fedchildren are fed in age groups with the youngest ones being firstPlease help us ensure that there is funding for the children’s Christmas PartyYour support means that some of the most vulnerable children in Malawi will receive an extra meal and a fun time with their friends.
It’s been an extremely busy week here and in Malawi with lots of good news.
I had been contacted by my MSP, Evelyn Tweed, asking to meet with me. So we met at Doyles Cafe in Balfron last Tuesday. I was able to tell her all about the great things that are happening in Malawi and also ask her advice. She was very supportive of me and the charity and has suggested a few ways she can offer some help. https://twitter.com/EvelynTweedSNP/status/1693563601213378648?s=20
Jackie and I had a very busy Saturday at ‘The Balfron Bash’. We had a stall with info about the charity, lovely home baking for sale and a tombola. We made £263 on Saturday…so thank you to everyone who supported us and came to say ‘hello’. Big thanks to Ewan and Stuart for their help with the gazebo and to Jackie for organising the tombola.
David, one of our trustees, took the last lot of boxes to Dundee today. The Bananabox warehouse is full and they will order a container for the first weekend in September so, hopefully, those boxes might be there by Christmas (or early January).
Chambo Primary School had their clean water taps connected yesterday. We had received a grant from The Kitchen Table Charities Trust and part of the grant was to use the clean water supply at Chambo Health Centre and run a pipe to Chambo Primary School. They now have three taps and clean water to drink and wash their hands. We are so pleased to have been able to play a small part in helping to improve lives for so many children. Chambo Primary has clean water!
We are still fundraising for phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School to ensure there are enough classrooms for the next intake of students. We also need to raise funds for text books as, currently for s3, there is only one set of books for the teacher. Any help that you can give will be so appreciated https://gofund.me/ece5753a Thank you so much for all the support everyone, Sarah x
Me with my MSP, Evelyn Tweed at Doyle’s Cafe in BalfronThe builders are working hard to ensure the new intake of students have a classroom next monthSome of the students from Bright Futures Secondary School. They get a free lunch each day at school but, as it’s school holidays, they came to collect food parcels instead
Word has spread about the new secondary school in Ibuluma. A local radio station and The Malawi Guardian have contacted Levison for more information on Bright Futures Secondary School. It is amazing what has been achieved in a short period of time and we couldn’t have supported this project without the wonderful people who have helped us. It’s been a real team effort.
The school is being built in phases, due to the fact that it requires a huge amount of money to complete. Teachers’ accommodation, latrines and two classrooms have been built as phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School. Work is about to start on the foundations for classrooms 3 and 4 and it is hoped that these classrooms will be finished after the rainy season. We have sent 130 chairs for the school on The Bananabox Trust container that is due to arrive in Ekwendeni very soon.
We are still needing to raise money for desks and more textbooks. If you are able to help support the young people with this, please donate at https://gofund.me/44a92444 Once desks and more textbooks have been supplied, fundraising will start for phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School. If anyone is able to contribute £500 or more, then they can name a classroom (after an individual or a business). contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Class sizes are deliberately small to ensure that these vulnerable children get the best chance to succeed. Currently S1 and S2 have 35 students each. S3 has 10 students who are using the library as their classroom. The school won’t be taking on any additional students until more resources are in place.
I have attached the link to the Malawi Guardian post and thank them for their article. I have also put links to some recent articles on Bright Futures Secondary School in case people haven’t had chance to read them. There has certainly been a lot going on and it is wonderful to be playing a very small part in the team that are helping to change the lives of these most vulnerable children and help them towards a brighter future. Thank you for reading and enjoy the articles, photos and videos, Sarah x
Copy of the news article in The Malawi Guardian: “In order to help less privilege students, the William Stewart Foundation an organization based in Chitipa has established a secondary school with support from a UK based Charity Changing Lives Malawi.According to the cofounder of the organization Levison Mlambya who is also a secondary school teacher said the secondary school has been established to target needy and orphaned secondary school going students who cannot afford to pay fees in other schools.
The secondary school has been established to give hope and bright future to less privileged students hence the name Bright Futures Secondary School.So far the school has enrolled about 35 students in forms one and two. The school has also provided job to cooks, watchmen, six teachers with degrees and diplomas.
“We have opened a secondary school targeting the needy students who can’t afford to pay their fees in other schools. They are learning for free and also given free food and teaching learning resources”.
“We are appealing for support from well-wishers from Malawi and all over the world to support us with teaching and learning resources like desks, food stuffs, books, pens so that we continue supporting these students”.
The school is opening in phases, this year we have started with junior school next year we will be opening the senior secondary. We are now working on the school registration processes so that the school is duly registered with the ministry of education,” he said.He added that they are targeting over 160 learners to be helped.The school is located in Ibuluma Village, in TA Wenya in Chitipa District.”
Sorry that this is going to be a bit disjointed tonight but there are so many things going on at the moment and I thought it would be good to have an update.
I went to Strathblane Church on Saturday for their Charity Christmas Card sale. It was lovely to see some people that I hadn’t seen for ages! I sold some calendars and lots of my mum’s lovely cards which have been made from her beautiful paintings. I also sold some alternative gifts with our new gift cards; a football and some fruit tree saplings. Altogether the charity made £258 which was fantastic.
I’d recently been to visit the Ranger Guides in Strathblane to talk about the projects in Malawi. They are holding a bake sale this Sunday and have very kindly said they will donate some of their proceeds to Changing Lives Malawi.
I’m taking part in the church service this Sunday at Balfron Church and will be showing photos and talking about Malawi. If you are local, then you are very welcome to come. It starts at 11.15am and there’s tea and coffee afterwards.
In November, I have been invited to show photos at a knitting & sewing group in Torrance. They very kindly made lots of lovely baby things that are on the way to Malawi in the container. I am looking forward to meeting them.
In Ibuluma, phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School is almost finished. It’s so exciting to see it all coming together. The floor is drying in the classrooms, the windows are getting finished tomorrow, the doors and roof are on and chalkboards will be made over the weekend. The teachers’ accommodation is finished, and teachers are being interviewed! Bright Futures Secondary School is really happening and will make a difference to so many vulnerable children’s lives. Thank you to all who have supported us to help the children. We still need more funds to buy more textbooks and have more desks made by the local carpenter so, if you can, please donate here https://gofund.me/44a92444
I appealed for some support for the children whose dad had sadly died at the weekend. Two people have generously committed to a monthly amount to help buy food for them. We would like to have a little bit more support for them so if anyone else could spare £5 or £10 per month then please do let me know contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
We will hopefully have an update on our kilometre challenge tomorrow…please let me know if you have some more kilometres to add to our total.
If you’d like to buy any calendars for yourself and for Christmas gifts, they are only £10 each plus p&p. Packs of 8 cards (blank inside) are £5 each plus p&p. Alternative gifts are; 4 fruit tree saplings £10, a football £10, supporting the literacy project to send a box of books £20, soap for 100 children £50. These can be bought in any multiples and posted out to yourself or the recipient.
Thanks for reading and supporting and I’ll be back tomorrow with more photos and updates, Sarah x
