Sewing lessons at Bright Futures Secondary School are giving vulnerable students skills for life and giving back to the community.
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Sarah’s blog 26/2/26
Students have been busy in their Sewing Classes at Bright Futures Secondary School. To start with, they are helping with the Period Poverty Project. We are very proud of their efforts.
Girls miss one week of schooling every month because they do not have any sanitary pads and therefore have to stay at home. This is wrong that girls cannot access education because of a natural bodily function. We are helping to ensure that as many girls as possible can benefit from the gift of reusable sanitary pads. Will you help us?
Students, both male and female, have been learning to sew. They have been improving their hand sewing skills and using the sewing machines that we sent. They have been making bags and sanitary pads. These students are ensuring that girls will have equal access to education. Why should girls miss out on their education?
The Period Poverty Project aims to give out a bag containing ; underwear, reusable sanitary pads, soap and a health information leaflet. Through the sewing classes at Bright Futures Secondary School, students are giving back to their community. Students are also learning important skills for their futures.
Once enough supplies have been made for the local girls, students will move on to making something of their choice. I wonder what they will decide to make next? The Period Poverty Project sewing can be revisited again when the next group of students start sewing classes at Bright Futures Secondary School.
To get in touch with us our email is contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . If you like the projects we are supporting and want to contribute financially, you can donate via our website or to our charity bank account – A/C no 21081462, Sort Code 80-22-60, Changing Lives Malawi, Bank of Scotland. The Period Poverty Project is an ongoing project, so more fabric and soap will need to be bought. The more supplies that can be made, the more girls that can be supported.
Thanks to teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School for supporting the students to learn new skills and for sending these photos. Thanks also to everyone who supports the students and projects like this. Together, we can continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thanks, Sarah x
Most of these students have been matched with a sponsor, however a few in S1 are still needing a sponsor to help us support their education.
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Sarah’s post 21/11/25
I’ve been sent these great photos of students and teaching staff at Bright Futures Secondary School. Most of these students have been matched with a sponsor, however a few in s1 are still needing a sponsor to help us support their education.
As Bright Futures Secondary School was funded by our supporters and is a private secondary school, part of the money we receive from sponsors goes towards paying the salaries of the teaching staff. Only primary school education is free in Malawi so sponsors play a vital part in the running of the school.
The more sponsors we get, the more vulnerable teenagers can attend Bright Futures Secondary School and receive a free, quality secondary education. It’s only £25 a month to be a sponsor and you can do this as an individual, a family, friends sharing the cost, a club or a business.
At Bright Futures Secondary School, as well as learning core curriculum subjects in the classroom, students are taking part in practical subjects like carpentry, sewing, animal husbandry and growing crops. These will provide students with skills for their futures.
At BFSS each of these students receives free education, free stationery, free uniform and other clothes, free shoes, soap, toothbrush & toothpaste, a free school bag, free water bottle and a free solar lamp to use at home as it gets dark at 6pm every day year round. None of their homes have electricity so, unless they had a candle, they would be in complete darkness after 6pm each night. By having a lamp these students can do some reading once their chores are completed.
A big part of sponsorship money goes towards school lunches. Each student receives a free substantial and nutritious school lunch each school day. For most, this is their only food each day. As many are orphans living with extended family or from single parent families, everyone is living in extreme poverty. Knowing that this student has been fed a decent meal each day means that, at home, the meagre amount of food that they have is shared amongst the remaining family members. There still might not be enough food to make a meal each day.
How can we expect teenagers to walk to school and back, concentrate on their studies and reach their potential without feeding them? Your support plays a vital part in helping these teenagers to have a better and brighter future. So if you would like to help one of these students, send me a message contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
The first group of photos are of the S1 students, followed by S2, S3 and S4.
In S1 Scholastica, Nellie, Lidwell, Veronica, Tusalyfe, Susan, Ethel, Robert, Brian and John are needing the support of a sponsor.
Thank you so much to all of our sponsors for giving the gift of education. Sarah x
Lusuwiro Msukwa, S1, age 14Veronica Ng’ambi, S1, age 16Tusalifye Nyondo, S1, age 15Esther Kaonga, S1, age 15Myless Ng’ambi, S1, age 16 Susan Kitha, S1, age 16 Robert Kanyika, S1, age 16Ethel Ng’ambi, S1, age 16 Khumbo Nyondo, S1, age 16Brian Nyondo, S1, age 15Lidwell Nyondo, S1, age 16Mitren Nyondo, S1, age 16John Msango, S1, age 16Wakisa Chiona, S1, age 16Nellie Ng’ambi, S1, age 16Kumbukani Nyondo, S1, age 15 Scholastica Banda, S1, age 16Saviour Mnyenyembe, S2, age 15, John Ng’ambi, S2, age 16 Lloyd Ng’ambi, S2, age 16 Philimon Ng’ambi, S2, age 17John Junior Kaonga, S2, age 16Hilda Silwamba, S2, age 17Agness Mnyenyembe, S2, age 16Bernard Ng’ambi, S2, age 16Monica Phiri, S2, 17Ethel Chizumira, S2, age 17Asante Sichali, S3, age 15Mphatso Simwayi, S3, age 17Wongani Kaonga, S3, age 17Brave Nyondo, S3, age 18Aaron Sinyiza, S3, age 17Timothy Kaonga, S3, age 17Leonard Simphosya,, S3, age 17Chancy Mvula, S3, age 17Wongani Mlenga, S3, age 16Phaless Nyondi, S3, age 16Maggie Kabaghe, S3, age 17Martha Mwanyasi, S3, age 17Levi Sichilindi, S4, age 19Agness Nyondo, S4, age 18Mastano Munthali, S4, age 20Gift Mnyenyembe, S4, age 19Amos Simphosya, S4, age 19Pilirani Ng’ambi, S4, age 20Teaching Staff; left to right; Miss V Chilongo, Mr D Msukwa, Miss L Kamwambi, Miss R Thawi, Mr L Silungwe, Miss E Chisenga (HT), Mr P Vitrinyu, Miss F Munthali, Mr E Kanyimbo (DHT), Miss L Mkandawire
Today’s blog has photos and videos from a visit to the maternity ward at Chambo Health Centre.
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Sarah’s blog 7/11/25
There is a maternity ward at the local health centre. Many of the new mums are living in extreme poverty and don’t have clothes & blankets for their babies, hence the need for the Mother & Baby Project.
We have some lovely supporters who are talented at knitting and crocheting and others who have donated clothes that their babies have outgrown. So we have been able to send lots of baby hats, clothes and blankets.
The idea is that, as well as receiving clothes at birth, if mum and baby return after a few weeks to collect some more clothes, the health care staff will have an additional opportunity to check that mother and baby are well.
Students from Bright Futures Secondary School visited Chambo Health Centre with some of the boxes of donated baby clothes & blankets. Everyone was very thankful for their visit and delighted to receive gifts for their babies. The new mothers are exhausted and in pain but had expressed their gratitude on receiving the lovely gifts for their newborn babies.
After students had helped sort out some gifts for the babies, they also helped by tidying and sweeping round the exterior of the health centre.
The lady speaking in the video is a relative of one of the newborn babies. She said she wished that when she had her babies that there were gifts like these and help available. It is her prayer that changes like this continue to happen in her grandchildren’s lifetime. She is speaking the local language, Chichewa.
The young man who is speaking in English is Mphatso, one of the students at Bright Futures Secondary School.
Many, many thanks to everyone who is supporting this very important project and letting new mums know that they, and their babies, are important and special. Without your help and ongoing support there would be no Mother & Baby Project.
I am planning to visit Malawi in June next year. The Mother & Baby Project is one of the projects I am passionate about. It’s making a difference to the vulnerable mothers and their babies. I would also love it if we were able to gift bars of soap to the new mums. This is one of the projects I am raising funds for in my GoFundMe ahead of my visit next year. It would be amazing if you could make a small donation to make a big difference. https://gofund.me/b8e7bf36c
I hope you enjoy the great photos and videos, Sarah x
Tidying and sweeping outside the health centre Students from Bright Futures Secondary School outside Chambo Health Centre
To donate to the sewing project to purchase more material for sewing reusable sanitary towels to beat Period Poverty here is the link https://donorsee.com/project/29253?share=1
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
Each sponsored child/young person has their own page on our website. Sponsors can visit that page to see photos and information on the young person they sponsor. We need more sponsors for the next intake of S1 students to Bright Futures Secondary School. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
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Sarah’s blog 15/3/24
We are so grateful for the monthly contribution that all our sponsors make for the most vulnerable children and young people they help to support.
We are trying to ensure that all sponsored children and young people are more visible. Last year was such a successful but extremely busy year with so much building work going on in Malawi that we didn’t get as many photos as we would have liked. However, we are rectifying that now. Each sponsored young person has their own page on our website. There will be a new photo/information posted at least every three months but, hopefully, more regularly than that on their pages. Sponsors will be able to visit their young person’s page for the most up to date photos/information and it is also a good way to look back at previous photos to see the positive difference your sponsorship is making.
Sponsorship for the young people who are at Bright Futures Secondary School gives them free secondary school education. Without sponsorship, their education would stop after primary school as, in Malawi, secondary education has to be paid for. As well as free education, the students receive a cooked school lunch each day. For most, this is their only proper meal of the day. They also have school uniform, stationery and other school supplies all for free.
For those children and young people not at secondary school, they receive a monthly food parcel that supplements the food already coming into their home. They also receive clothes, shoes, soap etc when available. All children and young people receive regular welfare checks.
There are students in their last year at Chambo Primary School who won’t be able to progress to secondary education without your help and support. Bright Futures Secondary School is only half full currently, however we need more sponsors to be able to help the next S1 intake into Bright Futures Secondary School. Will you help a vulnerable young person please? It’s only £25 per month and you can split that cost with a friend. Please help us to ensure the places in Bright Futures Secondary School are filled so that the most vulnerable students know that they have chances and choices that they wouldn’t previously have had. With your help we can ensure young people have a brighter future for themselves and their families. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
There are a few young people who aren’t in these photos but we hope to have photos of them over the next few days. Thank you everyone who supports these young people. It’s always teamwork and we are grateful that you are part of our team. Sarah x
Photos have been taken of the S1 and S2 students at Bright Futures Secondary School. However, there are some students who are struggling to attend just now.
It’s currently the rainy season and when it rains it really rains. Streams or small rivers that the students cross to get to school are swollen and too dangerous to cross. Some of the young people (as in the recent S3 essays) walk for a couple of hours to get to school and some up to 20km. They are that desperate for an education. They are desperate to climb out of the extreme poverty they live in. If you don’t see your sponsored young person then they must be one of the ones who lives a bit further away and we will try to get a photo of them soon. Getting funding to build bridges is on our list of things to do…but, unfortunately, we can’t do it all at once.
There are some students in these photos (names in black writing) who do not yet have sponsors. All of the students have missed out on education to work for a pittance to try to get some food for themselves and their families. The older they are the worse their home situation is. Bright Futures Secondary School is their last hope for a better and brighter future. They really need someone to sponsor their education. Please could you help? It’s only £25 per month to sponsor a young person…that’s less than £1 per day. Will you help? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for the continued support we receive to help these vulnerable teenagers. Sarah x
Lots of photos of hundreds of vulnerable children receiving clothes & food this Christmas.
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Sarah’s blog 26/12/23
On Christmas Eve, 500 orphans and other vulnerable children of all ages came to the Foundation as they knew that they would be receiving gifts of new clothes. Many thanks to the team of volunteers for ensuring that this was able to happen. Such a lot of work, sorting clothes in advance and trying to secure enough food. Then on the days; distributing clothing, cooking ensuring that everyone was fed.
We were delighted to be able to send some great donations for these children, however it does cost £17.50 per box on the container so we really do need help with covering these costs please. When looking at the photos, have a look at some of the children’s feet. Many have broken shoes or their shoes are far too small for them. We would love donations of trainers, school shoes, flipflops and sliders please – sizes for young children to adults. Again, we need to ask for £1 per pair of shoes to cover the cost of sending them on the container. Can you help?
On Christmas Day, all the children returned to receive food for Christmas Lunch. This had been paid for by a very kind couple who are supporters of our charity. As you can see the children were very happy to receive food and enjoyed wearing the Christmas hats. It was decided that the children would actually have their party on Christmas Day as Levison has said that more and more families are struggling with food insecurity and are unable to feed their children properly. They wanted it to be a happy Christmas Day for the children. After everyone was fed, they were able to play a few games but on both days the children had to be sent home early because of heavy rain.
There are several shallow rivers that many of the children cross to reach the Foundation. There are no bridges. Every time it looks like rain is starting children have to leave either school or activities as the rivers will swell with the amount of rain and no one wants to risk children being swept away with the force of the water. Building bridges is something else on our list of things that will help this community.
We are getting more and more concerned about how food prices continuing to rise and the currency being devalued are affecting people living in extreme poverty. As well as food being scarce, people just don’t have any means to feed their families and it is only going to get worse. If you can spare £5 or £10 per month to help us continue to feed 500 children once a week then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com, or could you make a one off donation? It’s got to be a team effort, and we cannot do everything on our own. Or you could donate via our fundraiser https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a Thank you for reading and continuing to support us and believe in us. Merry Christmas from here and Malawi, Sarah x
We have been extremely fortunate to have had donations of football kit and other sports kit from a variety of sources and we are very grateful for the donations and support we have received. If you see a kit that you recognise/donated in the photos or videos from this tournament, then feel free to share and tag teams or people.
The Foundation has hosted the first football tournament that will be held annually. It has been named after one of our supporters. Julian Chenery works tirelessly every weekend collecting preloved football kit and other sports kits to send to those who need them. Julian’s charity is called ‘Wear a Sports Shirt Day’ and that is what this annual tournament is called as a thank you for the ongoing support that Julian has given.
It has been very successful, well attended and enjoyed by all. Five teams received gifts of new (to them) football kits. The players in the local teams taking part are all aged between 14 and 20 years old.
Well done to The Bombers who were the overall winners beating Mtelera in the final3 – 1.
In one of the videos you will see a man talking to the crowd. This is Mr Msachi and he is the chairperson of The Area Development Committee for Chisenga District. I asked Levison to summarise what he had said. Levison said “He was saying this is the first well organised short tournament. He is really thankful to the donors. He is very happy.”
As I have been preparing this post, Levison has messaged to say that he has been contacted by a journalist from Tuntufye Radio who had heard about this football tournament!
Footballs are always needed so if anyone would like to donate money for footballs then please do email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
I’m so thankful that it has been a success and was well organised, well attended and everyone enjoyed this first tournament. And, of course, we couldn’t do what we do without the help and support of everyone who has donated kit to us to send to The Foundation. It’s always about teamwork….so thank you for being part of our team. If you recognise any of the kits in this blog, then please do tag and share. Thank you again and hope you enjoy looking at the photos and videos. Sarah x
Mr Msachi, Chair of The Area Development Committee for Chisenga thanking the donors for the football kits and saying how well this new tournament has been organised.
These young people have been really busy and have recently taken their primary school leavers exams. We have our fingers and toes crossed for them that they all pass and have good enough grades to continue onto secondary school.
They have all written letters to their sponsors. They aren’t confident at writing letters as they don’t have many opportunities so this is good practice for them.
Hope you enjoy the photos and reading what they have written. Thank you to all their sponsors for changing their lives and giving them new opportunities. Sarah x
Wow! Traci is still clocking up those kilometres to help us with our challenge. She also set herself the challenge of walking 500km in July/August. When she saw that she could do more than that she decided to set her self the target of 700km in July/August. She’s amazing! and the photos of the scenery on her walks are beautiful. It’s been very hot during the last few days so I’m sure that it has been hard work. Very well done Traci and thank you.
Here’s what Traci wrote ‘Still clocking up km for Changing Lives Malawi, but this weekend I have swapped the Campsie Fells and the River Kelvin for the Moffat Hills and the River Annan. Just 129km to go to meet my 700km target. https://gofund.me/dd3a1be3‘
We need people to show their support for Traci and the rest of the team who are taking part in the kilometre challenge – travelling the distance boxes of aid travel from here to Malawi – to raise money for a much needed secondary school. Please donate so that the most vulnerable young people can go to school – education should be available for all. Please donate a few £££ and give the gift of education today. https://gofund.me/dd3a1be3 Let’s build a school! Thank you Traci for your hard work and raising awareness of the importance of this project. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
Some wonderful photos from Traci’s latest walks. Fantastic Traci, thank you.
As you know, we are trying our best to raise money to build the first block of a secondary school. Bright Futures Secondary School will be a community school for the orphans and other vulnerable young people to attend.
Education should be available for everyone. There are currently not enough places at local secondary schools. If you don’t get picked for a place, even if you have passed your primary leavers exams and can afford the school fees.
This is what happened to eleven of our sponsored young people this year. They are resitting their last year of primary school, hoping for better grades, hoping to be picked for a place.
As the local secondary school is a distance away the young people, who are sponsored and do get a place at school, have to board at school. This adds to costs and also means they aren’t available to help their families with chores.
A secondary school in the village would make such a difference to so many people. Education is their way out of dire poverty – their way to a better future for themselves and their families.
Bricks are being made…about 40,000 so far, and kilns are going to be built soon to fire the bricks.
There are people working hard in Malawi and here to try our best to help these vulnerable children. As well as education, a school will help prevent teenage pregnancies and girls being married off too soon. Already, The Foundation has proved that if the young people are kept busy and given opportunities then there will be far less teenage pregnancies. The young people’s self-esteem has increased as they learn new skills, play team sports with their peers and read in the library. They know people care about them. They have hope for a better future. We need to continue supporting the projects that support them. This is absolutely vital to protect these vulnerable young people.
Here, we are trying to raise funds and awareness. It’s really hard as we know that some people have less available cash. We need to reach a wider group of people and if we all give a little, that will add up to a lot!
Also, we are trying to source supplies to provide for the young people when the school is built. We need to plan ahead as the container takes approximately 3 months for its journey.
There are over 100 chairs at The Bananabox Trust warehouse that we are sending for the first phase of the school. Someone donated boxes of new laptop bags. We are sending 80 of these for the young people to use as school bags. Pencil cases and pens are in boxes too as well as some secondary school uniform.
Stuart, my husband, delivered some boxes and 72 rugby balls to Dundee today and took a photo of all the chairs to show Levison.
I also received a photo from one of our supporters today who put a shout out on her village Facebook page asking for preloved secondary school uniform. People have been very generous as she’s collected a great amount which will kit out some of the pupils who will attend Bright Futures Secondary School.
There’s still so much to do and so much money to raise but we WILL do this. The children are relying on us. So if you can spare a few £££ we would be so grateful. Thank you for reading and supporting, Sarah x
The donations that Stuart took to Dundee today including 72 rugby balls from Annan rugby club and Merchiston Castle School. You can see that the warehouse is getting full.The chairs that we are sending for Bright Futures Secondary SchoolWe are grateful for this huge pile of secondary school uniform donations that we will send for the pupils when they start school
Just a short post from me today as I’ve got an issue with my laptop that will hopefully be sorted by tomorrow. It’s times like this that I realise that technology isn’t my forte… but thank goodness for friends who can help.
Douglas & Lynda delivered another load of boxes to Dundee yesterday. Stuart & I spent a couple of hours yesterday packing boxes. The Bananabox Trust shed in Dundee will soon be full again and then they will book another container. It won’t be long until the current one arrives at it’s destination .
Hopefully, I’ll have an update on the kilometre challenge for you tomorrow with some photos too.
So I want to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ again to everyone who supports us. We really do appreciate you.
I love this photo from The Foundation Christmas Party where younger children were all given a rain jacket, a pencil and a lolly. Smiles like this are so good to see.
Our website is having visitors from all over the world which is brilliant! This week some of the countries from which people have viewed our website are; Thailand, Spain, U.K., USA, UAE, Canada, Israel, China, Netherlands, Malawi, Ireland, Peru, Zimbabwe, Libya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Antigua and France.
You can keep up to date with the most recent news by signing up to receive my blog. Thanks for reading, Sarah x
