Planting more trees at Bright Futures Secondary School. Students are setting a great example to their community and learning practical agricultural skills.
Sarah’s blog 10/1/25
More tree planting was done yesterday and today by the students at Bright Futures Secondary School and I think there are still more saplings to plant!
As you can see from the photos, the pine tree saplings are mostly being planted round the perimeter to act as a windbreak and prevent soil erosion. In the videos, the students are saying that they are helping the climate and planet too.
Teaching agroforestry in schools is hugely important as it is helping to inform the next generation about farming and the benefits of planting trees with agricultural crops too. The students at Bright Futures Secondary School are gaining practical skills as well as learning theoretical knowledge. They can feel proud watching the trees that they have planted grow bigger each year and know that they are making a positive difference. They are also showing the adults in their community how important it is to replace the trees that have been previously cut down for fire wood.
I hope you enjoy the photos and videos. You will see how hard the students have worked digging the holes prior to planting. The ground is damp because of rain the previous day so that will help the saplings to take root. Eventually, we would like the students to all have wellingtons or boots while they are working on agricultural projects. This will be safer for their feet and also the shoes they are wearing are, for most, the only shoes they have so we don’t want their footwear to get ruined by the mud.
Here is the link to make a small donation so that more pine trees can be planted round the village to help with reforestation https://donorsee.com/project/25914?share=1 and here is the link if you would like to help buy notebooks and pencils for the students at Chambo Primary School https://donorsee.com/project/25617?share=1 Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
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
Sustainability and self-sufficiency for the community we are working with in rural Northern Malawi is always the end goal. So much is being achieved but there is still so much more to do.
Because no children are being fed in primary schools in that area, all children are malnourished. All children are hungry. No children and young people whom we help to support have enough to eat. We MUST ensure they get food NOW to help them begin to thrive whilst also ensuring that there is food for the future.
This is why we are asking for more people to join our feeding team. By committing to just £5 per month, you will help us feed 500 malnourished children and young people more than just once a week. They deserve our help. They deserve food. They deserve to thrive. They need us. Please will you help us help them? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Our bank details are: Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, Sort Code 80-22-60, Account Number 21605268. By donating £5 per month you WILL make a difference. You WILL help a child thrive. Please put ‘feeding’ as the reference.
It is a juggling act because we cannot spend all of the donations we receive on feeding the 500 orphans and other vulnerable children and young people. That just isn’t sustainable and there will be nothing to help the community be self-sufficient in the future. So whilst we are investing in this vulnerable community’s future, we need more help from our supporters to be able to provide enough food for the children now.
A couple of years ago, over 100 fruit tree saplings were bought and planted at The Foundation. The orchard was named after my lovely mother-in-law who had recently passed away. We made a personal donation towards buying some fruit tree saplings and lots more were bought by other people through an appeal. Unfortunately, the weather and also termites have killed some of the saplings. However, the majority are thriving and I was delighted with these photos that Levison sent me yesterday.
Amazingly the guava saplings are producing fruit now, even though the plants are still quite small. The orange and lemon saplings are doing well but have no fruit yet. Some more saplings are going to be planted soon. We would also love people to help pay for more saplings contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Our bank details are: Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, Sort Code 80-22-60, Account Number 21605268. £5 will buy two fruit tree saplings. Please put ‘saplings’ as the reference.
The hope is that this project will be sustainable for people and planet. Planting more trees is obviously vital for the planet and climate change. It will also help prevent against soil erosion in the heavy rains. Levison will send photos of the children eating the guavas when they are ready to be harvested in about a month’s time. In future years, especially if you help us plant more trees, there will be fruit for the children to eat and there will be extra fruit that will be able to be sold which will bring in an income for The Foundation. It’s really exciting to see the trees bearing fruit….may this be the first of many harvests supporting the 500 malnourished children.
I’ve put the links to previous posts about the fruit tree saplings and the orchard. I know Levison would like to also grow bananas in addition to the fruit trees in Isa’s Orchard. Who is driving you bananas that you would like to name a banana plantation after? Enjoy the photos of the first guava fruits and thank you for your support, Sarah x
The first guava fruits are beginning to growThe oranges and lemons are also growing wellSome young people planting and watering the saplings a couple of years agoThe fruit tree saplings when they were planted in Isa’s Orchard
£10 will buy 4 fruit tree saplings planting a sustainable future for people and planet. We have already sent money and saplings have been planted but we want to provide the hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children at The Foundation with food for their future, providing employment and an income for The Foundation. We want children to have the nutrition they need and not to be hungry. The end goal is for self-sufficiency. Planting hundreds of tree saplings will help prevent soil erosion and help with climate change.
contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com and we can send an email to you to forward or send the e-gift straight to the recipient. Thank you for helping us continue Changing Lives Malawi, Sarah x
Spring has sprung and there’s the promise of warmer weather right around the corner. Mother’s Day is a week on Sunday, 27th March.
This is just a little reminder that we are still planting a sustainable future for the hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children supported by The Foundation.
So how about buying a feel good gift for your mum? Fruit tree saplings will provide future food, an income and jobs at The Foundation and of course planting more trees is what the planet needs. Buying seeds will ensure that the children can grow more vegetables to eat at the weekly feeding programme. Or would you like to provide some blankets for children who are sleeping on the floor and covering themselves in rags at night. All these things are desperately needed and will be a huge help if you could buy a virtual gift.
5 blankets costs £25, seeds can be bought in any amount starting at £10, and fruit tree saplings can be bought in any amount starting at £10 for 4 saplings. If you think of anything else you’d like to contribute to then I can easily make up a picture and email it to you. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and considering these alternative gifts for Mother’s Day, Sarah x
There is an orchard at the Foundation with lots of fruit tree saplings. The children have been caring for the saplings by weeding and watering them.
People have generously donated money to buy more fruit tree saplings and yesterday over 100 were planted. These will give future food for the children and hopefully be a source of income too for the Foundation from selling surplus fruit. This will help towards their end goal…self-sufficiency.
Obviously tree planting is very important for the planet and the hope is that the trees will also help in the rainy season by providing protection for the crops from the wind and rain.
The first photos are from a few months ago and the rest are from planting the saplings yesterday before heavy rain storm in the afternoon.
Also, a few weeks ago we had an appeal for a few families whose houses had been damaged in the wind and hailstorm. Thank you to the people who had contributed to that appeal. I’d like to thank the people who donate clothes etc to us as these people were given gifts yesterday for which they were very thankful.
They received clothes and shoes, maize and walking sticks for the very elderly. They were also gifted fruit tree saplings to plant near their homes. The photos of the recipients of these gifts are after the photos of planting the fruit tree saplings. Hope you enjoy the photos and, as always, if you want to get in touch it’s contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x
