Tag: school literacy project

Reflecting on a difficult week

There’s been lots to reflect on this week. Please read today’s blog to catch up on what I have been writing about today.

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Sarah’s blog 16/11/25

For a few different reasons, it has been a difficult week. I’m feeling the weight of responsibility heavy on my shoulders with family and with the charity. Here are a few of my ramblings and what I have been reflecting on and thinking about.

Our friend and colleague, Alan Laverock, who organised (with other volunteers) the sending of containers of vital aid to Malawi, sadly passed away this week. I have been thinking about him and reading the tributes and condolences from so many people. Also, I have been reflecting on a life well lived. Alan made a difference. You can read more about Alan here Alan James Laverock: a tribute | Scotland Malawi Partnership

One consequence, and obviously this is of secondary importance, of Alan’s passing is that the Bananabox Trust containers have stopped. Currently, we have no means of sending any boxes to Malawi.

We realise that many people in Malawi are extremely concerned about this and hope that, in time, that someone else may take this on. Medical and dental equipment gets shipped regularly along with shoes, clothes and sports equipment to name but a few.

I am particularly reflecting on our School Literacy Project. Thanks to the support of Alan and his team at Bananabox Trust, we have been able to make a big difference to children’s reading by sending over 100 boxes of books.

The first 17 boxes of books that were donated to Chambo Primary School

Bright Futures Secondary School has benefited from fiction books as well as text books and bibles. Emma’s Rainbow Library (named after the late Emma Buchanan of Balfron whose family helped raise funds for the library) is well stocked. It has floor to ceiling shelves of books for all age groups.

Bright Futures Nursery has been able to give at least two books per child to take home to read and look at the pictures with their families. This is ensuring all those households have access to books of their own and looking at books together is a special everyday activity.

Chambo Primary School and then Kalanga Primary School have benefited from the gift of many boxes of books. Boxes of both factual and fiction books have been sent for different age groups. These schools have hardly any resources and p8 leavers exam pass rates were well below the national average.

Since we, with the help of our supporters, started putting books into these primary schools, the pass rate for primary school leavers certificates has gone up by 19%. This is a huge achievement for these young people. We are so proud of them and proud of the part we and our supporters have made to their literacy levels, reading comprehension and helping young people pass their exams. Without passing these primary school leavers exams, students are not allowed to attend secondary school.

We hope there will be a way to continue sending books (and other boxes of aid) as other primary schools are asking and waiting to be included in The School Literacy Project.

The rains have started in Malawi and some school buildings in Chitipa District have been damaged (thankfully, not ours). Families are also suffering because their homes are so fragile and open to the elements.

A food crisis has been declared for the whole of Malawi. I don’t think any of us realise just how dire the situation is. Prices continue to rise. There is a continued fuel shortage, meaning many goods aren’t available to purchase rurally. Levison has told me that people are suffering more than usual and it will get worse.

I have been thinking about this over the past few days and wondering how we can make a difference and protect the most vulnerable from the worst of this crisis.

I know I put appeals on social media to which people kindly donate, however we need to be doing something bigger and bolder to get a good amount of money to the hundreds of children and their families to prevent further suffering. https://donorsee.com/project/28717?share=1 This is the link to donate or you can email me for our bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com or make a donation on the website. Donate money and gifts to Changing Lives Malawi

What can we do? What can we do differently? There are projects helping to support sustainability in the future, however, these are for the future and people also need help now. All the fruit tree saplings will make a big difference in a few years time, and we will continue planting more, but they won’t help now.

What can we do now? Instead of sending Christmas cards ( or as many Christmas cards as usual) could you make a donation to help us buy food?

Could you organise a coffee morning or event for your friends on our behalf? Or could you organise a bonus ball competition before Christmas?

Could you purchase an alternative gift for the person in your life who has everything? Or an alternative gift for a teacher who doesn’t really need another mug. Let me know if you’d like to help or if you’ve any good ideas contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Levison had a funeral to attend earlier last week. He took a photo of Bright Futures Campus from near where the funeral was taking place. It’s a great photo. You can see the Mafinga Hills in the background and beyond that is Zambia.

Once there was nothing where these buildings now stand. Now there is Bright Futures Campus with a secondary school, a nursery, a library, offices and a staffroom and accommodation for teaching staff. Vulnerable children know this is their safe place where they can receive support, where they can play. Where there is someone to listen. There are fruit tree saplings growing and crops have been planted….nowhere near enough but it is a start. There is hope for a brighter future.

This has all been achieved with a lot of hard work and determination to ensure that the most vulnerable children have a better and brighter future. They have choices and chances that they wouldn’t previously have had. Thanks to our supporters, we are Changing Lives (in) Malawi. However, there is a great deal more to do. Will you help? Thank you for reading my ramblings. I hope you can feel the love and concern I have for the people we are supporting and how, together we can give them a helping hand until they can have a sustainable future. Thank you, Sarah x

Bright Futures Campus with The Mafinga Hills in the background. Beyond the hills is Zambia.

Great Exam Results from Chambo Primary School!

Great results! THE SCHOOL LITERACY PROJECT IS WORKING AND MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON LITERACY LEVELS OF CHILDREN LIVING IN EXTREME POVERTY in rural northern Malawi!

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Sarah’s blog 22/8/25

There have, once again, been some great exam results from Chambo Primary School!

In 2019, 59% of p8 students passed their primary school leavers exams. In 2020 and 2021 the figure was 60% for each of these years. In 2022 the figure rose to 63% pass rate. In 2023, 69% of students passed their exams and in 2024 that figure had risen to 78% of students passing their primary school leavers exams.

This year the pass rate was again 78% but three students got such good grades in their exams, they have been offered places at one of the big government secondary schools. This is an amazing achievement for Chambo Primary School as other, bigger primary schools have not had any students selected.

Education officials, teachers, students and the community are all noticing that the help that Chambo Primary School has had, thanks to our supporters, is making a big difference. THE SCHOOL LITERACY PROJECT IS WORKING AND MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON LITERACY LEVELS OF CHILDREN LIVING IN EXTREME POVERTY!

Also, these students have had notebooks (not enough for all year), girls have a toilet block, upper classes now have desks and benches, there is clean water for drinking and handwashing and also an orchard has been planted.

The children and their teachers no longer feel forgotten. They have hope of a brighter future! Thank you so much to all who have helped and supported with these projects. We are making good progress, with tangible results, and we couldn’t do this without you.

Unfortunately, we still cannot get any big charities to feed the primary school children in the rural far north…none of the primary schools in that area have a porridge programme as no big charities are working that far north. So there is still the issue of malnutrition to address which we need help with.

But for today, we can celebrate what we all have achieved, and we are including all our supporters in part of our team as you play a vital role in helping the children and young people. Well done everyone!! We are so pleased that small changes are having a big impact and giving young people opportunities, choices and chances that they wouldn’t previously have had. Also, thank you to Levison and his team for their tireless work for the children.

The school literacy project is a relatively low cost project as the preloved books are donated. We just need to buy the strong boxes and pay for the cost of shipping them on the container which is £17.50 per box, and fuel in Malawi when Levison and team collect the boxes from the container. Please help us keep sending more boxes of books by scanning the QR code and making a donation towards the cost of sending boxes. Or you can make a donation via the website or contact me for bank details. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Please do have a read at the attached two links and have a look at the photos as a reminder of how, together, we are Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thanks, Sarah x

School Literacy Project – Chambo Primary School
Facts & Figures from Chambo Primary School

Visit to Kalanga Primary School – Books & Sports Tops

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Sarah’s blog 5/4/25

Last week Levison visited Kalanga Primary School. Chambo Primary School is the nearest primary school to Bright Futures Campus and where most of the orphans we help to support attend. A few of the orphans who are supported through the feeding programme and with new clothes attend Kalanga Primary School which is further away.

As we collected so many boxes of preloved books as part of our School Literacy Project, we split the boxes between Chambo Primary and Kalanga Primary. As you will be able to see from these photos, most children are sitting on the floor at Kalanga Primary with no resources. There is no clean running water and there are no latrines. All of these students are suffering from hunger and malnutrition as they are living in extreme poverty and, although we have tried to involve big charities, there are no porridge programmes in schools in this area.

Strathblane Primary School and Balfron Primary School were renewing all their group reading scheme books so kindly donated a huge amount of books that we were able to share between Chambo Primary School and Kalanga Primary School. Lots of individuals as well as some other organisations like nurseries and an after school club also donated lots of lovely preloved books.

Levison also took sports tops that had been very kindly donated. Unfortunately, I have forgotten who donated the blue ones and there isn’t a badge on the front (if you donated these – thank you. Let me know and I will amend this text to thank the club) but the black/yellow ones were gifted by www.shoesharemalawi.org from a 10K race – thank you so much.

Here is the link to read about the visit to Chambo Primary School and to see the great pictures https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2025/03/17/school-literacy-project-chambo-primary-school/

Already, the Education Department are noticing the value of our School Literacy Project as, year on year, p8 leavers exam results at Chambo Primary School (where there have been several donations of books) are improving.

This is a low cost project with a huge impact and we are very proud to be making a difference to so many children’s education in this way. Thank you to everyone who has supported us with this ongoing project. As all the books are preloved and donated, our costs are buying strong boxes to pack and send the boxes in and £17.50 per box to cover costs on the container. There are also costs in Malawi with collecting boxes from Ekwendeni when the container arrives. However, for the amount of chidren who will benefit from this project, this is a big project with small costs.

If you would like to help to pay for a box to ensure The School Literacy Project can continue then please do email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you again to everyone for supporting children in rural northern Malawi, Sarah x

School Literacy Project – Chambo Primary School

We are delighted to see these photos and videos from Chambo Primary School. They have received more books as part of the School Literacy Project.

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Sarah’s blog 17/3/25

How can children learn to read without books to practice? Thanks to the help of many of our supporters, Chambo Primary School has once again received a huge donation of preloved books as part of our School Literacy Project. Thanks to so many people who have donated books and to Strathblane Primary School and Balfron Primary School who donated all of their group reading books which they were updating. There are a few other organisations local to us who also made donations. We are grateful to everyone and to those who helped us towards the cost of sending some of these boxes. Kalanga Primary School will also receive a donation of boxes of books in the near future.

As always, thanks goes to the volunteers at Bananabox Trust in Dundee who document the contents of boxes, order the container and then pack all the boxes into the container. We always say everything is teamwork and we are very grateful to all the people who help us support the children and young people who live in extreme poverty in rural northern Malawi.

Most of the orphans and other vulnerable children we help to support attend Chambo Primary School. There are eight classes in the school with approximately 600 students in total. During the rainy season, not all students are able to get to school as it is not safe for them to cross the swollen rivers.

As you can see from the photos and videos, this school is very basic. They don’t have notebooks and pencils, teachers don’t have enough chalk. There are no porridge programmes in the rural far north so all these learners are hungry and many are suffering from Malnutrition.

Thanks to the help of our supporters and grants that we have successfully applied for, so far we have helped the students at Chambo Primary in the following ways;

  1. They only had one classroom with desks and benches; a grant paid for desks & benches in two more classrooms.
  2. There was no clean water supply for drinking and washing hands. Thanks to a grant we applied for, they now have taps and a supply of clean water.
  3. Students relieved themselves in the bushes, making girls especially very vulnerable. We received a grant to build a girls’ latrine block.
  4. Girls who need reusable sanitary towels are provided with them so that they no longer have to miss one week of school each month.
  5. Exercise books and pens and chalk have previously been donated; however they need more urgently. https://donorsee.com/project/25617?share=1
  6. Many of these children attend the weekly feeding programme. It is nowhere near enough, as most don’t eat every day, but all we can afford as we try to work with the community to set up sustainable projects.
  7. Many of these children have received preloved clothes that we have sent.
  8. The students at Chambo Primary are benefitting from The School Literacy Project where we collect and send preloved books to support education. Primary 8 leavers exam results have been improving year on year since we have been supporting them.
  9. Chambo Primary has received sports kit and students have taken part in sporting events that we have supported.
  10. Chambo Primary has received fruit tree saplings, banana tubers and pine tree saplings as part of a sustainable project.
  11. We have supported a School Holiday Study School for the past few years to give p8 students revision time prior to their exams. They receive a substantial school lunch each day so that it helps them concentrate and is a great incentive for them to attend lessons during their holidays.

If you can help with purchasing new exercise books and pens/pencils for these students we would be extremely grateful. They need these to take notes ahead of their exams. https://donorsee.com/project/25617?share=1

Thank you again for all the support (and a huge amount of work went on behind the scenes too). Enjoy these photos and videos, Sarah x

Some of the staff at Chambo Primary School
You may be able to spot a few Strathblane Primary School sweatshirts
Facts & Figures from Chambo Primary School

Lots of boxes to send- please help

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Sarah’s blog 29/08/24

Today has been all about boxes. Thank you to Stuart for driving another carload of boxes to The Bananabox Trust warehouse in Dundee. Once their warehouse is full, they order the next container. We are always grateful to all their volunteers who process the boxes and pack the container. Once Stuart returned from Dundee, he and I spent time packing more boxes this afternoon. Jackie, our numbers guru, and I have just been discussing how much money we have available to send boxes on the next container. Unfortunately, there is never enough in the kitty, so we have to appeal for your help (bank details are at the end of my blog).

Some of our boxes at The Bananabox Trust Warehouse in Dundee

Sending boxes of aid to Malawi is always a bit challenging. Is it economical to send boxes via a container ship then truck to the orphans and other vulnerable children? Should they be buying goods in Malawi instead? There are lots of issues but I’ll try and explain our reasoning for doing what we do.

There are over 500 orphans and other vulnerable children who are living in extreme poverty. Lots of families have been affected by AIDS/HIV so many orphans are living with extended family and are trying to earn a pittance to feed themselves. Therefore, they do not have any spare money to buy clothes. Before we started sending clothes, children were wearing rags. Desperate mothers, who come with their children to ask for help, are able to receive clothes thanks to our supporters.

hundreds of vulnerable children receive preloved school uniform and their self confidence has improved now they have nice clothes to wear.
  1. We appeal for preloved school uniform as it is hardwearing and is usually outgrown while it is still in good condition. It is a way for more people to learn about us and what we do. It is a way to recycle preloved clothes. We also send shoes, baby clothes and blankets which new mothers are so grateful for.
  2. If we didn’t send clothes for the children but sent some money instead, Levison would not be able to buy enough suitable clothing at local markets for the children. Because of the very rural location, this makes accessing shops difficult too. Also purchasing clothes for all those children would cost far too much.
  3. It can get cold at night and as children don’t have enough warm blankets, they need jumpers and hats to keep them warm as they sleep on the floor cuddled with their siblings.
  4. Eventually, because we have sent sewing machines, there won’t be as much need to send as many clothes as they will have the skills to make clothes.
  5. A large percentage of the boxes going on the next container are boxes of children’s books for the School Literacy Project. Primary Schools in rural northern Malawi have minimal resources. We are hoping to raise attainment levels and help children to become confident readers. The books are preloved, from individuals and from local schools and nurseries, so they haven’t cost us anything. We only have to buy the strong boxes to pack them in and pay for transportation. There would be no way of providing books for our project like this if we were to purchase them in Malawi. There aren’t second hand books readily available because owning a book is a precious thing and people, if they are lucky enough to have a book, keep their books. Education is the way out of poverty for thousands of children who will benefit from the School Literacy Project. For £17.50 per box of books – that is a low cost project with the potential to make huge changes.
The first 17 boxes of books gifted to Chambo Primary School. Preschool children in the library had trouble knowing how to turn the pages of these books as they hadn’t had the opportunity to read books before. Some resources I made from bottle tops to support literacy.

Once the community is more self-sufficient and more people have paid employment then they will be able to provide for their own children, both food and clothes. Even daily food is out of reach of some of the people we are helping to support. When the children have better exam results because they’ve had more opportunity to read many more books, they will be able to go on to secondary education (if we can match them with sponsors as secondary education is not free in Malawi).

We will not always send as many boxes as we do currently. The end goal is and has always been helping the community towards self-sufficiency. Hopefully, you will see from this explanation the thought process involved in sending boxes and the huge amount of children who benefit thanks to our supporters. However, we do need financial support to continue helping so many children through all the different projects. It costs £17.50 per box on the container then there are the transport costs in Malawi to collect the boxes from the container. This is such a long journey that it always involves an overnight trip.

So if you are able to help support the sending of preloved shoes and school uniform or to support our School Literacy project we would be very grateful. Financial donations can be made via the website or here are our bank details: Changing Lives Malawi, Bank of Scotland, Sort Code 80-22-60, Account Number 21081462. We always say it’s about teamwork and we couldn’t do what we do without your help and support. If you’d like to get in touch then please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . Thank you, Sarah x

I always remember this photo of Lucia and Rodrick…him wth no top and just one shoe. Lucia with no shoes, their tummies distended due to malnutrition. There are six children in their family. Thankfully, they were given clothes and we were able to get sponsors for three of them, meaning more food goes into their home each month to supplement the food they already have. Please let me know if you would like to sponsor a young person.

Thank you to Strathblane Primary School

Thank you to the staff at Strathblane Primary School for the wonderful donation of books for our School Literacy Project.

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Sarah’s blog 02/05/24

Thank you to Strathblane Primary School for their brilliant donation today. As part of our 5th birthday celebrations we are having an appeal for preloved books that we can send to Malawi as part of our School Literacy Project. None of the schools in the far north of Malawi where we are working, have many resources, the children are hungry and most don’t even have notebooks and pencils.

The nearest primary school to Bright Futures Campus is Chambo Primary School. There are over 500 students there between 8 classrooms. The majority of the vulnerable young people who use the weekly feeding programme, attend Chambo Primary School. Until recently, only one classroom had desks and benches….in all other classes children sat on the floor.

Thanks to a grant from The Kitchen Table Charities Trust, we were able to facilitate desks and benches being made locally for two more classrooms. Thanks to that grant they also now have clean water at the school for drinking and washing their hands. A grant from The Eleanor Rathbone Trust ensured we were able to provide a girls latrine. Bit by bit school life is improving. However, there are no big charities working in that area so all children are hungry and many are suffering from malnutrition.

One of the new water taps at Chambo Primary School

When we first started sending boxes of preloved books for The School Literacy Programme, Chambo Primary received seventeen boxes of books. There have since been some additional boxes given to a few other primary schools but, together with the Education Department who are delighted with the support, we have decided that during the next school year, starting in September 24, we will concentrate on Chambo Primary School and evaluate how our School Literacy Programme is making a difference before rolling it out to the other primary schools in the cluster.

The first seventeen boxes of books that were donated to Chambo Primary School

This morning, my husband Stuart and I went to Strathblane Primary School (my old primary) to collect some boxes and bags of books that they no longer needed. There were lots of picture books for preschool and early readers as well as some atlases and factual book on transport, weather, space etc. There were a great selection of novels for older children too. I was delighted that there were two big boxes of group reading books that they gave us which progress through different levels. This will make a huge difference to the teachers at Chambo Primary – having resources to hear small groups of children read together – something that we take for granted for our children.

Stuart (the logistics man) and I boxed up all of these books today which had taken up the whole car and we now have eight boxes of books ready to send on the next container. Thank you so much to the staff at Strathblane Primary School for supporting literacy in rural northern Malawi. There will be lots of photos when the books arrive, although this won’t be for a few months yet.

What we now need is eight people to each sponsor a box of books to go on the container. It’s £17.50 per box. Could a few of you club together to pay for a box? Could you go without a few takeaway coffees to pay for a box of books instead? If you sponsor a box of books we will write your name, or a loved one or a business name or even a funny message on a label on your box. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

If there are any other nurseries or schools or any individuals wanting to donate preloved books then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com All books must be in good condition so that they can be well used by the vulnerable young people we help to support as we aim to help those children become more confident readers and raise literacy levels in primary schools. Thank you for helping us continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi, Sarah x

Life has improved for Isaac Nyondo since being sponsored. He is wearing a lovely smile and a Strathblane Primary School sweatshirt!

Advent Calendar – highlighting projects & children – day 19

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Sarah’s blog 19/12/23

19th December and today we are again highlighting Quality Education. It’s the key to a better future for the hundreds of vulnerable children we help to support who are living in extreme poverty.

The photo at the bottom right hand side shows a group of children with looking at a book from the first box of books we sent to them. They had never seen a ‘story book’ with pictures before. Even in their school there were hardly any text books, so these books have opened up a whole new world for them.

Seventeen boxes of books were donated to Chambo Primary School as part of the School Literacy Project and more will be donated later this week. Other primary schools have been receiving boxes of books too. We are hoping children become more confident readers and that literacy levels will rise.

As you can see, money was raised for a library – Emma’s Rainbow Library, in memory of Emma Buchanan – a lovely girl from my village who had cystic fibrosis. Her family helped raise money towards the library. When Emma was poorly, she loved her dad reading to her. Emma had wanted to go to Malawi with a trip from Balfron High School. Her memory lives on and is making a big difference. We have sent lots of books for the library, as well as them buying some locally. It costs £17.50 to send a box of books on the container, so if you would like to support literacy in rural northern Malawi, or any of our other projects, then please do get in touch. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3a

As well as a well stocked library that the children have access to, they are learning about computers. These are opportunities that would never have happened for these children without the help of our supporters. The children in the photo are wearing preloved uniform from Strathblane Primary School and Riverside Primary School. We sent these preloved tables and chairs too.

Quality Education will change these children’s lives for the better giving them choices and chances that they previously would not have had. Thank you for caring and helping us to support them, Sarah x

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