Tag: school lunches

World Food Day – Are you hungry?

Today’s blog looks at the ways in which we are trying to improve hunger and malnutrition in Malawi

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Sarah’s blog 16/10/25

Today is World Food Day – are you hungry? What happens if you are hungry? Do you have food in your cupboards? Are you able to go to the shops? Most of us are fortunate enough to be able to eat every day. We might not be rich, but we have enough to be able to eat at least once every day. This World Food Day – are you hungry?

Many of the children and young people we are helping to support DO NOT have enough to eat. Many DO NOT eat every day. How can we expect them to learn and concentrate at school if they are hungry? if they are malnourished? If they cannot sleep at night because of pains in their tummies? How can we expect them to grow properly if their bodies don’t have enough nutrients? How can we expect them to thrive when their basic needs aren’t being met?

WE NEED YOUR HELP to support a community, living in extreme poverty, in rural northern Malawi, towards sustainability and self-sufficiency. Please do keep reading to see how we are helping and what you can do.

  1. We are sending enough money to run a feeding programme once a week. It’s not enough but all we can afford whilst we are supporting a better and brighter future. We keep trying to get bigger charities involved but, unfortunately, they aren’t working with children that far north. Up to 500 children, some walking miles, some carrying younger siblings, come every week for their one substantial meal of the week. Could you spare £5 or £10 per month to support the weekly feeding programme please? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
  2. Bright Futures Nursery is for up to 70 vulnerable preschool children who are fed at every session. This is making a big difference to their health. Again, it’s not much, but it is better than nothing. You could make a difference by making a one off donation or gifting a small monthly amount to support this project.
  3. During sporting events, we ensure that everyone taking part receives a substantial meal and drink so they have enough energy to take part and the food and drink is part of the excitement of the day. Would you like to make a donation towards providing food at a sporting event? Which sport would you choose?
  4. Students at Bright Futures Secondary School, which was built for vulnerable teenagers who cannot afford secondary school fees, are matched with a sponsor to help pay for their education which includes having a free school meal each day. For many of the students, this is their only meal each day. Their families can share the small amount of food they have in their homes between the rest of the family, knowing that their teenager has eaten at school. It is still only £25 per month to sponsor a young person. You could sponsor as an individual, a group of friends, a club or a business. We have new students at school waiting to be matched with a sponsor. Could this be you? Younger children, not yet at secondary school, who have a sponsor are given a monthly food parcel which helps to supplement the small amount of food they have at home. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
  5. How about helping with feeding the children & young people at Christmas? We have already had one donation towards this. Would you like to ensure everyone has a great Christmas party with plenty of food? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
  6. We have raised funds to plant fruit tree saplings & banana plants on Bright Futures Campus and at Chambo Primary School. These will provide future food and a source of income. However, as there are hundreds of children in need, we need to keep planting more. This is another project you could support with a donation.
  7. Students at Bright Futures Secondary School are growing their own vegetables which they are able to eat as part of their school lunches. However, the vegetables don’t last as part of many meals, and far more need to be planted. We are raising funds to buy polytunnels to extend the growing season and the types of plants that can be grown. Is this a sustainable project you’d like to help with? you could donate via this link or email for bank details. https://donorsee.com/project/29095?share=1
  8. We are supporting vulnerable people to set up Agribusiness Groups. Through hard work, small groups of people are able to grow crops and sell them and reinvest their money into their business. There are three groups already and we would like to set up another two groups. Again, you can give via this link https://donorsee.com/project/27241?share=1 or by emailing for bank details.

Those are eight ways we are working in partnership with the people we are supporting. It’s better than nothing. It’s better than it was. But it is still not enough. With your help, with your £5 or £10 or sponsorship of a young person, we can and will keep Changing Lives (in) Malawi.

So, on World Food Day, are you hungry? What are you having for your dinner? Can you spare a thought and a small amount of money for the hundreds of children living in extreme poverty for whom we are trying to support to have a brighter future? You can make a difference to a child that you don’t know and will never meet by supporting one of our projects. As we are volunteers, you know every penny goes to the projects you support.

This World Food Day, let’s share with those who need our help. Thank you, Sarah x

To sponsor a teenage girl please click here International Day of the Girl Child there are also a few boys waiting for support with their education.

Some of the younger children being fed at the weekly feeding programme
Some of the happy children at a Christmas Party
One of the agribusiness groups working hard in their field
Children waiting in the rain to be fed
Planting bananas at Chambo Primary School
Students at Bright Futures Secondary School planting sweet potato vines as part of their Agriculture lesson, providing them with education, food and skills for life.

Why vulnerable teenagers need sponsors

Whilst there is still so much to do to improve the lives of the most vulnerable, here are some of the reasons how being a sponsor can and does make a difference.

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Sarah’s blog 18/7/25

Levison sent me a graph today with information about teenage pregnancies in Malawi. I knew the rates were high but I am shocked by just how high. Chitipa District, in the far north, has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in Malawi. Over half of teenage girls age 15-19 become pregnant. The actual figure is 543/1000. Since Bright Futures Secondary School opened in 2022 there have been only 2 teenage pregnancies.

As well as helping to vastly reduce teenage pregnancies, here are some of the ways that having a sponsor is helping to give vulnerable teenagers, living in extreme poverty, hope for a brighter future:

  1. Secondary School has to be paid for in Malawi. None of the students who attend Bright Futures Secondary School could afford to go to secondary school without having being matched with a sponsor to help pay for their education. There are so many more young people wanting this opportunity.
  2. Being matched with a sponsor means that, as well as their education being free, each student at BFSS, receives a substantial and nutritious school lunch each day. This, for most, is their only meal of the day, and means their families don’t have to worry about feeding them with the family’s very limited food supplies.
  3. Having a nutritious lunch each day is helping students to stay healthy and help them concentrate on their lessons.
  4. Being matched with a sponsor means free school uniform, stationery, shoes and a torch for studying at home.
  5. Being matched with a sponsor means that there is hope for a brighter future through education, instead of doing piece work in the fields for a pittance.
  6. Being matched with a sponsor means that students are kept busy at school and after school activities and less likely to get into trouble.
  7. Being matched with a sponsor means that young people have access to counselling as all have lost family members and lived through trauma. Bright Futures Secondary School takes a holistic approach to caring for the students both in and outside the classroom.
  8. Being matched with a sponsor means that girls are far less likely to be married off too young. Some families are so desperate they consider giving their daughter to an older man in exchange for a dowry to feed the rest of the family. Levison has managed to prevent girls as young as 11 being married off.
  9. Being matched with a sponsor is helping ensure young people are more literate, numerate and have skills for their futures.
  10. Being matched with a sponsor is giving vulnerable young people, living in extreme poverty, choices and chances that they wouldn’t otherwise have had.

We need more sponsors to ensure that more students can have these opportunities and have hope for a brighter future for themselves and their families. Will you help us help them please? It is only £25 per month to sponsor a young person. You can sponsor as an individual, a business or a group of friends or family. It might be the most important thing anyone ever does for that teenager. Will you make a difference to one young person and change their life? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com .

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors and supporters for helping to make a difference to each of the students. Also, for the teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School, to Levison and the rest of the team …. a huge thank you. When we see statistics like this it is very clear that, although there is much to do, we are Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thank you, Sarah x

S2 students received new uniform and stationery when they sat their exams recently
planting banana tubers in practical agricultural lessons
Students prepared the ground and planted sweet potato vines as part of their practical agricultural lessons. This crop helped feed them and their fellow students.
BFSS – S2 JCE Exams
Independence Day in Malawi

our new QR code to make a donation

The New Staffroom – Planning for September

Lots happening in preparation for more teachers & students at Bright Futures Secondary School in September.

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Sarah’s blog 02/05/25

Now that the rainy season is over, it is far easier to get on with building work. As there will be four classes next year at Bright Futures Secondary School, and more teachers need to be employed, a staffroom is needed. As you will see from the photos, the builders are working really hard and it won’t be long until it’s finished.

All students at Bright Futures Secondary School have been matched with sponsors to support their education. Secondary education needs to be paid for in Malawi and none of the young people we help to support would have the opportunity to progress past primary school, even though they passed their primary school leavers exams. Teachers salaries have to be paid, students receive a free school lunch every day (for most their only meal each day), school uniform and other clothes, stationery and exam fees are all free of charge to students.

As everything is free of charge for these vulnerable young people who are living in extreme poverty, we cannot unfortunately accept additional students who do not have a sponsor helping to support the costs of their time at Bright Futures Secondary School. Levison told me this week that recently he has had over two hundred young people pleading for places at Bright Futures Secondary School. Their families have not been able to keep up payments for the secondary schools that these students are attending and they have been chased out of school due to non payment of fees. Unfortunately, all Levison can do is to take a note of their names. This is a really difficult situation. The more sponsors we have then the more students can attend Bright Futures Secondary School.

We are already thinking about September when there will be a new class of S1 students to find sponsors for. It is still only £25 per month to help support a student. If you would like to express an interest in supporting a young person in September then please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . We also have younger children who are needing immediate support if you would like to be matched with one of them we would be very grateful.

Right now we are raising money to buy soap for all the children and young people who use the feeding programme each week, Bright Futures Nursery, Bright Futures Secondary School and Chambo Primary School. There is always soap for handwashing and showering at Bright Futures Campus but the vast majority of these children and young people do not even have one bar of soap at home. The Malawi Government have issued guidelines to help protect against outbreaks of the MPox virus. Thankfully, there are none in that immediate area but we must help with preventative measures. You can either email for bank details to donate or give via this link https://donorsee.com/project/27307?share=1 .

We are also still fundraising to buy notebooks and pencils for students at Chambo Primary who have none https://donorsee.com/project/25617?share=1

The students at Bright Futures Secondary School are also still fundraising to have their own beehives. This will give them more agricultural skills as well as providing honey and an income from selling surplus supplies. https://donorsee.com/project/25476?share=1

I’d like to thank everyone for the ongoing support we receive, both here and in Malawi. It’s always about teamwork and, playing our small part of a team, using our skills, we can do great things and help continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. Thank you, Sarah x

The new staffroom at Bright Futures Campus is taking shape

BFSS S2 Essay Competition – June 24

BFSS S2 essays & photos June 24 – could you sponsor a student to have the opportunity of a secondary education please?

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Sarah’s blog 19/6/24

Here are essays and photos from the S2 class at Bright Futures Secondary School. They are feeling very relieved to have just finished their national exams. The students will, hopefully, gain their Junior Certificate of Education, and then proceed to S3 in September. As you will see, many of them are older than usual…the older they are the more poverty they live in. They have missed years of school to work for a pittance and are now valuing being given the opportunity to catch up on their education.

Class sizes at Bright Futures Secondary School will always be smaller than average class sizes in Malawi but, as you can see, there is plenty of space at Bright Futures Secondary School for more students. The biggest cost we face is feeding the students a nutritious, substantial school lunch every day. For most students, this is their only meal each day….so free school lunches are vital for their health & wellbeing, concentration and motivation.

If you’d like to help us get more vulnerable students into secondary education next year at Bright Futures Secondary School, then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Secondary education is not free in Malawi and none of these students would be at school without support.

https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2024/06/14/12-weeks-to-find-sponsors-for-14-vunerable-students/ Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for helping to change the life of the young person you support and for giving them a brighter future, Sarah x

World Food Day 2023

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Sarah’s blog 16/10/23

Today is World Food Day. What does that mean? It will mean different things depending where you live in the world. For most, it will be just another day….if you have plenty of food, you might not even be aware of World Food Day. If you are hungry and do not have enough to feed your family, you may be working hard all the daylight hours you can to try to make a small amount of money.

The vulnerable children and families we support in rural northern Malawi fall into the second category. There are children with stunted growth due to lack of food and nutrition, most are suffering from malnutrition, most don’t eat properly every day. These children deserve more. They deserve our help.

As yet, there are no charities feeding children in schools in this area. Children are hungry when trying to sleep. Children are hungry when trying to study. How can we expect them to concentrate and retain information?

Children and young people miss chunks of school to try to earn a pittance to buy food. Children are walking 15km to the nearest maize mill, with someone else’s maize, with no food or water, risking attack along the way.

We send money to feed 500 children once a week. It’s not enough but it’s all we have funds for. Food prices are constantly on the rise. Children are walking up to 20km for this one nutritious meal of the week.

We need help to feed these children in the short term, and we also need help to feed them through sustainable means. Crops are being grown to supplement buying food, however it’s not enough. Fruit tree saplings have been planted to provide future food and a future income. However, it’s not enough. Hens eggs are being hatched in the incubator but this is taking time to build up the flock.

The end goal has always been sustainability for this community but, with food prices going up and up we need help, feeding so many children. Please help us?

Soon the rainy season will start and this is the perfect time to plant more saplings. Can you help us buy more fruit tree saplings to plant in the orchard to provide food security in years to come? Can you help us to buy banana tubers? And more sweet potato vines? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Or could you commit to £5/£10 p/m to help pay for more food at the feeding programme/school lunches? Or to sponsor a teenager’s education at Bright Futures Secondary School it’s £25 p/m which includes a nutritious cooked lunch each day.

Our bank details are; Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, a/c 21081462, s/c 80-22-60. Your help would be very much appreciated as we help support this community towards a brighter future where all children have food to eat every day.

We keep the Sustainable Development Goals in mind for all the projects we help to support. However, just related to food in this project we are aiming for all these Sustainable Development Goals; #SDG1 – no poverty, #SDG2 – zero hunger, #SDG3 – good health & wellbeing, #SDG4 – clean water & sanitation, #SDG10 – reduced inequalities, #SDG11 – sustainable communities, #SDG13 – climate action. Please be part of the team that helps these vulnerable children towards a brighter, sustainable future? Thanks, Sarah x

Maria was in real danger of being married at age 11 as her grandparents could not feed her. We found her a sponsor and now she is thriving. Could you sponsor a young person like Maria?
Students at Bright Futures Secondary School planting sweet potato vines as part of their Agricultural Classes… could you commit to £5/£10 per month to provide food security?
one of the lemon tree saplings that was planted two years ago and is growing well…can you help provide more fruit tree saplings please?
Children at the weekly feeding programme. Could you commit £5/£10 p/m to support food security please
These two older siblings carried their one year old twin siblings a long way to the feeding programme so they could all have nutritious food. Their parents are peasant farmers and, despite working very hard, cannot earn enough to feed their family. Can you help us either by sponsoring one of the older children for £25 p/m or by helping support the feeding programme for £5/£10 per month?

School Lunches at Bright Futures Secondary School

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Sarah’s blog 10/11/22

It’s nearly the end of the first week at Bright Futures Secondary School and things are going well. We still need to raise more money for desks and also more textbooks but some of the most vulnerable young people in Ibuluma are being educated and are having lunch at school too. This is a huge achievement for Levison and his team. Most of the young people are slightly older than they would be in UK or other countries as they have had to drop out of school to help earn a pittance to feed themselves. Life has been desperate for them all. Things are now changing.

First Day of Bright Futures Secondary School 07/11/22 – Changing Lives Malawi

These young people would not normally get the chance to go to secondary school because of the costs involve and also there were not enough places in the nearest secondary schools. So, even if you had a sponsor to pay your fees and you’d passed your primary school leavers exams, if you aren’t picked for a place at secondary school then you don’t go. This happened to 11 of our sponsored children last year which was heart breaking for them. This spurred us on to fundraise for Bright Futures Secondary School.

Because it is such a huge project to build a school and because we are operating on a shoestring, we are fundraising to build Bright Futures Secondary School in phases. We could not do this without the help of our wonderful supporters. We are very grateful to you all. We always say it is about teamwork. We all have a part to play in the team around these vulnerable children. Thanks to those who have donated, these young people have a school in their village, have a chance to have a good education, be fed a school lunch every day and have the chance of a brighter future. Thank you if you have been a part of making that happen. Thank you if you have been a part of changing their lives.

We are still fundraising for desks and more textbooks and then, after that, we will start fundraising for phase 2 of the school so that more vulnerable young people have the future they deserve. If you would like to help, then please donate here https://gofund.me/44a92444 or you can email for bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Can you help with buying a desk? Or buying a textbook? Can you make a donation towards phase 2 of the school? We are also looking for people to make a monthly commitment towards feeding these young people. If we have several people all donating a small amount each month of £5 or £10 then this will ensure there is enough food for school lunches every day of the week.

The photos show the young people having their lunch at school today. They are eating nsima (ground maize), beans and vegetables. Now we know these children are having a substantial and nutritious meal in school every day. Being fed in school is also an incentive to be there every day. If you are able to support school lunches at Bright Futures Secondary school and either give a one-off donation or commit to a monthly amount, please contact me for bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Some of the young people arriving at school for 7am start
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