Today’s blog is about tree planting taking place at Bright Futures Secondary School as part of their agriculture course. This is an ongoing project so financial donations are always very welcome.
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Sarah’s blog 4/2/26
Last week, students at Bright Futures Secondary School have again been busy tree planting. It would have been hard work digging holes for 120 saplings. On this occasion the tree planting was for pine and acacia.
They are keen to take responsibility for their environment. This will help prevent future soil erosion and replace trees that have been cut down. Of course students want to help with the climate crisis. The tree planting was part of their agricultural lessons which are a core subject in the Malawian curriculum.
Soon they will be planting other types of saplings and we will share photos when that happens. We are grateful to the agriculture teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School for all the extra work they do to support their students. Of course, we are proud of the students and pleased to see them contributing in such a positive way to their community.
Thank you also to everyone who has donated money over the past year to support their tree planting project. As it’s the rainy season now, the ground is easier to dig and plant. Also the saplings won’t dry out so have a better chance of survival. So this is always the best time for planting saplings even though we are fundraising for this project all year round.
If anyone would like to make a donation then please do get in touch. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com for bank details or you can donate via our website or our QR code. If you would like to donate in memory of a loved one then we are happy to make a sign to place in part of the orchard. Or for a special birthday or anniversary?
Or would your business like to contribute to this project and have some advertising in the orchard? We’d love to partner with any nurseries/garden centres/Christmas tree farms.
Thank you again everyone. Enjoy the photos, Sarah x
One of the teachers and a student planting a saplingstudents holding tree saplings prior to plantinga student planting a pine tree saplingyou can see the rain clouds in the distance
Stuart and I made a donation to buy fruit tree saplings a few years ago in memory of his lovely mum. If anyone else would like a name on a sign and make a donation to the orchard then please do get in touch.
Four organisations, working together to support some of the most vulnerable people in northern Malawi to self-sufficiency and sustainability.
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Sarah’s blog 24/5/24
The Rotary Club of Allander (Milngavie) have been supporting Changing Lives Malawi in a variety of ways over the past year and we are very grateful for their support. We are attending Bearsden & Milngavie Highland Games with them on Saturday 8th June, so if you are attending the event, please come and say ‘hello’.
In March, I was invited as a guest of Stuart Sharkie, President of Allander Rotary, to attend a talk on Malawi at The Probus Club of Allander. We were both made extremely welcome by William Ho, President of The Probus Club and all the other members.
Changing Lives Malawi is a member of The Scotland Malawi Partnership which promotes positive relationships and connections in Scotland and Malawi where people in both countries can learn from each other and work collaboratively. Chad Morse, is Deputy Chief Executive of The Scotland Malawi Partnership and was giving the talk. This was the first time I had met Chad in person and his talk was fascinating as he and his family had lived in Malawi for many years.
As well as benefitting from hearing Chad’s talk about the work of the SMP and his time of living in Malawi, he had some wonderful photos of the beauty of Malawi. There was also an opportunity to chat with people and I met some lovely people.
William arranged for an article to appear in Bearsden & Milngavie’s Community Magazine and he has sent me a copy of it as it was delivered yesterday. I’m thankful for the opportunities and support that The Rotary Club of Allander, The Probus Club of Allander and The Scotland Malawi Partnership have given to Changing Lives Malawi and I hope that we can all continue supporting the hundreds of vulnerable children, and their community, through a variety of projects with the end goal being sustainability and self-sufficiency.
Stuart, William and Chad – thank you for your support of our work. I’m grateful for your help and kindness. I always say it’s about teamwork and, little by little, our team is expanding.
I’ve included the link to two recent blogs I have written to give examples of some of our projects, then the magazine article and photo. If anyone would like to get involved then please let me know contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
I’ve chosen education again for December 5th as it is a core project and something we all feel very strongly about. Thanks to grants and donations from our supporters, Bright Futures Secondary School was opened in November 22.
Currently, there are three classes S1, S2 and S3. In September 2024 there will also be an S4 class. When there are four classes there will need to be several more teachers employed at the school. Therefore, next year’s running costs will be significantly more than this year’s.
One way that the school is planning to be more self-sufficient and have some income to be able to buy their own exercise books, science equipment and money towards trips etc is to set up a Pig Project. Agricultural classes are part of the core curriculum and particularly S2 have a topic on keeping pigs. Future piglets can be sold; the income will be for the school and the students will have practical experience which will be invaluable in the future. Quality education will be the key to a better and brighter future for these students with choices and chances. If you would like to buy a piglet as a Christmas gift for the person who has everything it only costs £45. https://gofund.me/d3cf8c3acontact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you for your support, Sarah x
A while ago, Lochlie Construction generously donated money for an incubator to be bought.
Electricity has been so sporadic that it meant the incubator wasn’t able to be kept at the proper temperature so eggs didn’t hatch.
The incubator was linked up to the solar power kit that we sent on the last container and we thought that there would soon be lots of chicks hatching. Nothing is ever straightforward though. A few batches of fertilized eggs were bought but Levison ended up asking for a refund as none of these hatched.
So last month a few eggs were gathered each day until 103 had been placed in the incubator. Thankfully, 68 of those have hatched. They need to be kept warm until they have grown a bit bigger and, hopefully, they will all survive.
This is such amazing news and far bigger than just 68 chicks successfully hatching. Here are some of the reasons we are all so excited about this good news story;
more eggs can be hatched each month in the incubator
some of the chicks can be sold as a regular income for the Foundation
some chicks will be kept to increase the amount of ‘chooks’ in the Foundation flock.
The Foundation flock will, when big enough, be able to provide eggs for sale bringing in extra income. Eggs and (occasionally) chicken will be able to supplement The Feeding Programme.
Hopefully, there will be employment opportunities created once the number of chooks increases.
There is a possibility that vulnerable families could be given a couple of chooks, meaning they would have their own eggs helping them to feed their families.
So this is just the start and we need to keep our fingers crossed that these chicks survive and the next batch are successfully hatched in the incubator too. This is one of the ways that The Foundation will start to become self-sufficient. They are proud and clever people. They don’t want handouts. They just need helping hands just now as things are so difficult and malnutrition is rife. Let’s hope this is the start of a brighter future.
This chicken project is going to take a long time before it starts making a difference. The feeding programme is providing 500+ hungry orphans with a substantial meal once a week. Some children are walking from up to 20km away. No one is feeding children in schools in this area. We need your help to help us continue the feeding programme as prices continue to rise. Can you commit to £5 or £10 per month please? Our bank details are Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, A/C 21081462, S/C 80-22-60 and use the reference ‘feeding’ please. Your help WILL make a difference to hungry, malnourished children. Thank you for your continued support, Sarah x
Food is scarce and more expensive. The maize crop hasn’t done well because at the Foundation they couldn’t afford to buy fertilizer. The Foundation is feeding 500+ vulnerable children once a week but obviously this isn’t enough. All are hungry. All are malnourished. No big charities are feeding children in primary schools in the far north of Malawi.
A donation bought sweet potato vines which students at Bright Futures Secondary School helped to plant at the start of April. Levison has sent me photos today and the crop is looking very healthy. The sweet potatoes will be ready at the end of July and will be used to feed the children. The fact that there are so many hungry children, even if this is a great harvest, it won’t last long.
We must find more people who are willing to make a monthly donation to support the feeding programme so that these vulnerable children can keep being fed. Ideally, we would like to feed them more often and we would also like to supply every family with sweet potato vines and other vegetables so that they can grow their own crops. Please email me if you would like to make a regular donation to the feeding programme or if you would like to contribute to buying sweet potato vines that can be shared with vulnerable families to help them become more self sufficient. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Sweet potato vines need deep ridgesThe crop is looking healthyHopefully there will be a good harvest of sweet potatoes by the end of JulySome of the students at Bright Futures Secondary School planting the sweet potato vines in April.
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
