Tag: shoes

Merry Christmas from Malawi – photos from 24/12 & 25/12

Lots of photos of hundreds of vulnerable children receiving clothes & food this Christmas.

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

Shoes, Desks & a Microscope

Sarah’s blog 24/10/23

It’s a bit of a photo dump today! There is so much going on that it’s not easy to get photos of everything that is happening. Yesterday, S3 students at Bright Futures Secondary School were able to choose new shoes from the boxes of preloved shoes that www.salsshoes.com kindly donated to us to send to the teenage students. So there were lots of happy young people yesterday receiving new shoes to protect their feet whilst walking to and from school. Thanks to Sal’s Shoes and to all the people who donated preloved shoes to them.

We’d had a donation of money to be used to make desks for classroom 3. The donor wishes to remain anonymous but we are very grateful and thankful for this donation and the difference it is making. Levison was able to take some photos yesterday and you can see that the young people have a great learning environment. Thank you. We have preloved chairs and tables that we had kindly been offered going on the next container for classroom 4. If anyone would like to help towards the cost of transporting these then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

When Levison was at Bright Futures Secondary School yesterday, the S1 class were having a science lesson. He managed to get some photos of them using the new microscope that we sent. It’s so good to see these vulnerable teenagers having the opportunities they deserve and a good quality education. We do need sponsors to support more students to have a place at Bright Futures Secondary School so if you are able to commit to changing the life of a young person through education then please do contact us. It only costs £25 per month and you could share that cost with a friend. Or could you commit £5/£10 per month to ensure students have a nutritious, cooked school lunch each day. For many this is their only meal of the day. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Thank you for your continued support. We are still collecting school uniform and shoes and also thin rain jackets if anyone would like to help. Also, any scientific calculators, maths sets or kindles that are still in good working order. If anyone has another microscope or STEM resources (science, technology, engineering, maths) that their children have grown out of eg snap circuits, meccano, magnets, etc please do get in touch to see if we are able to make use of them. Thanks and enjoy the photos, Sarah x

New uniform & shoes for the S1 students at Bright Futures SS

This year’s S1 students at Bright Futures Secondary School. They have received gifts of uniform, shoes and school bags.

Sarah’s blog 20/09/23

Firstly, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has donated school uniform and school bags for the vulnerable students at Bright Futures Secondary School. Levison said that one of them had said ‘we never expected to have such good quality clothes as this’. So thank you for making a big difference to them and helping them feel important and valued for a change.

Secondly, another huge THANK YOU to the charity Sal’s Shoes Our Story – Sal’s Shoes (salsshoes.com). We were gifted three big boxes of shoes for the teenagers at Bright Futures Secondary School. We are very grateful for this support and we know the young people are delighted to have proper shoes to wear. It has such an impact on their confidence and self-esteem that people who don’t even know them have shown they care about the students by donating uniform and shoes. Now they all look smart and are able to have a sense of pride in their appearance. Proper shoes are also very important when the young people are walking the long distances to and from school across rough ground. Thank you again Sal’s Shoes for all that you do, all the hard work of your volunteers and for everyone who donates shoes to you to pass on to those who need them.

Here are photos of the new S1 students at Bright Futures Secondary School. All of them are vulnerable. All have been given shoes, uniform and school bags. The Only a few of them have sponsors to support their education through secondary school. If you are able to support one of these young people then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com It’s £25 per month to sponsor a young person. Or you could commit to £5 or £10 per month to help pay for school lunches. Each student gets a nutritious cooked lunch each day at Bright Futures Secondary School….for many it is their only proper meal of the day. These young people cannot be expected to concentrate and learn if they have no food in their tummies. Your help would be very much appreciated. The more people who help us support these young people, the more young people we can help and then we can offer places at Bright Futures Secondary School to additional young people. Thank you, Sarah x

Martha, Mphatso and Aaron are choosing shoes from one of the boxes that Sal’s shoes donated
New shoes for Aaron, Martha and Mphatso – thank you
looking very smart in their new uniforms and shoes
John and Asante pose in their new uniform and shoes
Thanks to Sal’s shoes for these very smart shoes that John and Asante are delighted with

New Clothes & Gifts

Sarah’s blog 20/09/22

At the weekend, some of the donated clothes were gifted to the children. There is always great excitement on these days and lots of children turn up to receive some new clothes.

Two elderly ladies, Gogo Nandege and Namasachi, regularly come to The Foundation to tell the children traditional stories. Gogo is a respectful term for Grandparent and a married woman can add ‘Na’ as a prefix to her name. They are both very poor but very generous with their time. They were delighted to receive coats, shoes and walking sticks which will help them as they walk to spend time with the children.

All of the children who I have named are very vulnerable and looking for a sponsor. So, if you are able to help one of them, please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com It’s £25 per month to sponsor a child. They receive a monthly food parcel at home to supplement what their family has. They also are gifted clothes, a blanket, soap and school supplies. They get regular welfare checks and are given medicine if they need it. You can sponsor a child as an individual, a family, a business or two friends can share the cost. It might be the most important thing you ever do for one of these children. Please help if you can.

We’ve always said that girls and women don’t wear trousers for cultural reasons. They do in the cities and towns but in the rural areas it is more traditional. However, some of the teenage girls asked if they could try on trousers. Some of them were far too big for the girls but it’s an indication that some of the girls would like to start wearing trousers. From now on we will gratefully accept women’s trousers too.

I hope you enjoy the photos and please do get in touch if you can help by sponsoring a child, supporting the feeding programme with a monthly donation, or paying for a box to go on the container. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com or to donate to our school fundraiser the link is https://gofund.me/44a92444 Thank for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Lots of vulnerable children waiting patiently to receive some new clothes
some of the nursery children receive new clothes

Do you recognise any of these clothes? Thank you again to those who have donated preloved clothes, shoes and money to pay for transport.

nursery children receiving new clothes
A group of children receiving new clothes. All are very vulnerable.
More needy children having received some new clothes.
Teenage girls asking to try on trousers…we will include trousers for them next time as some of these are far too big!
Times are changing as culturally girls and women in rural locations have always been more traditional only wearing skirts or dresses. However, these teenage girls were keen to try on trousers!
These two elderly ladies are very poor but very generous with their time. They come to tell the children traditional stories.
Levison with the two elderly story tellers after they have been gifted coats, walking sticks and shoes. The walking sticks and shoes will make their journey to The Foundation to spend time with the children far easier.
Two little girls from the nursery who will benefit from having a sponsor
Could you sponsor one of these nursery children please?
Shalom would love to have a sponsor. Could you help her?
Fred is needing a helping hand. Please could you sponsor him?
Could you sponsor Rashid? He has missed a lot of school to try to earn some money.

Thoughts & thanks from Levison

Sarah’s blog 18/08/22

I sometimes think I don’t get across the sheer scale of the difficulties faced by the people that Levison and his team are trying to help in the rural far north of Malawi. When he first wanted to improve the lives of the most vulnerable, he was just thinking about those in his village. However, from reading what he has written below, you can see that people are coming every day begging for help, and walking huge distances to get to The Foundation because they have heard that they won’t be turned away. People do not have food to feed themselves or their families.

In addition to the 500+ children who are fed once a week at The Feeding Programme, the 75 preschool children who are fed three times a week in The Nursery, as well as all the other projects and wonderful things that are happening, there are so many others needing our help. These people are feeling forgotten. There are no other charities or big agencies feeding children in that area. It is a huge responsibility for The Foundation and a huge responsibility for us. That is why we rely on your help. That is why we need you as part of our team.

When you give us preloved clothes and shoes, blankets and soap…you will understand the importance of these when you read Levison’s words. It’s also important that we continue to have the funds to send this aid to the most vulnerable people in rural Northern Malawi. So, if you can, please when you donate clothes, shoes, or anything else to us, could you include some money to cover the cost of sending boxes to The Foundation. Or raise some funds for us to continue this important work. It’s £15 per box on the container. People need our help. We need you to be part of our team. Great things are happening but there is more to do. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x

“Today when I was resting under a small tree to the south of the resource centre, I shed tears when I was looking at the library/shed, the shower block and other structures around. I thought much of where I am coming from in as far my charity work involvement is concerned.

Almost each and every hour we receive people from far places (some even 40km away) coming to the resource centre to ask for help. Men, women, boys and girls come to beg for food, money and clothes. These are people who really seem to be in dire poverty. We usually make sure they get relaxed, we give them food to eat. For those who may be come with some health issues like headache etc we give them painkillers like panado.

We have reserved, food, clothes, soap etc for such emergencies. When we give them the little we have, they shed tears, roll on the ground etc. These tears are tears of joy. These are the blessings we are receiving from these people. Many ask who is behind this initiative. I myself also shed tears when I hear their stories and see how thankful they are.

As a charity organisation we have contributed a lot to the community and are making a difference to the community. We have electricity, people being fed and clothed. Think of the children and women who are HIV positive, we have improved their nutrition status. On behalf of our children I would like to thank you all for your amazing love and support you are giving to us”

Levison Mlambya, 17/08/22
Some of the younger children at The Feeding Programme
Just one of the families who have been helped by The Foundation. This family’s home had been destroyed in the heavy rains. They were given this home to live in by another villager and The Foundation was able to provide food, blankets, new clothes and match two of the children with sponsors so they have two food parcels going into their home each month.
Here they are in their new, clean clothes with a big bag of maize too.
The family with some more gifts of clothes and shoes

New clothes, shoes & maize for a needy family

Sarah’s blog 2/3/22

We saw this family last week. The roof had almost totally blown off their mud house in the wind and rain. They were able to temporarily ‘borrow’ another house….the roof isn’t much better on this one but at least they have shelter.

The family had been invited to The Foundation to receive some gifts. Today they came. Here are the photos. They cried tears of joy and couldn’t believe the lovely things they had been given. Thanks to Moses and Angela now having sponsors, Levison was able to give the family a bag of maize.

They are all malnourished and extremely sad and upset by what has happened to them. They are exhausted due to lack of food. Levison has assured them that The Foundation will look after them. We will bring you more photos of them which will, hopefully, show the improvements in their health and wellbeing.

If you would like to sponsor a child to help change their life then please email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x

The family’s ‘new’ temporary home
The roof of the family’s mud house has almost totally been destroyed by the wind & rain