Thank you to Fakenham Town FC for the kit they donated via Julian and his ‘Wear a Sports Shirt Day’ Charity. Julian you do amazing work.
Advertisements
Sarah’s blog 2/8/23
Further to my post yesterday about the generous donation of football kit via Julian from Wear a Sports Day Charity, here is a news article about football kits from Fakenham Town FC. Julian travels all over England every weekend collecting football kits that can be repurposed and sent to teenagers in Africa that don’t have football kits. Receiving new football tops and shorts makes such a difference to morale and the young people know that people they’ve never met are thinking about them.
Fakenham Town FC have previously donated kit to us via Julian for which we are very grateful. I’m delighted to see this article (which has some photos of the children we support wearing Fakenham Town kit) giving Julian some recognition for the work he does week in and week out, quietly making a difference. Thank you again Fakenham Town FC for the kits you gifted to us and thank you Julian for all your hard work and the help that you give to so many organisations supporting young people.
Please show your support for Joanne who is fundraising for a new classroom for Bright Futures Secondary School. Read today’s blog to find out how brave and strong she is.
Advertisements
Sarah’s blog 31/07/23
My sister is amazing. My sister is strong, brave and determined. She has been through so much in the last few years; finding out she had breast cancer, having her breast removed, several operations, lots of infections, not to mention the mental trauma of all of that.
Whilst she was waiting for her original surgery, she raised money towards the shower block by doing a walking challenge. Now, whilst she is waiting for reconstruction surgery and needing to reduce her BMI slightly, she has taken on another challenge for us. Thank you Joanne.
Bright Futures Secondary School opened last year with two classrooms. Secondary education needs to be paid for in Malawi and none of the teenagers we help to support could afford this. There will be another intake of vulnerable teenagers wanting to start at Bright Futures Secondary School in September, but we need to build another classroom. As there will be more students, we also need to build another toilet block. Will you help us?
She set herself the challenge of walking 200km in July….she’s almost finished…5km left to go and this is her last day. It’s pouring with rain here today, so she would welcome some support. Can you help?
Joanne’s fundraising link is here: https://gofund.me/91721cad If you could spare a few £££ it would be much appreciated. Joanne has taken photos from her walks round the village of Killearn where she lives. If you are a business in Killearn who would like to support Joanne we will give you lots of mentions on social media. We welcome businesses partnering with us to help support the hundreds of orphans we help in rural northern Malawi.
Hope you enjoy Joanne’s photos and please support her if you can. Thank you, Sarah x
Levison and his helpers arrived back safely yesterday afternoon from Ekwendeni with all the boxes and parcels. Boxes will be opened over the next few weeks and a bit at a time. The first box to be opened contained workwear that had been kindly donated by West Group Technical Services. They replace clothes for their staff each year and asked us if we could make use of their preloved uniform.
Members of staff and apprentices were delighted to receive a polo shirt each today with the West Group logo. There are still sweatshirts and fleeces that will be given out when the weather is a bit cooler. We would like to thank West Group Technical Services for their generosity and for partnering with us in this way to make a difference to the young people we are helping to support.
Most of the young apprentices we help to support are helping care for the goats and crops. Jean is becoming competent at sewing and cooking and Loveness supports the preschool children in the nursery and also coaches team sports. Soon, some of these young people will be helping on the project to bring clean water from the health centre to Chambo Primary School. Anold is Levison’s right hand man and supervises the apprentices and other young people who are learning how to grow crops.
West Group Technical Services are a growing, well respected electrical contractor based in central Scotland and their website link is https://www.westgrouptechnical.co.uk Thank you again for supporting our young people, Jack Lyon and team.
Hope you enjoy looking at the photos and there will be more photos soon when other boxes have been opened. Thanks, Sarah x
before receiving their new t-shirts from West Group
Happy, Moreen & Shalon were delighted to be allowed to hold the new chicks
Advertisements
Sarah’s blog
Further to my post about the 68 chicks that had hatched in the incubator, unfortunately 4 haven’t survived….but that is still leaving 64 chicks so we hope those are all strong enough to survive and grow.
We thought you’d like to see these photos…. three little birds….and also three children holding the three little birds. Happy Chanya (age 9, p2), Moreen Mbale (age 8, p2) and Shalon Ng’ambi (age 6, p1) all enjoyed being the first to hold the new chicks. Happy, Moreen and Shalon all need sponsors if anyone is able to help them please. It’s £25 p/m to sponsor a child which ensures they have clothes and a monthly food parcel in addition to the feeding programme and they also receive welfare checks. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Thanks for supporting us to help hundreds of children like these, Sarah x
https://gofund.me/ece5753a We really need your help to have phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School ready for the next intake of students. Please help?
Advertisements
Sarah’s blog 15/07/23
Thousands of bricks are being made for classroom 3 of Bright Futures Secondary School. Classroom 3 needs to be completed and ready for the new term starting in September 2023. Land is starting to be prepared today. Foundations will be done for classrooms 3 and 4 but, currently, we only have enough funds for classroom 3. As long as classroom 3 is built then classroom 4 can be completed at a later date. Thank you so much to The Inverclyde Trust for their generous donation of £4,000 towards phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School.
We also need funds for latrines and more teachers’ accommodation, so need to raise approximately £10,000 for these to ensure there are enough toilet facilities for the extra intake of new students and also accommodation for the extra teachers that need to be employed.
Will you help us to ensure this happens please? Can your company help sponsor this? Your name can be painted on a building. Can you donate £500 or more and you can have your name (or someone else’s name) above the classroom door? or above the doors of the teachers’ accommodation? or how would you like to sponsor a toilet? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com £10 x 200 people will pay for a toilet block…. will you donate £10 or more towards new toilets? Privacy, safety, dignity and hygiene are priceless and something every teenager deserves….especially the girls need to have safe, adequate toilet facilities. Will you help us help them? https://gofund.me/ece5753a We cannot do this on our own. We always say it takes teamwork. Will you be part of our team? Can you spare a few £££? Please? If enough people will help then we will reach our target. The students need us.
During the first year of opening it was decided that there would only be very vulnerable students who wouldn’t have to pay school fees, or for uniform, school supplies or school lunches. The majority of places at Bright Futures Secondary School will still be for these vulnerable students. However, from September 2023 there will be ten places in each year group for fee paying day students which will help towards expenses at the school. These fees still won’t be as much as other schools charge but will provide an option for those who can afford to pay to send their children to Bright Futures Secondary School if it is nearer than the other secondary schools. Bright Futures Secondary School has smaller class sizes than other secondary schools and offers computer lessons and encourages practical agricultural classes in addition to the core curriculum subjects.
Please help us to provide a brighter future for up to 120 of the most vulnerable teenagers (3 classes x 40 students). These teenagers receive a substantial and nutritious school lunch each day which is their only proper meal of the day. School lunches are helping them concentrate in school and supporting their overall development. This is a big commitment we have made to these students but they need people to believe in them. They need people to give them choices and chances. They need opportunities to thrive and to shine. Will you help us continue Changing Lives Malawi? Please email me on contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com if you’d like more information or you would like to help with ensuring Bright Futures Secondary School is ready to welcome more students and teachers in September. The link to our fundraiser is https://gofund.me/ece5753a these vulnerable teenagers really do need your help. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
some of the vulnerable students at Bright Futures Secondary School with their solar lamps enabling them to see to study at home as it is dark year round at 6pm in Malawi. (solar lamps were bought with money donated by The Souter Charitable Trust)
students at Bright Futures Secondary School planting sweet potato vines
This rugby kit was kindly donated by Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh – students are outside the first classroom block – classrooms 1 & 2
please read about this family who really do need our help
Advertisements
Sarah’s blog 09/07/23
Sometimes when Levison sends me photos they make me happy when I see the children and young people smiling, having fun, achieving and benefiting from learning new skills to enable them to have a better future.
At the end, it’s not about what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.
Denzil Washington
Other times, like today, when I look at photos I am sad and I am upset. I’m also angry that we don’t have a magic wand to be able to help everyone more than we are. Let me tell you about the Kasonda family.
Mum and dad are, in Levison’s words, peasant farmers. They are very poor and neither of them is in the best of health. Levison and team have been helping clothe the children and the older ones come to the feeding programme. Their home is 5km away and today Logical Kasonda (age 9) and her brother Kumbukani Kasonda (age 11) each carried their one year old twin sisters, Selida and Queen, the 5km to the Foundation, fed the twins before themselves, and carried them the 5km home again.
My heart is breaking for these children (and the many, many more like them). As you can see, Logical and Kumbukani are both in p3. This means that Kumbukani has missed 4 years of school to work to try to bring in a pittance to help his parents, and Logical has missed 2 years of school for the same reason. NO BIG CHARITIES ARE FEEDING CHILDREN IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THE FAR NORTH OF MALAWI. We send enough money for the feeding programme to feed 500 children once a week. This is the biggest meal they have each week. Some children walk up to 20km for this food and then 20km home again.
Crops are being grown at the Foundation but it’s nowhere near enough to feed all the children. We have 80+ of the most vulnerable children matched with sponsors. This costs £25 per month. This helps pay towards school lunches for the older sponsored children at Bright Futures Secondary School and the younger sponsored children receive a food parcel at their home each month. All children receive clothes, school supplies and a meal at the weekly feeding programme.
As The Foundation that we are helping to support is in a very rural location, we are trying to do everything. We need people (and other charities to partner with us). Please help?
Why should Kumbukani and Logical each carry a one year old sibling 5km for food and 5km back again? Why should they only get one decent, nutritious meal a week? How can we expect Kumbukani and Logical to be able to learn at school with sore, empty tummies? How are the twins expected to grow properly and not be stunted and suffer from malnutrition by only having one proper meal each weekend?
These children deserve food, clean water, safety, warmth, clothing, rest, education, play etc etc just like our children. These children have names; Kumbukani, Logical, Queen and Selida. These children need sponsors. Can you please sponsor one of them for £25 p/m? you can share that cost with a friend. Or why not help us run the feeding programme more often than once a week by committing to £5 or £10 p/m? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Our bank account details are Bank of Scotland, Changing Lives Malawi, S/C 80-22-60, A/C 21081462. Or could you make a one off donation? Just put ‘feeding’ as your reference please.
My heart is with these vulnerable children and I know that together we CAN make a difference. Together we can give these children brighter futures. Together we CAN continue Changing Lives Malawi. Please get in touch today. Thanks for reading, Sarah x
In November 2020 my sister, Joanne, was waiting for surgery for breast cancer. She used that time to do a walking challenge to raise money towards the shower block that was being built.
Now, as she’s waiting for reconstructive surgery and needs to lower her BMI slightly, she has said she’s going to challenge herself again. I have no doubt that she will reach her target of 200km in July. As well as being one of the bravest people I know, she is also one of the strongest.
So she has set up a fundraising page to raise money towards a new classroom for Bright Futures Secondary School. Please support her in her challenge as it will mean a great deal to her, to us and, of course, the children who need a new classroom for term starting in September. Joanne’s fundraiser is https://gofund.me/91721cad .
If anyone else wants to set themselves a challenge to fundraise for our charity we would be so grateful and would promote it on social media for you. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Good luck, Joanne and thank you…we know you can do it! Thank you all for reading and your support, Sarah x
The brick making is due to start for the next phase of Bright Futures Secondary School. There will be a team of 15; four will ferry the water, five will be digging and six will be making bricks. They will be making 60,000 bricks. Once the bricks are made they are left to dry and once dry they are stacked to make a kiln. Fires are lit under the kiln and, after firing, the bricks take two weeks to cool down. So this is a huge undertaking…we’d love your support https://gofund.me/ece5753a
At least one new classroom is needed for the new intake of students at the start of September. One classroom is costing approximately £10,000. We also need to build some extra accommodation for teachers and a new latrine block. We need your help please. We don’t yet have all the money we need for a third classroom. Will you help us please? Can you make a financial donation to our fundraiser? Or could you do a sponsored event or organise your own fundraiser eg a bake sale or an afternoon tea for your friends? here is the link for our fundraiser and we will be very grateful for any assistance you can provide https://gofund.me/ece5753a or email for our bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading & supporting the vulnerable young people, Sarah x
some of the sponsored children with their food parcels today
Advertisements
Sarah’s blog 15/5/23
I don’t think any of us realise exactly how busy Levison is each day. One of his many tasks is doing welfare checks for the sponsored children and young people. Two sponsored young people have had bereavements in their families recently. The custom is that everyone who is able goes to the funeral which takes two days. Levison showed his support for both these families by attending. Another young person needed some medical treatment. Levison spent time with them prior to this talking with them to establish that they would benefit from a trip to the health centre. He needs to visit another family tomorrow to check on another sponsored child after not finding anyone at home today when he visited.
Also one of the key members of staff had a bereavement in their family last week and Levison attended that funeral. Days of planned work can go out of the window due to someone in the village passing away and also welfare checks on the young people. Several days have been spent trying to find enough maize to purchase for the children and young people’s monthly food parcels. Food is scarce and prices are high. It is not easy when so many people are relying on you.
Here are photos of some of the sponsored children and young people who came to collect their food today. I’m hoping for more photos later this week in order to get up to date photos of all sponsored children. If you would like to sponsor a child then please do get in touch. It’s only £25 per month and you can share that cost with a friend or family. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and supporting us, Sarah x
It’s just a quick post today. I am concerned about the children we are helping to support in rural Northern Malawi. There are over 500 orphans and other vulnerable children who come to be fed once a week… that’s all we can afford.
There are no big charities feeding children in schools in that area. All children are hungry, malnourished and don’t eat properly every day…some don’t eat every day.
We need your help to continue feeding these children as food prices have gone up and so many young people need our help.
If you can spare £1 per week… please, please will you help us? 100 people, each giving just £1 per week will ensure that the feeding programme can run twice a week instead of just once. We can make a difference to these hungry children.
Please will you commit to helping us help these very vulnerable young people? If we all give just £1 per week it WILL make a difference. All the money goes to our projects – there are no salaries or admin costs with our charity… every penny will go to feeding these malnourished children.
Email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com if you would like to change a life with just £1 per week. As a team, we can change lives in Malawi. Thank you, Sarah x
I’m feeling really sad looking at these photos I am going to share with you today. You might remember that recently Eliza, one of the lovely hardworking volunteers, sadly died after having an asthma attack. Eliza had been volunteering since Levison started feeding the children and had understood the importance of his vision for improving the lives of the most vulnerable. She also understood it wasn’t going to happen without volunteers. Eliza worked tirelessly, cooking for and serving 500+ children, cooking for the nursery children and, more recently, for the students at Bright Futures Secondary School. She is missed very much by everyone.
I said I would try to find sponsors for her children. Her husband is a peasant farmer, working very hard for not much return. They had four children. Unfortunately, the eldest two have gone to live with relatives quite far away as their dad couldn’t support them all. So these older children have not only lost their mum, they are now separated from their dad too and their two youngest siblings. Who knows when they will all see each other again. Life is so hard.
The two youngest children are still living with their dad. The girl, Chifundo, who is 13, has had to start doing the chores her mum would have done, including looking after Junior, 8 years old, while their dad is working long hours. Chifundo will have to cook and do the washing. What will she cook? They don’t have much. They need food. They need soap to wash the clothes. They need some new clothes. And they need some blankets. You can see the mat, in one of the photos, where they sleep sharing a dirty old blanket.
So, who will help them? Who could help support these two children whose world has been turned upside down. They’ve lost their lovely mum and their two older siblings. They need our help. It costs £25 to sponsor a child each month. They receive a food parcel each month, clothes, a blanket, welfare checks and medicine if they need it. Please will you help? You can sponsor as an individual or two friends can share the cost or your club or business could sponsor a child. Please email me if you’d like to help Chifundo or Junior contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading and thanks to all our sponsors who are making a big difference to each child, Sarah x
