Tag: teenagers

Sewing Lessons at BFSS

Sewing classes at Bright Futures Secondary School are helping S3 and S4 students learn extra skills.

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Sarah’s blog 26/10/25

Levison Mlambya, the Director of Bright Futures Secondary School, has sent these great photos and a video of S3 and S4 students who are taking sewing lessons and carpentry classes to learn skills for life.

In the sewing lessons they are learning to use the sewing machines that have been donated and sent on the container via The Bananabox Trust.

Learning skills for life will equip these vulnerable students, who are all living in extreme poverty, with a way to earn money in future, giving them choices and chances they wouldn’t have had previously. Many thanks to the donors of the sewing machines & sewing supplies.

If you’d like to make a donation to support buying more fabric we would be very grateful. https://donorsee.com/project/29253?share=1

The plan is that during sewing lessons at BFSS, they make reusable sanitary pads and bags to put these in and, when there are enough, give them out to those who need them in various local schools. Your financial support will be so helpful.

Thanks also to their sponsors for supporting them. There are still S1 students needing to be matched with sponsors to support their education. https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2025/10/11/international-day-of-the-girl-child/

Thank you for reading and supporting the teenagers at Bright Futures Secondary School, Sarah x

https://videos.files.wordpress.com/ZhqEbst7/3a2c0979-ea89-4e09-bfde-6b8fbb5e719c-1.mp4

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

Please will you sponsor me?

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Sarah’s blog 14/11/22

The teenagers who have started at Bright Futures Secondary School have all had a very difficult life. Some have had an extremely hard time. They have had to miss a lot of school to work for a pittance to try to earn a few coins to contribute towards food in their homes. That’s why they are all older than you would expect. The older they are, the more school they missed and the longer they have had to work.

Some young people not yet been matched with a sponsor. Having a sponsor will help pay for their place at school. It will help towards the stationary they need, the exam fees, uniform, other clothes, a blanket, soap, toothbrush & toothpaste, a wind-up torch and a school bag. It will also help towards providing a nutritious hot meal each lunchtime.

It’s £25 per month to sponsor a child. You can do this as an individual, as a family, a business or a club or two friends can split the cost. This might be the most important thing that anyone ever does for one of these young people. As well as financial support, they will know someone cares about them. They will know they are important and that someone is willing to invest in their future. Can you be a sponsor to one of the young people please? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

We recognise that the commitment of being a sponsor is not for everyone, so we are also looking for people to commit to £5 or £10 per month to ensure that all the students receive a nutritious hot meal each lunchtime. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com These teenagers need a team around them in order that they can succeed and be the best they can be. They need to be warm and have food in their tummies to be able to concentrate on their studies. They shouldn’t be so cold at night they can’t sleep. They shouldn’t be so hungry that they can’t concentrate. They have been given the gift of education and they need to have the opportunity to succeed. Please can you be part of the team supporting these young people to be the best that they can be?

Here are some of the young people who need your help. Please do get in touch if you would like to support one of them or support our school lunches at Bright Futures Secondary School. Thank you, Sarah x

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