Sarah’s blog 22/08/24
We were absolutely delighted to be one of the beneficiary charities of Vets with Horsepower | Equine veterinary education to help charities .
Here is a short animation which explains nicely what Vets with Horsepower does. https://fb.watch/u6FarSjyvT . A group of motorbike enthusiasts, who also happen to be equine vets at the very top level, plan a journey each year and give lectures at various points on their tour. A huge amount of planning and organisation goes into these trips each year by the team at Vets with Horsepower and the people organising all the events en route.
As well as us being hugely grateful to Vets with Horsepower, we are very thankful for all of their sponsors too. So I would like to say a big THANK YOU to the following;
- SKOPES Menswear ❤️
- Boehringer Animal Health ❤️
- IMV Imaging ❤️
- Equine Medical Solutions ❤️
- Nupsala ❤️
- PODOBLOCK ❤️
- Audevard ❤️
- MedEquus ❤️
- Coppax – EVC ❤️
- ARIAT ❤️
- Baker McVeigh ❤️
- Rossdales Equine Hospital ❤️
and, of course, everyone else who made donations to this year’s event and to the vets for giving of their time and talents, thank you. We enjoyed following your journey on social media and looked forward to all the photo updates on the Facebook page.
£15,000 is the amazing donation that we received – we were blown away by how much we received and what that money will help us achieve. THANK YOU again. We will now be able to go ahead with the £33k expansion of Bright Futures Secondary School. I will tell you a bit of background to BFSS for those who aren’t familiar with our charity.
We support a community in the rural far north of Malawi. Everyone is living in extreme poverty and there are many orphans as some families have been affected by HIV and AIDS. No big charities are feeding children in primary schools that far north so most children are malnourished. We have been sending money to facilitate a feeding programme once a week. Over 500 children of all ages come to receive their one proper substantial meal of the week. Some children and young people walk up to 15km or 20km from their homes. It’s not good enough, but all we can do currently while we help set up sustainable projects for their future.
We match the most vulnerable children and young people with sponsors. Whilst they are at primary school, they receive a monthly food parcel to supplement the food that they have at home. Secondary Education has to be paid for in Malawi, so sponsored young people who had passed their primary school leavers exams, were attending nearby secondary schools. The system in Malawi is that the young people with the best grades are chosen to attend secondary school. If they are not offered a place (even if they have passed their exams and have a sponsor to pay their fees) then they cannot attend secondary school. That is the end of their education. We found ourselves in this position with 11 sponsored young people who had passed their primary school leavers exams with no places at secondary school. So Bright Futures Secondary School was born.
After lots of fundraising, Bright Futures Secondary School opened with two classrooms on 7th November 2022. Then the next two classrooms were built in time for the new school year in September 2023. By then there were three year groups. Next month, September 2024, there will be four year groups at Bright Futures Secondary School for the first time. More teachers need to be employed and, as it is in such a rural location, more accommodation built to ensure that teachers have somewhere to live.
This latest project, costing £33,000, will provide further staff accommodation complete with solar power and further latrines/washing facilities to allow the school to expand to have four years of students. Work is well underway on the motel style accommodation which will give six teachers their own private sitting room and bedroom. New textbooks have been ordered for the new s4 as well as other supplies being sourced ready for the start of term on 16th September.
I am still trying to find sponsors to enable some students to be able to take up their places at Bright Futures Secondary School. One of the big costs at school is school lunches. We insist that students have a substantial and nutritious lunch each day. For most, this is their only meal of the day. It saves their family having to feed them. So we must ensure that they are fed. They also receive uniform, shoes and stationery so they are well equipped for school. If you would like to support a young person’s education it is less than £1 per day – only £25 per month. You could sponsor as an individual or split the cost with your friends. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
I could continue writing as I am passionate about the young people that we help to support being able to have the opportunity to reach their full potential. To have the choices and chances that we take for granted for our children. Education is their way out of extreme poverty and they are desperate to learn. Each of them want a brighter future. I’ve probably said enough but, once again, a heartfelt thank you to Vets with Horsepower and all their supporters and sponsors for helping us continue Changing Lives (in) Malawi. I hope you enjoy these photos and having read a bit about Vets with Horsepower and also Changing Lives Malawi, Sarah x
