I am delighted to say that The Butterfly Tree is going from strength to strength and has had another incredible year. November and December have been amazing months with donations pouring in from individuals, grant-baring organisations and corporate. I believe that our success is due to the fact that donors know virtually 100% of their funding will go directly into grass roots projects and that no administration or personal fees will be deducted. In addition none of this could have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of our UK and Zambian volunteers and the representatives in Canada and the US who have come ‘on board’ to help our cause.

Christmas 2012 – supporting rural communities

Our work  now reaches out to three Chiefdoms in the Southern Province of Zambia. Many vulnerable communities have advanced with the addition of bore holes, schools and improved housing, health and sanitation facilities. We have opened four new schools and been able to sponsor over 60 new orphans from Mukuni, N’gandu and Kamwi rural schools. We have also helped thousands more by providing stationery, materials, seeds and investing in malaria and HIV and AIDS prevention. A number of children have received funds to pay for operations and medical treatment, including several for eye problems. An orphanage in Livingstone has received support from us for the first time.

New home for widow looking after orphans in Mukuni

This season we will be distributing a vast number of mosquito nets in both the Mukuni and Sekute Chiefdoms and 2013 has some exciting projects in store. A second special education centre at Katapazi, a boarders’ shelter and 1×2 classroom at Mukuni, a clinic at Mahalululu and a health post and a women’s shelter at Mambova. Our emphasis will be on sustainability, improving reading skills and introducing a mentoring scheme for high schools pupils and school leavers. In addition we will continue to focus on HIV and AIDS prevention amongst school pupils and vulnerable communities.

Children at N’dele enjoy their new school – opened January 2012

Sadly it is not all good news and as I always say about working in Africa ‘for every step forward you take two back‘. Zambia has been plagued with an infestation of army worms, which started in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and is now down in the Southern Province and Mukuni has been hard hit. This is prime growing time and just when the maize is sprouting the army worms have destroyed all the crops in the area. President Sada has announced it as a national disaster and if it is not controlled in time Zambia could face a severe famine next year. With maize and fuel already in short supply we must find new ways to provide food for these needy people in the challenging year ahead.

With your support we have made a tremendous contribution to alleviating poverty in many outreach villages. Thank you on behalf of The Butterfly Tree for helping us to make this happen. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

Every hour around 300 people die of AIDS related illnesses, between 30 to 40 of them are children. Globally there are 34 million people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite significant progress being made sadly last year there were 2.2 million new infections and 1.7 million deaths caused by AIDS related illnesses. Two thirds of those people are living in Commonwealth countries, the majority are in Southern Africa, which of course includes Zambia.

Yesterday I was invited at an event at The Commonwealth Secretariat to commemorate and to listen to panel discussions and multi-sectoral consultations for World AIDS Day. Among the panel were speakers from UNAIDS, the Tropical School of Medicine, UNESCO and various members of the Secretariat. This was an invaluable exercise and collectively everyone is focused on reaching the Millennium Development Goal of Zero New Infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS related deaths, by 2015.

World AIDS Day: prevent the spread of HIV and protect vulnerable children

Education is the key for preventing the spread of HIV, particularly in developing countries such as Zambia. The Butterfly Tree funds a number of initiatives in remote villages. These include workshops to help overcome the stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV and AIDS, to encourage safe sex and to partake in voluntary testing. Knowing your status is paramount. Recently we provided funds for fifteen community based volunteers to attend training courses, in addition we have funded a workshop for defaulters, people who have been receiving treatment and then stopped after feeling well. These people cause a huge threat to the community. We continue to support mothers who are HIV positive, provide care for their infants and offer support to thousands of orphans effected by the pandemic, most especially children infected with HIV.

Members of the HIV and AIDS support group – Mukuni Village

Every child has a right to education and yet of greater importance every child should have access to basic healthcare. Health is fundamental and when you are working in one of the poorest countries on the planet adequate healthcare is not readily available. We are currently building a clinic at Mahalululu, where people walk 48 kilometres to get to Mukuni Health Centre. Our aim for 2013 is to provide further outreach health posts, to increase our funding for HIV and AIDS and to further promote peer education for HIV prevention within the schools. Zambia may not reach the Millennium Development Goal in 2015, but we are certainly doing our bit to help them.

From 10am on the 6th to the 8th December all donations to The Butterfly Tree can be doubled through the Big Give Christmas Challenge.

Buy a charity calendar for just £4 – contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Install Give as You Live to raise funds for HIV and AIDS Prevention while shopping on line, at no extra cost to you!