Monthly Archives: December 2020

post

12 STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 12

Posted on by
HOPE OF A BETTER FUTURE
In 2006 Jane Kaye-Bailey visited Mukuni Village and met three little girls who showed her their humble home and proceeded to follow her round the village. Three weeks after returning to the UK Jane decided to go back to Zambia to see how she could offer help to this poor community. Firstly, she wanted to find the three girls but only had a photograph and no names. After showing the photo to several people the following day, she arrived in Mukuni to find the three shy little girls sitting under a tree patiently waiting for her. After learning they lived in extreme poverty and could not afford to go to preschool, Jane offered to sponsor them.
Despite all the hardships, and two of them each losing a parent, the girls have worked hard to gain a sound education. Esnart was made Head girl, excels in public speaking, and after completing school in 2019 is now training with the police. Angela will shortly enter her final year at high school and has also been given the position of Head girl as a result of earning good grades. Cynthia, despite struggling academically, has persevered, and starts high school in January. This is just one story of the hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children The Butterfly Tree has helped to educate. Thousands more have better health and education facilities, access to safe water, improved sanitation, feeding programmes, and prevention against malaria.
Wishing all The Butterfly Tree Charity donors, volunteers and beneficiaries a Happy Christmas. Thank you all for the tremendous support you have given us and for putting your trust in us, most especially during this challenging year. We hope that the New Year will bring you good health, peace and prosperity.
Donations can be made using either of these links:
post

12 STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 11

Posted on by
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
If you educate a woman she will educate her entire family. For women in rural areas of Zambia life can be harsh, toiling in their vegetable gardens, looking after children, and walking long distances to fetch water, leaves them little time to pursue anything else. Thanks to receiving two substantial donations we are currently implementing two community projects for women. One is Muyunda Village in Nyawa Chiefdom, where wild honey can be found, for 200 women to produce raw honey and products from wax, in the form of soap and candles. The other project, ‘Mangoes of Hope’ is for 200 women in Musokotwane Chiefdom. They will be producing dried mangos, and produce made from mangoes including jam and chutney with the aim of supplying both the local and international markets. ‘Mostly we relied on farming where we grow maize for three months and did nothing for nine months. The project teaches us about beekeeping, soap, candle, and crayon making. These can be done throughout the year to reduce poverty. This will enable us to educate our children.’
To make a donation to any of our projects please use these links:
post

12 STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 10

Posted on by
SPECIAL EDUCATION
When the founder of The Butterfly Tree met Joseph at the age of 6, Jane learnt that he was born with cerebral palsy and could not stand without toppling over. The charity provided funds for Joseph to have physiotherapy sessions for one year, after which he could walk, but sadly he had never been to school. Like most children with physical and mental disabilities he just stayed at home with his grandparents. The charity had previously discovered that there were no facilities for children with special needs and subsequently raised funds to build the first facility of its kind in Mukuni Village. Joseph started attending school one day per week, shortly increasing it to daily. He is now 14 years old, is very intelligent, enjoys going to school and loves to play football. He and his friends, with a variety of disabilities, receive a sound education. The charity has since built special education units at River View, Simango and Katapazi Schools.
Donations can be made using either of these links:
post

STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 9

Posted on by

Community houses – orphans, widows and the elderly are frequently found living in appalling conditions with no one to support them. Due to the HIV pandemic grandparents, with no means of income after losing their children, are left with orphaned grandchildren. Equally challenging orphans, under the age of 16, can be seen heading households after the loss of their parents. Their dilapidated mud huts provide little shelter from the rains or warmth during the winter months.

The Butterfly Tree has constructed over 120 homes in Mukuni, Kamwi, N’gandu and many outreach villages as well as the outskirts of Kazungula town to provide these people with a safe place to live. These homes are bigger and sturdier constructions using skilled workers to thatch the roof. After completing a house for an old man who had no one to look after him he stated ‘thank you very much, now could you now give me some tea and sugar.’
If you care to donate, a house currently costs £300.

 

post

STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 8

Posted on by
Textbooks for schools – Zambia’s education structure has 7 years at primary school, 2 and 3 years at junior and higher secondary school. Age is flexible as many children are late starting school due to extreme poverty. Pupils can complete high school up to the age of 22. Facilities in rural areas are lacking in resources, educational supplies, equipment and sporting facilities. There is a huge shortage of textbooks in schools, some classes have only one to share between 60 pupils, for some subjects a teacher may have to take copies of the curriculum. This is most difficult for examination grades, especially those wishing to gain good results in order to proceed to higher education. The Butterfly Tree raises funds to provide textbooks in schools, and after monitoring classes whereby each pupil is given a textbook, exam results have considerably improved. In one instance in Mukuni Junior School every grade 7 pupil passed their exams.
‘Thank you for the donated learner’s textbooks. They have greatly helped to improve learner’s academic performance. Learners now have materials in terms of textbooks to use for their studies while away from school. They use them as reference materials for their homework, and also for research as well as reading literatures.’ Kingsley Hamachila – Head Teacher, Mukuni Secondary School.
Donate a textbook this Christmas for £7 or $10.
post

STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 7

Posted on by

Malaria prevention – Every two minutes a child dies from malaria. According to UNICEF, malaria there are 2,500 deaths each day, these are mostly children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa. Zambia has a high prevalence of malaria. The Butterfly Tree has provided tens of thousands of mosquito nets in rural areas throughout the Kazungula District. In 2017 ‘mosquito nets for schools’ was launched by the charity after learning that school children were contracting malaria due to lack of protection. Priority is usually given to pregnant women and children under the age of five.
To date the charity has donated mosquito nets to 13 schools in the Kazungula District. In 2015, The Butterfly Tree initiated a safe innovation to protect people from malaria, which is highly effective in reducing the number of cases. A safe insecticidal coating is painted on the inside of dwellings, when a mosquito lands on a wall, it will pierce the surface, ingest the chemical and will fly off die. In addition, larvicide granules are dispersed in ponds and streams to prevent larva from developing into mosquitos. Both interventions are safe to humans, animals and fish. This has proved to be highly effective in reducing cases of malaria in areas of distribution in Mukuni, Nyawa and Moomba Chiefdoms.
A mosquito costs just £6 or $9. 100% of your donation will go directly to the cause.
post

12 STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 6

Posted on by

HEALTH FACILITIES

 In 2007 The Butterfly Tree constructed a maternity ward in Mukuni Village after meeting a woman who had walked 30 km from her village, in 38 degrees, to give birth at the health centre. The tiny labour room was situated next to the women’s ward that omitted patients with HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. This has been followed by four further maternity wards, three entire new health centres with staff houses, the expansion of several other clinics, and the construction of seven women’s shelters. These shelters provide accommodation to enable women to stay close to the clinic prior to the onset of labour. Previously, women were known to have died in labour, with their unborn infant, while walking long distances to reach a clinic.

‘I am glad to inform you that today we have a new baby born this afternoon in our new clinic. Just imagine many villages in Nyawa are receiving treatment at Bunsanga. I have failed to find words to thank you.’  Harold Chilikwazi – PTA Chairman, Bunsanga Community School.

Help us to provide improved health facilities in Zambia. 100% will go directly to the cause. https://www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/charity/20638 https://donate.kindlink.com/the-butterfly-tree/1598

 

post

12 STORIES OF HOPE DAY 5

Posted on by

BOREHOLES AND WATER RETICULTATION SYTEMS

According to the World Health Organization access to safe drinking-water is a basic human right, and yet a third of Zambia’s population do not have safe drinking water. In 2019 Zambia experienced the worst drought for 30 years, rivers and streams were completely dry, crops perished, hunger was widespread and livestock died. In some areas people were walking 26km daily to draw water from the nearest borehole. The Butterfly Tree has installed over 40 boreholes in schools, health centres, and for communities. The boreholes provide safe clean water, reducing diarrhoeal disease cases and the hours women and children must walk to draw water. In addition, boreholes and water reticulation systems provide water for vegetable gardens and food production units during the dry season from April to November.

‘The solar powered water supply system provides flowing water to our school at all times. Readily available water makes the food production unit viable, hence the production of vegetables and fruits for a sustainable school feeding programme.’  lloyd Kasela – Deputy Head Teacher, Singwamba School.

Please use either of these links if you would like to make a donation, 100% will go directly to the cause:
post

12 STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 4

Posted on by

FOOD SHORTAGES

Maize is the staple diet of Zambians. In 2019 the worst drought in 30 years hit the Southern and Western Provinces of Zambia. Severe hunger and in some areas famine was widespread. Crops perished and farmers resorted to selling their livestock and burning charcoal to raise money to feed their families. Some were only able to feed their children on wild roots and berries from the bush, going two, months without a proper meal. One old lady said ‘she was boiling soil to fill her grandchildren’s bellies.’  

Another woman with four young children, after hearing we were distributing maize in Muyunda, walked 15km – unfortunately, she was too late. Not to be deterred she visited one of our volunteers who was able to give her a bag of maize. Happily, she placed it on top of her head then walked the 15km back to her village, with her offspring! The Butterfly Tree continually donated bags of maize to some 10,000 households and gave regular donations of food to orphans and vulnerable children in Mukuni, Nyawa, Sekute and Musokotwane Chiefdoms, helping to prevent a severe famine.

Please use either of these links if you would like to make a donation:
post

12 STORIES OF HOPE – DAY 3

Posted on by
ORPHAN SPONSORSHIP
Zambia has 1.2 million orphans. Since 2006 The Butterfly Tree has sponsored the education of hundreds of individual orphans and vulnerable children at #Mukuni, N’gandu, Kamwi, Ndele and River View Schools from pre-school to completion of high school. The area has a high prevalence of HIV and many of the children have lost one or both parents, living with elderly grandparents or guardians in extreme poverty. Our aim is to keep the children within their village community rather than go into an orphanage in town. Two young boys from Kamwi Village have been on our sponsorship programme since 2011, when sadly their mother and baby sister died during childbirth. Elvis and Vincent weighed just 1.3kg and were not expected to live. Thanks to their wonderful grandmother and the support from The Butterfly Tree the boys are now nine years of age.
Over forty college and university students have achieved degrees and diplomas in teaching, journalism, bio-medicine, hotel management and catering, agriculture and information technology. The charity has trained former sponsored orphans to become peer educators, teaching pupils about the dangers of HIV, early pregnancies and alcohol and drug abuse. Two of them are now main members of The Butterfly Tree team.
Help us to provide maize and mosquito nets for orphans this holiday season! 100% will go to the cause.
Please use either of these links if you would like to make a donation: