Despite the abundance of rain between November and April there are an estimated 6 million people in Zambia who do not have access to clean water.
In the past month The Butterfly Tree has successfully drilled five more boreholes. The first one was for Kapulanga community in Musokotwane, and the second one was for Simundia in Mukuni. These were followed by three drills in Kalomo District at Mudenda, Busilibi and Mabwa Atuba. The latter two are for schools but will be shared with their communities. A special thanks to Nick Bousliman and Alex Ottewell for their continued support of our water projects.
MABWA AND ATUBA SCHOOL BOREHOLE
A much needed mother’s shelter was constructed at Nguba Rural Health Post thanks to Blooms the Chemist, Australia. Previously, women who live a long distance from a health facility, slept in an old mud and pole structure that was inadequate. Women are encouraged to stay close to the health post prior to the onset of labour to avoid home births or giving birth while traveling long distances, which can result is loss of life.
MOTHER’S SHELTER – NGUBA
We are making great progress at Mukwela School in Kalomo District. The special education classroom block, funded by Give a Hand, Canada, is almost complete. It will shortly be handed over to the Ministry of Education who will provide trained teachers and ongoing costs. This unit will help at least 80 pupils with physical and mental health challenges at Mukwela and attract more special needs children from neighbouring villages.
MUKWELA SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM BLOCK
In addition to the special education unit we are building a second 1×2 classroom block for the mainstream section at Mukwela primary school. With 1,267 pupils using the two old classrooms and a third one built by the community, the school is unable to accommodate everyone. Lessons are shortened due to lack of learning space. The new block is being constructed by Jafter and Dennis who were sponsored by The Butterfly Tree from grade 7 to grade 12 after losing the parents. Subsequently they received further sponsorship to attend college to learn building skills and are now earning an income as certified builders.
JAFTER AND DENNIS CONSTRUCTING A 1X2 CLASSOOM BLOCK
The new term started last week and more orphans and vulnerable have joined the orphan sponsorship programme. The sponsorship costs £110 per annum or £10 per month and pays for all education requirements, including uniforms, shoes, bag, books, and stationery.
SPONSORED ORPHANS – KAMWI PRIMARY SCHOOL
Last but by no means least many thanks to everyone who supported our malaria prevention appeal last month. In addition to individual donations we received a substantial cheque from Solihull Inner Wheel Club after giving a presentation to their members, and also one from Arbury Inner Wheel Club where one of our volunteers gave a talk at their club. The funds have enabled us to provide more mosquito nets for school children at Nguba Secondary and Singwamba Primary. The malaria parasite is currently prevalent in this area where children are taking some time to recover after treatment.
MOSQUITO NETS FOR SCHOOLS – SINGWAMBA DISTRIBUTION
We are extremely grateful to the Agnus Lawson Memorial Trust for the second payment of a three-year project to help the fight against malaria in Mulobezi District. Every year this remote area in Western Province records high numbers of malaria cases. Our ‘Mosquito Nets for Schools’ is proving to be effective in helping to reduce the number of malaria cases and absenteeism. A further 2,550 mosquito nets were delivered to the Mulobezi Heath Centre on Saturday and will be distributed by the Ministry of Health.
Jane Kaye-Bailey
Founder
