The last three months have been very eventful for The Butterfly Tree. In May we hosted a seminar on responsible tourism and Philanthropic Travel at the European Travel Distribution Summit; the organisers Eye for Travel named The Butterfly Tree as the summit’s official charity. This was a great networking opportunity especially as we are working so close to the Victoria Falls, a major tourist catchment area in Zambia.

We have had many people contacting us to do fundraising events and sponsorships, Mike Kaye with SWITCH raised a substantial amount of money at an event in Nottingham, where two Zambian DJs provided African music. This summer we have supporters participating in the ‘strong man’ competition, a sky dive and a marathon all offering to raise money for the charity. Also there are several volunteers from the UK and Norway going out to help at Mukuni Basic School and the Mukuni Health Centre all of them are self-funding.

At last the Mukuni Maternity Clinic, helped by a grant from KTCT is now complete with ante-natal, delivery room, toilets and showers. The Chieftainess performed a tribal blessing at the opening ceremony, attended by the department of health. We have been told that our successful under fives’ feeding program, supported by Avert, which replaces breastfeeding in HIV positive mothers, is the first in the entire nation. Our aim is raise funds for other areas, especially where many babies are suffering from malnutrition. The Mukuni Basic School feeding program, provided by The Butterfly Tree, is now supporting 230 vulnerable children; this number will increase in September.

 
  Butterfly Tree maternity clinic | Jane opening Mukuni Maternity Clinic

Water is being pumped at Chise village thanks to the new bore hole we were able to provide with assistance from Just a Drop. The Butterfly Tree plans to build three further bole holes this year in other remote villages; this is one of our top priorities. Read More →

Although the HIV and AIDS in Zambia situation is not getting any worse it is not improving fast enough. Education is the key factor to fight the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Zambia. A quote from Avert, ‘as of 2005, although almost all adult Zambians know that HIV and AIDS exists, still 8.8% of the population do not know that it can be avoided. Over 25% of adults think that mosquitos can transmit HIV, 22% think they can be infected by withchraft; and 15% believe that sharing a meal with an infected person puts them at risk. The level of understanding is lower in towns, and women are less knowledgeable than men’.

The Butterfly Tree charity aims to built more pre-schools in Zambia; almost half of the population is between 5 and 14 years old, very few have HIV and by educating these young Zambians at an early age the HIV and AIDS statistics can be reduced. There is little else to occupy these children, living in poor rural communites, unless they can go to school.

 
Mukuni village pre school children

The Mukuni Village pre-school built by The Butterfly Tree, thanks to a generous donation by Gardiff, who are also supporting two teachers and a classroom helper, is a huge success. Over 200 children attend three classes throughout the day, learning English and Maths skills, preparing them for the basic school at the age of five. Read More →

The main source of income for the rural villages near the Victoria Falls is curio selling, most especially the beautiful wood carvings. There are two main areas where these can be purchased, one is the Victoria Falls Craft Village and the other is at Mukuni Village Curios Craft Market.

I have been working with the both craft centres to help them improve their methods of selling curios; unfortunately they had been receiving bad press as they were noted for being too pushy, which can be off putting to a tourist visiting the area for the first time. I can sympathise with them knowing that without a precious sale, which enables them to buy a bag of ground maize, the family may go hungry.

Photo: Mukuni Village Curios

Now the guys from Mukuni Village have now ‘cleaned up their act’ and a trip to either of the markets is a definite must on everyone’s itinerary. The animal carvings which are mostly made in Mukuni, are very popular, using African woods – magongany, iron, and ebony; the worksmanship is of a high standard and the prices very reasonable. Elaborate walking sticks, tribal masks, drums and basketware are also locally made as well as unusual soap stone carvings. The Butterfly Tree has set up two families in business and also supported a sustainable business for a group of widows to produce needlecraft, intricate African beadwork and jewellery.