Supporting Orphans

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

There are 1.2 million orphans in Zambia, primarily as a result of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. All the work done by The Butterfly Tree in Zambia revolves around the well-being of these vulnerable children. Every school we work in has orphans – Mukuni Village has the highest number with a staggering 600 children, over 50%, losing one or both parents!

In October 2010 I had to deal with one of the most heartbreaking situations I have ever encountered. Baby boys, Elvis and Vincent, were born two months premature, after their mother went into early labour. She died during ‪childbirth with a third baby. The hospital could not help them, so when they were just two weeks old, each weighing less than 3lbs, they were sent home, to the remote village of Kamwi. The Butterfly Tree has since supported these adorable little boys. I am overjoyed to tell you that this month they celebrated their fifth birthday!

KAMWI TWINS, VINCENT AND ELVIS – AGED 5

Our programme has helped hundreds of orphans, and has enabled them to stay with their friends instead of having to go into orphanages. The first orphan we ever sponsored was Peter Liyungu, who went on to complete high school and is now being sponsored by Teamworks to go to college. Peter and another sponsored orphan, called Charity, recently did their work experience at Mukuni and will shortly qualify as teachers. While Josias is volunteering at N’dele School until he is offered a permanent teaching post.

For us to reach out to more orphans we are streamlining the programme. It will remain the same for every orphan who is currently being sponsored. In future rather than sponsoring individual orphans people can donate towards school fees and uniforms, this way hundreds more children can be given a chance to complete their education.

BUPE, FROM AT KAMWI SCHOOL, PROUDLY SHOWING HER NEW UNIFORM

As always education is the key to overcoming poverty and its related issues. We are very grateful to all our sponsors who donate essential funds towards this programme, the guardians who look after the orphans and the volunteers who oversee the welfare of these very special children.

Orphan Sponsorship in Zambia

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

It is difficult to comprehend the scale of the decimation caused by the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Zambia. With a population of barely more than 14 million the nation has over 700,000 orphans, primarily as a result of HIV and AIDS. Virtually all of the Butterfly Tree’s work revolves around the orphans and we strive to give them hope for a better future. Our aim is to provide a sound, basic education for as many rural children as funds permit. It is not possible for every child to be accepted on our orphan sponsorship program as there are so many, but we can help in other ways by improving the education facilities in these remote schools and helping them to generate sustainability.

Twin brothers Siakuba and Aaron sponsored orphans

Creating global awareness is paramount – the poverty levels are extreme. Under normal circumstances Zambian families can support themselves by living a simple lifestyle, but when they have the addition of several orphans to feed and educate they are pushed below the poverty line. Two thirds of the entire nation lives on less than £1 ($1.5) per day. Our aim is to develop sustainability in rural schools and communities so that every orphan has a chance to be educated.

Every child has a right to be educated

We have many people helping us to achieve this through fundraising, sponsorship and volunteering. Last month we welcomed Thomas Mills High School, whose pupils raised funds to build a sustainable school shop for Mukuni Basic School. Camping out in the classrooms, two groups totalling thirty pupils from Suffolk, set about building the facility, which will be used to make and sell uniforms as well as school supplies. Students assisted in the classrooms and participated in creative activities and on the sports ground. Furthermore in July we had Kayleigh Blake and Vicky Higgs, two UK volunteers, assisting at Mukuni Basic School, as well as Saga Volunteer Travellers Gill Waterton and Richard Reid, who have also just completed a month’s volunteering. Their support and generosity was invaluable to grades seven and nine who will be sitting exams later in the year.

Students form Thomas Mills High School

While it is essential for these vulnerable children to complete their education it is not always possible to seek employment once they leave school. Mukuni Village is close to the mighty Victoria Falls, a major tourist destination, but there are not enough jobs for everyone and unemployment is high. To take advantage of the surroundings and the abundance of visitors to the area we are initiating an Ecotourism project. In July I visited Zambia with Jonathan Sedo, an Ecotourism consultant from Costa Rica, who is submitting a project plan to The Butterfly Tree. Volunteer, Emma Kennedy, an International Development student will assist with the initial stages of the project. This is a great opportunity for Mukuni orphans and school leavers to be involved in an income-generating enterprise.

School leavers with Jonathan Sedo learning about Ecotourism

The orphan sponsorship program has been running since 2006, many of the children have now reached high school, some have already completed school whilst others are just starting. We have extended the program to help children in the following schools: Mukuni, N’gandu, Kamwi, Siamasimbi and Ndele and many more need help. If you would like to sponsor an orphan please click on the link.

2013 Support for Orphans

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

It is almost seven years since I first stepped foot in Mukuni Village and visited their basic school. It was there that I learnt about the plight of the orphans – almost 50% of the children had lost one or both parents. Since 2006 The Butterfly Tree has assisted thousands of orphaned and vulnerable children in the Mukuni Chiefdom and beyond and sponsored over 500 individual ones in education. With the start of the new school year in Zambia many children will have dropped out of rural schools due to the lack of funds. Education up to grade seven is free, though books and uniform still need to be purchased. After grade seven school fees have to be found – a hard task for families who are living below the poverty line.

Support for orphans – Jane Muumba, Mukuni Village

With so much poverty in rural villages education is crucial for these needy children. We have provided bore holes, improved health facilities and feeding programs but far too many orphans are struggling to meet the school fees. It cost just £110 ($180) per annum to sponsor an orphan or £10 per month for UK donors. Last year twenty orphans who had completed high school were able to go onto further education thanks to a grant from the BFSS. The majority of them took hotel management or food and beverage courses. Zambia is an up and coming tourist destination and new hotels are being built in the area. More jobs will become available for these students who are now trained in this industry. Two of the first orphans we sponsored have employment as security guards at Stanley Safari Lodge.

James and Victor were sponsored by The Butterfly Tree

James and Victor were sponsored through high school by The Butterfly Tree

For 2013 one challenge is for the schools we support to become more sustainable, another will be to initiate income-generating enterprises for orphans who are unable to seek employment. Our aim is to provide a mentoring scheme, which will involve local employers and businesses. If we can teach these educated orphans how to run a business not only to provide food for their families, but also to produce food for the tourist industry, they can overcome the poverty cycle. At the end of 2012 many of Zambia’s crops were destroyed be army worms. Mukuni and Kamwi villages lost most of their crops and will suffer a food shortage later this year. The Butterfly Tree has donated funds for 100 bags of seeds to help the worse effected families to replant during this peak growing season. All of these families will be supporting orphans; besides giving them an education we have to ensure that the orphans do not suffer from hunger.

Maize – the staple diet for Zambians

If you would like to sponsor an orphan or donate a bag of seeds please contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Charity at Christmas

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

This month most of us will be frantically buying presents and getting ready for the Christmas festivities. The shops are stacked with merchandice, delicious food and an abundance of drink and yet we still struggle to find that special present with a difference. One way to overcome this problem is to give a charitable gift and there are many ways this can be done. Each year hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of unwanted presents get tossed in the trash – money, time and effort all spent in vain.

Supper brewing for a grandmother with five orphans

If you want to find a worthwhile present, which not only offers pleasure to both the giver and the recipient, but can benefit a third party who is less fortunate, then you may like to consider one of the following options: Sponsoring an orphan in Zambia will provide an education for a child, donating a mosquito net could save a child’s life or build a house to accommodate an entire family. There are many other ways to help the orphans – donate a bicycle for a child who has to walk a long distance to school, buy a bag of maize for just £10 or donate a blanket for the cold winter nights for only £15.

Sponsor an orphan – Bright Siabenlengu, Mukuni Village

For most Zambians the highlight of their Christmas Day will be going to church, very few will have a celebratory meal or exchange presents. Two thirds of the population lives on less than one pound per day – their stress is not brought on from deciding what present to buy their family members, but whether they will have enough n’shima (ground maize), vegetables and ground nuts to feed the whole family. One young boy, just fifteen years of age, from Mukuni, recently tried to take his life because he could no longer cope with being constantly hungry. Please give this a thought when you are filling your trolley – do you really need that extra bottle of wine?

Support AIDS Orphans

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

The worst thing that can happen to any child is to lose a parent, but when a child loses both mother and father life becomes unbearble. To add to the heartbreak many of them have to drop out of school. There are 710,000 orphans in Zambia who need support. In some cases these children have to go into orphanages. For rural children a better alternative is available – if they can live with friends or relatives then at least they can have stability. The Butterfly Tree orphan sponsorship program has provided an education for over 400 vulnerable children and hundreds more have been assisted in many ways. This takes the pressure off their guardians and gives them an opportunity to stay at school with their friends. Education is the key and their only hope for a brighter future.

Support Aids orphans – young girl survives lightning strike

I recently met a young orphan who lives with her aunt. During a terrific thunder storm she was struck by lightning while standing inside her mud hut. The strike hit her back creating holes her uniform and she collapsed from shock, someone managed to get her to safety before the house went up in flames. Miraculously she had only superficial burns but they had lost all their meagre possessions and clothing. Life is tough being an orphan but when faced with these kinds of challenges it becomes insupportable. The Butterfly Tree builds community houses for orphans and their guardians, in many cases these guardians are elderly grandparents who have no source of income.

Sponsored orphans – Mukuni Village, Zambia

If you would like to sponsor an orphan or donate to towards this program it will help these children to overcome their loss. In December we are participating in The Big Give Christmas Challenge, which means that any donation received between the 5th – 9th December is eligible for matched funding. Donations must be made directly to the Big Give website and will be transferred to The Butterfly Tree charity account.

Cyclothon UK

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

With less than two weeks to go our charity team ‘The Flying Butts’ are busy training for Cyclothon UK, being held at Brands Hatch on 15th September. Mike Kaye, Nigel Birch, Jake Wilson-Gunn and James Blackburn will be competing against thirty teams comprising of international rugby players and the British para-cycling who are to compete in the 2012 Olympics. The event starts at 7am, is open to the public and should reach fever pitch late afternoon, ending at 7pm. The team are generously giving up their time to raise funds for The Butterfly Tree health and education projects in Mukuni and beyond.

Cyclothon UK – raising vital funds for these Zambian children

These fundraising events help to boost vital funds to support our work in Zambia. All our work revolves around the many orphans who have lost their parents as a result of HIV/AIDS. 710,000 children are left orphaned and desperately need our help to provide them with an education and improved health and water facilities. Our orphan sponsorship programme gives these children the opportunity to complete their education giving them better future prospects. To date we have sponsored over 400 individual orphans and helped several thousand more at the many schools we support in the Mukuni Chiefdom of Zambia.

Evelyn Makaya in orphan sponsorship programme Zambia

Evelyn Makaya , Mukuni High School on our orphan sponsorship programme

We are very grateful to our main sponsors: CRB Solutions, Geddes Associates, Adacemy Leasing and Serenity Finance. If you would like to sponsor The Butterfly Tree team this can be done by donating through Just Giving or on our secure charity donation page. No fees or administration costs will be deducted, all funds raised will go directly into our grassroots projects. If you would prefer to sponsor an orphan please use this link and complete the form. Your support can make a lasting change to a child’s life.

Success of orphan sponsorship

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

Peter Liyungu was the first orphan to be accepted on The Butterfly Tree orphan sponsorship program, some five years ago, when we first started operating in Mukuni Village back in 2006. At the time despite being very intelligent, Peter had lost interest in his education after loosing both parents and having no funds to continue. A sponsor was sought and this transformed his life; as there was no high school at Mukuni Peter wanted to go to boarding school and subsequently attended Zimba High. We are also sponsoring his younger brother Mishek.

Orphan Sponsorship: Peter with brother Mishek – February 2007

I am delighted to say that after four years Peter has completed grade twelve and did exceedingly well in his exams. In his own words Peter wished to thank his sponsors.

‘It is my pleasure to show my gratitude and say thank you for opening up my life to a dream come true. You are my father and my mother who would have done the same if they were alive. It takes a strong sole to take up the work of someone else.

I must let you know that I have made it through my senior secondary with 16 points which gives me the opportunity to apply for university. It is because of you that I have achieved this, your contribution to my education and my life in all was not in vain and once more thank you for making my dream come true.’

Peter after completing high school – February 2011

To date The Butterfly Tree has sponsored over 400 idividual orphans in addition to providing nutritional feeding programs, classrooms, teachers’ houses and bore holes holes. Our healthcare projects including HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, boosted by a recent donation from Viking River Cruises, are all for the benefit of these vulnerable children. One of the great things about working in these rural communities is that when we can assist with the orphans’ education, there is always someone who will offer to be a guardian, whether it be a family member, a friend or even a teacher. This is by far more preferable than having to leave their village and be placed in an orphange in town.

Sponsored daily feeding program at Mukuni Village Schools

There are over 700,000 orphans in Zambia alone and they desperately need your support. Education is the only way they can get out of the cycle of poverty to enable them to better their situation. For as little as £110 per annum or just £10 per month a child’s life can be transformed. The money is used to pay for school and exam fees, books, shoes, uniform and school bag. In addition to this the children receive a daily nutritional meal, such as the one at Mukuni, sponsored by Cunninghams. The Butterfly Tree provides educational workshops, using interactive DVD’s donated by TME, teaching the pupils about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, malaria, teenage pregnancy, drugs and alcohol.

If you would like to sponsor an orphan like Peter or Mishek and make another child’s dream come true, please complete the online form or contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Listen to the orphans singing with the Mukuni Basic Choir on Youtube

Follow our progress on Facebook

Sponsor an orphan in Zambia

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

Children don’t ask to be born and when you are born into a Zambian family the chances of losing your parents at an early sage are very high. The HIV and AIDS in Zambia pandemic has infected or affected almost every family. One in six adults have the HIV virus and 710,000 children have been left orphaned. What happens to these orphans? The luckier ones have family members who look after them, others have guardians, while the unlucky ones who have lost everyone close to them, have to fend for themselves. Many of the have to drop out of school as they can no longer afford the school fees and need to earn money to buy food.

Sponsor an orphan: Elena Malala lives in Kamwi Village with her elderly grandmother

The Butterfly Tree orphan sponsorship program has given hope to almost 400 children and the numbers are rising. Last month an association in Australia – the Mukuni Village Inc. Generously offered to sponsor twenty orphans in addition to the 30 they sponsored last year. This has given the program a huge boost. We have many donors sponsoring between one and ten orphans, some have been with us since 2006 coming from several different countries. We are extremely grateful for this support and hope that this continues as we need many more people to sponsor an orphan.

One man who was so touched by the plight of the orphans after volunteering at Mukuni is doing a fundrasing event to build a music centre for the school. Brendan Poynton, a musician, will cycle from London to Devon to perform a gig to raise additional funds. Chiswick TV are filming the story and event which is to take place on 30th September.

Mukuni pupils on the orphan sponsorship program using the guitar donated by Brendan

Virtually all of our projects in health, education and community work are for the benefit of these vulnerable children. By offering them a chance to go to school, eat a nutritous meal and drink safe, clean water they have a chance in life. Education is the most important aspect of an orphan’s life. Our aim is to get as many of these orphans back into education as possible and to build classrooms in areas where there are no schools. Ten schools in the Mukuni Chiefdom are receiving our support and it is hoped, funds permitting, that we can develop schools in the Musokotwane Chiefdom in 2011.

Victor Simango securing a job after being sponsored by the charity

In December we had our first school leavers after completing their A levels at the high school built by the charity. Although umemployment is extermely high one young man who had been on ourorphan sponsorship program secured a job with Sun International. Victor Simango works as a security officer at the Zambezi Sun Hotel alongside the Victoria Falls and is very grateful to his sponsor who gave him the chance to improve his situation. Help us to help more of these vulnerable children.

Sponsor Zambian Orphan

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

With the school holidays under way and the children enjoying their summer break, surprisingly African children actually prefer to be at school. Staying at home in a rural village holds very little appeal. There are no televisions, computer games or toys to occupy them nor theme parks and cinemas to visit; most children do not leave their villages, the cost and distance too great to venture away from their community. Sadly the majority of these children have not seen the Victoria Falls despite this spectacular site lying just seven kilometers from Mukuni Village.

Life for an orphan is tough, having to depend on a guardian or an elderly grandparent to provide accomodation and food is particularly difficult. These children have mainly been orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS in Zambia pandemic. School is their only hope, providing an education for these vulnerable children gives them a chance in life. Attending school is much more preferable than staying at home where there is nothing to do other than helping with the daily chores, fetching water, carrying wood and caring for their younger siblings.

Sponsor an Orphan: young children from Mukuni Village

The Butterfly Tree urges everyone to sponsor an orphan; whether you are an individual, company or school – for just £95 per annum or £8 per month a child can receive an educaton. We believe that every child has a right to education, something we take for granted in the west; there are thousands of African children who do not have this privilege. Our orphan sponsorship program is overseen by a group of female volunteers who source the most vulnerable children and oversee their welfare, we are currently sponsoring over 200 orphans who are benefitting from this program. To sponsor an orphan complete the form and donate using our secure online donation page.