FUNDRAISING SUCCESS TO SUPPORT COVID-19 IN ZAMBIA

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

I am pleased to report that despite the magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic our new financial year has got off to a positive start. This is mostly thanks to the continual support of our loyal donors and the success of the 2.6 challenge.

LUCY RAN UP AND DOWN A HILL 26 TIMES

The 2.6 Challenge, which took place on the 24th April was very well supported even though we had only one week to prepare. The Trustees, Jackie, myself and Miranda, with her entire family, all did activities. While Ann managed her 91- year old mother Kathleen’s activity, walking up and down the garden 26 times, which raised a substantial amount of money.

KATHLEEN RAISED SUBSTANTIAL SUPPORT

Most of our volunteers took part, Carolyn kindly held free visual exercise classes, asking people to donate. 24 people participated, several of them donors, including the entire Murphy family! My young neighbours, age 6 and 9, heroically cycled 26 kms. Some people walked 2.6 miles and 5.2 miles, others ran up and down steps 26 times, danced to the song ‘Happy’ 26 times, and a 2.6 minute headstand.

TOBY AND ALEX CYCLED 26 KMS WITH THEIR PARENTS

A huge thanks to everyone who took part, to our donors, and the new ones we gathered along the way! The funds raised are being used to support Zambia through the Covid-19 pandemic. Much of it will provide soap, buckets with taps, bowls, hand sanitising gel and disinfectant for schools. Pupils in grades 7, 9 and 12 who are sitting examinations later this year are to return to school on the 1st June.

SCHOOLS ARE TO BE PROVIDED WITH PROTECTION

Fifteen schools are being helped, funds for six of these are from the ATD Foundation. There are 70 schools in the Kazungula District, therefore we are seeking further support as they are not permitted to open without adequate protection for pupils and teachers. We are also providing rural health centres with PPE equipment as the only form of protection medical workers have are gloves. Thanks to our Canadian partner, Give A Hand, and other donors we are offering support to some 60 rural clinics.

PROTECTION FOR RURAL SCHOOLS AND CLINICS

Two of the youths that were on The Butterfly Tree orphan sponsorship programme are producing masks to donate to schools and communities, thanks to a donation from Copper Root Collectives. Alfred and Natasha, both tailors, are making medically designed masks out of colourful cotton chitengi material.

MEDICALLY APPROVED MASKS MADE IN MUKUNI VILLAGE

Food distributions continue as those recovering from the severe drought now find themselves with no work. Like everywhere, the tourism industry in Livingstone and the Victoria Falls has come to a standstill due to COVID-19. Mukuni Village is struggling badly, as the cultural tours have stopped and those working in hotels and tourism activities have been laid off with no pay.

DONATIONS OF MAIZE GIVEN TO VULNERABLE PEOPLE – MUKUNI CHIEFDOM

To date there are around 1,000 cases of COVID-19 mostly in Lusaka and border towns. Zambia has eight borders, which makes in difficult when truck drivers are passing through daily. However, the Ministry of Health is testing the drivers and if found to be positive they must go to a designated quarantine area. It is hoped that the rural areas will be less affected.

COVID-19 IS LESS LIKELY TO SPREAD TO REMOTE VILLAGES

In the coming month we hope to resume our construction projects starting with the Secondary School at Musokotwane, funded by a substantial donation from the Hilary and Neil Murphy Charitable Foundation, and the community shop in Mukuni, which will be used for uniform making and selling.

SCHOOL EXAMINATION GRADE TO OPEN ON JUNE 1ST

The beekeeping project at Muyunda, funded by Give a Hand, is progressing well and training will start as soon as it is safe to do so. The drilling companies have started working again, a borehole will be added for the beekeepers and seven more are to be drilled for schools and communities throughout the Kazungula District. In addition Bunsanga Health Post and five schools will receive water reticulation systems, thanks to the grant award from Corteva.

200 HIVES FOR MUYUNDA WOMEN’S BEEKEEPING PROJECT

All of us are being affected in one way or another by this overwhelming pandemic and we fully realise that there is so much need in our own countries. However, I am overwhelmed by the continual support from our donors and cannot thank you enough for your generosity. Though we may raise less money for projects this coming year, The Butterfly Tree will continue operating as normal as we have no salaries, office rent or overheads to cover.

WORLD MALARIA DAY – 25th APRIL 2020

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

Today marks World Malaria Day. The World Health Organisation in partnership with Roll Back Malaria is promoting a grassroots campaign called ‘Zero malaria starts with me.‘

The Butterfly Tree has been providing support to Zambia for malaria prevention since 2007, offering interventions that are proving to reduce the number of cases of malaria and helping to save lives.

With the current COVID-19 global pandemic malaria must not be overlooked. In 2018 there were an estimated 228 million cases of malaria and 405,000 deaths, down from 416,000 in 2017, showing that interventions are working. Sadly, 67% of deaths were children under the age of five.

CHILDREN UNDER FIVE ARE AT MOST RISK OF CONTRACTING MALARIA

Thanks to the tremendous support we have received The Butterfly Tree now has malaria prevention programmes in Mukuni, Nyawa, Sekute and Moomba Chiefdoms. We provide universal coverage with the use on mosquito nets, a safe insecticidal coating, which is painted inside dwellings and larvicide. The latter when placed in ponds and streams prevents larva from developing into mosquitos.

HOUSES PAINTED INSIDE WITH SAFE INSECTICIDAL COATING

Our ‘mosquito nets for schools‘ programme is helping to provide protection for children above five years, as this age group rarely get protected. Every pupils and teacher is given a mosquito net and monitoring takes place. To date we have donated nets to thousands of children at River View, Sikaunzwe, Kauwe, Kamwi, Chuunga and Mambova Schools. We are very grateful to The Hilary and Neil Murphy Charitable Foundation, GOAC, Inner Wheel Clubs and most recently Royal Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon Rotary Clubs.

MAMBOVA SCHOOL – SEKUTE CHIEFDOM

We are delighted to announce that the International Service Committee Chairman for Inner Wheel Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland, for the the second year running, is supporting malaria prevention, in partnership with The Butterfly Tree and Medical Film Aids. This will considerably help us to expand our vital work in Zambia.

Tomorrow we are taking part in the 2.6 Challenge to raise funds for all of our projects, including malaria prevention. Details can be found on this link. Thank you to everyone who has offered to do a challenge and to those who have sent in donations. Any support will be greatly appreciated!

UPDATE ON THE 2.6 CHALLENGE

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

On Sunday, the 26th April to replace the postponed London Marathon, where over £60 million was expected to be raised for UK charities, we have been given an opportunity to do a fundraiser, called the 2.6 Challenge for which you can all take part and raise money for The Butterfly Tree.

The #TwoPointSixChallenge can be any activity you like incorporating the number 26, which is the number of miles run during a marathon.

Examble of activities can include:

2.6 mile walk, run, cycle
a virtual workout, quiz or party with 26 friends
jump 26 times on a trampoline
26 minutes of yoga, pilates or dance
For more ideas follow the link:

If you would like to participate and raise money to help The Butterfly Tree provide food distributions and medical supplies for Zambia, or any of your chosen projects that we support, please contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

100% of money raised, which will be collected on our behalf by Virgin Money Giving, will go towards our grass root projects. Our page, on their website, is now live please click on this link. You can either set up a fundraising page or make a donation to help us continue our vital work in Zambia.

Several of our Trustees and volunteers, including myself, are participating. Carolyn Howe, a volunteer and trained exercise teacher, is offering three back to back classes for just a donation of £2.6 for each at 11am on Sunday.

Zumba – 11am – link to follow. Session will include 26mins of fun Zumba moves, plus a warm up and cooldown
Strength & Stretch – 12pm – (please download Zoom ahead of the session): https://oracle.zoom.us/j/93438170690?pwd=M3l0ZkdwMkNRdjBnYVJ2V0t5Vm5YUT09

We will be adding further details and updates on our social media pages.

Please contact me if you have any questions: jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Any support you can offer will be very much appreciated.

FUNDRAISING 2.6 CHALLENGE

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devasting effect on charities, with thousands of fundraising events being cancelled, reduced salaries and staff being placed on furlough. Sadly, many charities may seize to operate.

The Butterfly Tree is in a fortunate position of being able to carry on as normal. The reasons are as follows

We have no paid staff – all members in the UK and Zambia are volunteers
We have no offices to rent – all Trustees and volunteers have always operated from their homes
We have no overheads – the UK Chairman covers the admistration costs

However, we still need donations to support our vital work in Zambia, with current priority needed to help rural health centres and communities get through the pandemeic. Zambia currently has 61 cases of coronavirus. There is a great deal of critism in the West due to the shortfall in PPE and other vital equipment. Compared to developing countries we have done a remarkable job to produce what we have in such a short space of time. As you can imagine this is not the case in countries like Zambia, that have very little in place for when the coronavirus numbers escalate.

FOOD DISTRIBTION – MUKUNI CHIEFDOM

The #TwoPointSixChallenge can be any activity you like incorporating the number 26, which is the number of miles run during a marathon.

Examble of activities can include:

2.6 mile walk, run, cycle
a virtual workout, quiz or party with 26 friends
jump 26 times on a trampoline
26 minutes of yoga, pilates or dance
For more ideas follow the link:

If you do not want to participate perhaps you would like to donate to one of our team, including myself, doing a challenge. Details will shortly be provided.

100% of money raised, which will be collected on our behalf my Virgin Giving, will go towards our grass root projects. Our page on their site will be live on Wednesday, 22nd April. You can have your own fundraising page and see how much you can raise to help The Butterfly Tree to continue its vital work in Zambia. We will be adding further details and updates on our social media pages.

Any help however small with be very much appreciated!

Jane Kaye-Bailey

Founder

ZAMBIA UPDATE ON COVID-19

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

On the 18th March Zambia’s Ministry of Health, confirmed its first two cases of COVID-19. A couple that travelled to France on holiday have contracted the virus.

We will do everything to protect our local Trustees and volunteers, and communities where we work. Two thirds of Zambians live on less than £1 a day and will not be able to afford to buy soap, toilet paper or stockpile food.

We need donations to provide them with food and soap in preparation for the spread of COVID-19.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION – MAMBOVA VILLAGE, SEKUTE CHIEFDOM

It appears that there are many young people are not taking the pandemic seriously enough. You may have already seen this appeal, which was announced yesterday by the World Health Organisation – I urge you to circulate amongst your family and friends.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION COVID-19

GENEVA (AFP) – The head of the World Health Organisation on Friday (March 20) warned young people they were “not invincible” against the coronavirus pandemic, and said their self-restraint could save the lives of older people.

“Today, I have a message for young people: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks – or even kill you,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference in Geneva.

“Even if you don’t get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”

Two thirds of Zambians live on less than £1 per day and will not be able to afford to buy soap, toilet paper or stockpile food. We will do everything to protect our local Trustees and volunteers, and communities where we work, but need more donations to provide them with food and soap.

A bag of maize costs £10 and will feed a family of four for one month. £1 will buy two bars of soap.

If you are able to offer any support please click on this link.

CHILDREN IN JAFTER VILLAGE, MUKUNI CHIEFDOM

We are posting daily updates on The Butterfly Tree’s Facebook page.

THOUSANDS MORE VULNERABLE CHILDREN HAVE IMPROVED EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

The law in the United Kingdom states that full time education is compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) and 16, the compulsory school age. In England, compulsory education or training has been extended to 18 for those born on or after 1 September 1997. All children in England between the ages of 5 and 16 are entitled to a free place at a state school.

I have always believed that ‘every child has a right to education.’ After working in the rural areas of Zambia for almost fourteen years it is apparent that there are still far too many children unable to attend school, despite education being free up to grade seven. From grade eight upwards school and examination fees are required, as well as uniforms, shoes, books and educational materials.

NEW CLASSROOM BLOCK – RIVER SECONDARY SCHOOL, SEKUTE CHIEFDOM

In many areas of the Kazungula District I observe children being taught in traditional dwellings with only an untrained teacher from the community attempting to teach them the curriculum. Since 2006 we have built entire new schools, and expanded others, for one sole purpose – to provide advanced educational facilities for orphans and vulnerable children living in one of the poorest countries in the world.

COMMUNITY SCHOOL – MUYUNDA, NYAWA CHIEFDOM

The Zambian school year has just ended – throughout 2019 The Butterfly Tree constructed and developed more rural schools than ever before. According to the Ministry of Education we are the biggest contributor to education in the entire Kazungula District. The following projects have now been completed.

River View Secondary School – addition of 1×2 classroom block & 2 boarding houses
Muyunda – new community school, classroom block, borehole and latrines
Nyawa Secondary School – addition of a science lab
Nakawa Pre-school – complete facility for early learners – borehole, classroom and latrines
Kawewa Primary School – 1×2 classroom block and latrines
Mukuni Secondary School – addition of a boarding house
Bunsanga Community School – addition of latrines complete the school

MUYUNDA COMMUNITY SCHOOL – NEW CLASSROOM BLOCK, BOREHOLE AND LATRINES

The two boarding houses at River View, and one at Mukuni, will allow more pupils from outreach villages to attend high school. We have also donated numerous desks, textbooks, equipment and much more. Chilaba school received a borehole with funding in place to provide clean water for four more schools.

SPONSORED PUPILS HAVE A NEW BOARDING HOUSE – MUKUNI SECONDARY SCHOOL

In addition, we are sponsoring some 250 orphans from six schools, more grade 12 pupils completed school this month. We have funded nine students at colleges and universities – Esther and Lillian gained their teaching certificates. Four sponsored youths are now certified builders and have constructed the above boarding houses and latrines. Natasha, previously on sponsorship, is a main member of The Butterfly Tree team and runs the orphan sponsorship programme.

EDWIN, PETER, DENNIS AND JAFTER – TRAINED AS PEER EDUCATORS AND BUILDERS WITH NATASHA

Supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4, our aim for 2020 is to build and expand more rural schools – construction is underway for a new satellite school close to River View. With 1,500 the school are unable to increase their enrolment, and 280 more pupils need accommodating!

Our Christmas Fundraising Appeal will continue until the end of December, raising money to buy bags of maize for orphans and vulnerable people suffering from the severe drought, which has now developed into a famine in many rural areas. We continue to distribute maize to remote areas and hope to gain more donations during this month.

A bag of maize costs just £9 and will feed a family of four for one month. The sales from our charity calendars, costing £4, will also go to this appeal. My sincere thanks to everyone who has already supported our appeal and for those of you wishing to make a donation please use this link to donate.

Jane Kaye-Bailey (Founder)

CHRISTMAS FUNDRAISING APPEAL – FOOD CRISIS

Posted on November 21, 2019 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

With just over one month until December 25th, the shops are laden with Christmas merchandise, and festivity planning is underway. It is during this period that charities welcome extra funding and this year The Butterfly Tree is running an appeal for the continued food crisis is Southern and Western Zambia.

Thankfully the rains have started, now people are preparing the fields to plant crops, but it will be some months before harvest. After last season’s poor rains when crops throughout the entire region perished, there is a great deal of hunger. Some communities are living on local fruits and wild roots, though the latter can be poisonous, resulting in some children being hospitalized after eating them.

Heartbreaking stories are emerging. In the remote area of Dundumwezi two women have lost their lives after giving birth. Having no food of their own they appealed to neighbours who were unable to help them as they were in the same situation. In another area an old lady passed away as she had no one to provide her with food.

Since April The Butterfly Tree has been distributing thousands of bags of maize to people in remote areas of the Kazungula District, who are in desperate need. If we can continue this for the next few months more lives can be saved. We cannot help everyone, but we are certainly preventing a famine in communities where we work.

The resilience of these people is truly remarkable. Last week one 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!

I cannot praise our Zambian volunteers enough – they are outstanding! The whole operation is being impleted with precision and transparency. Headmen are called upon to select the most needy, including orphans and the elderly. Maize is ordered, sometimes we are only allocated 200 or 300 bags, per day, due to the high demand and load-shedding. Transport is arranged, then distribution points are selected, schools being the main locations as they have secure storage rooms.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported our appeal, most especially GOAC for approving an Emergency Relief Grant, the Hilary and Neil Murphy Charitable Trust and the ATD Foundation, and everyone else who has shared our concern and offered support.

A bag of maize costs just £9 and will feed a family of four for one month. If you would like to donate please use our donate page. In addition sales of our charity desk top calendars will be used for the food crisis. Each page of the calendar is sponsored and costs £4. 100% of all money raised will go directy to the cause. We would like to thank the following sponsoring the pages : Touch Gold Racing, Grenfell James, Dawson Group, The Fell Group, Casa Colomba, Zebra Accounting, St Matthews, Stuart Rivers, 2OC, Vectorcide International, Britelines and Miranda are Morphity for once again designing the calendars. Email jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk to place an order.

CHARITY CALENDAR 2020

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

The Butterfly Tree 2020 Charity Calendar is now available to order. Companies generously sponsor each page of the calendar, which covers all printing costs. Miranda, one of our Trustees, freely designs the calendar and all the pictures are ones which I have taken during my visits to Zambia in 2019.

The calendar is designed to create awareness and raise funds for our vital grass roots projects, including water, food, health including malaria prevention, and education. We are amazed, that after 12 publications, how many people support the continuation of the calendar.

These captivating pictures show just a few of the pages for 2020. The high quality desk top calendar measures 16cm x 21cm and can be bought for £4 or US $6 plus postal charges.

Each £4 raised from the sale of this calendar can buy an impregnated mosquito net, go towards a bag of dried maize, or a much needed text book for one of the thirty schools we currently support. All funds go directly to the cause.

The calendar pictures highlight some of our projects in schools and villages and of course, at the forefront is the orphan sponsorship programme. Virtually everything we do is for the benefit of these vulnerable children. Providing them with clean water, food, improved education and health facilities, including support for Malaria Prevention and HIV Prevention.

We would sincerely like to thank the following for sponsoring the calendar, their contribution covers printing costs and the remainder goes into our projects: Grenfell James, Touch Gold Racing, The Fell Group, Casa Colomba, Dawson Group, Vectorcide International, 2OC, Stuart Rivers Associates, St Matthew, Zebra Accountants and Britelines. A special thanks to Miranda at Morphity for designing the calendar.

Postal Charges:

Second class postal charges in the UK: 1 calendar £1.50; 2-3 calendars £1.97; 4-5 calendars £3.55
Postal charges for Europe: 1 calendar £4.00; 2 calendars £5.50
US and World Zone 1, except Australia: 1 calendar £5.00; 2 calendars £6.80
Australia and World Zone 2: 1 calendar £5.30; 2 calendars £7.20
For larger international orders please send an email or use the link to refer to International Postal Charges

100% of all sales will go directly to the cause – To place an order please email jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk with your name, address and number of calendars you would like.

To make a payment please use Kindlink, our online paltform, or send an email to request the charity’s bank details.

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY 2019

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

‘Celebrated every year on 19 August, World Humanitarian Day is directed towards honoring humanitarian efforts worldwide and propagating the idea of supporting people in crisis’.

ELVIS & VINCENT, SUPPORTED SINCE LOSING THEIR MOTHER DURING CHILDBIRTH

The Butterfly Tree’s humanitarian programmes have been operating in Zambia for over thirteen years and had an enormous impact in the Kazungula District. Thousands more children are enrolled in schools and have improved healthcare facilities, access to clean water and sanitation, to name but a few of our projects.

THE CHARITY PROVIDES FUNDS TO IMPROVE RURAL HEALTH FACILITIES

Kawewa School expansion to add extra grades is progressing well, thanks to a grant from the BFSS. The new school at Muyunda, a remote area in Nyawa, is almost complete. A further boarding shelter is being constructed at Mukuni High School, after a group of students from Arnewood School raised funds and spent five days working on the site and assisting in our special education unit.

NEW CLASSROOM BLOCK FOR MUYUNDA COMMUNITY SCHOOL

A new health post and staff house are currently being constructed at Bunsanga, after receiving further grant aid from GOAC, and the addition of a maternity ward and women’s shelter at Simonga clinic is under way. More houses for widows and orphans in Kamwi Village have been donated by Motive Real Estate, Texas.

SEVEN MORE HOUSES FOR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

In the next few weeks commencement of an entire new school, close to the Kazungula border, and two boarding shelters at River View School, will commence. This area has a high prevalence of HIV. Funds have been generously donated by the Hilary and Neil Murphy Charitable Foundation. The aim is to enrol children who are not attending school, who can eventually go to River View Secondary School.

RIVER VIEW SECONDARY SCHOOL – KAZUNGULA

We are doing everything possible to help with the severe drought, which is affecting over 2 million Zambians in the Southern and Western Provinces. Bags of roller meal are being distributed on a regular basis as a result of your donations. We cannot help everyone, but we are reaching out to vulnerable people in Nyawa, Sekute and Mukuni Chiefdoms.

INVALUABLE SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMMES

Villages in the remote areas, that rely on streams and rivers for drinking water, are suffering the most. Funding is in place for five boreholes, with three more on the way. Margaret Bax and her family kindly donated two boreholes for Mukuni Chiefdom. Another one is a result of a birthday gift – ‘when one year old Indiana is older her parents will tell her that to celebrate her first birthday, they, her family and friends kindly donated a borehole to help those most in need’. In October three young lawyers are coming to Zambia, after raising money for boreholes through their brilliant initative ‘Belgian Lawyers for Africa – It’s Legal to Care‘.

EIGHT BOREHOLES TO BE DRILLED TO HELP WITH WATER SHORTAGES

On the malaria prevention front we have been distributing mosquito nets to school children and villages, and targeting Ngwezi zone in Sekute Chiefdom to reduce the number of malaria cases. At the end of August Martin, is going to walk 180km from Porto in Portugal to Santiago in Spain to raise awareness and funds for mosquito nets. Entitled ‘the flamingos are walking for malaria prevention‘, we will be following his progress and posting on Social Media.

DISTRIBUTION OF MOSQUITO NETS – CHUUNGA VILLAGE, MUKUNI CHIEFDOM

Through your tremendous support, whether you are a donor, volunteer or fundraiser we celebrate our achievements on World Humanitarian Day and aim to improve the lives of many more less fortunate children. If you you would like to make a donation towards the food and water crisis all our platforms are free.

FUNDRAISING AND ONLINE DONATIONS

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

After seven years of excellent service Mydonate is closing on the 30th June. Since 2012 British Telecom has provided us with a free platform to facilitate our online donations. We have recently conducted extensive research and pleased to announce Kindlink a new platform that has similar values and tools, and is easy to use. In addition we have registered with PayPal Giving Fund, which is 100% free or you can use the normal PayPal method – charities are given a reduced rate of 1.4%.

STUNNING MURAL, WITH CHILDREN ADDING THEIR ‘BUTTERFLY’ HANDPRINTS PAINTED BY LUCY MACHIN

For those donors and sponsors that pay monthly through Mydonate, you can either switch to Kindlink or the simplest way is to set up a monthly standing order through your bank. Should you prefer this method please contact us for our bank details. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and hope that you will continue to support our worthy cause.

MONTHLY DONATIONS CAN HELP AN ORPHAN TO BE EDUCATED

The continuing severity of the food crisis is taking up a great deal of our time, fortunately, the first quarter of our new financial year has got off to an amazing start, which has enabled us to reach areas in much need. A huge thank you to everyone who has sent in donations, we are distributing over 4,000 bags of maize in Mukuni, Sekute and Nyawa Chiefdoms. Sadly, we appear to be the only charity offering assistance and people are desparate. As yet, nothing has been forthcoming from my continual pleas to the big organisations.

MAIZE BEING STORED READY TO TAKE TO OUTREACH VILLAGES AND SCHOOLS

Schools and individuals have helped us by setting up their own Facebook pages to raise funds. All you need to do is add a donation button to your page and support The Butterfly Tree, this is a totally free service. Lucy, who recently volunteered in Zambia, raised a considerable amount of money using this method, as well as painting the stunning mural, pictured above. Our thanks to Tring School for their successful fundraiser for the food crisis.

THE CHARITY IS DAILY DISTRIBUTING BAGS OF MAIZE

We are looking forward to receiving more volunteers and visitors this year. These include pupils from Arnewood School in Hampsire who raised money for a boarding shelter, Daemon College, New York to volunteer with medical staff at Mukuni, and Blooms Pharmacist, Australia, who are generously donating a maternity ward for Simango Health Post. In addition Margaret and Casey, long standing donors, are to visit with their family, who have donated latrines and a borehole.

SIMONGA HEALTH POST TO HAVE A MATERNITY WARD

There are so many ways to fundraise and one of the easiest is to get your schools and communities involved. I was recently contacted by a passionate football fan from Scotland who has set up Pepe’s Zambia Football Foundation. Scott, the founder, is collecting football strips and raising funds to advance football for rural schools and local teams in Zambia. We are delighted to form a partnership, which will help to boost our ‘Butterfly Sport‘ project to tackle HIV, teenage pregnancies and other social issues.

SCOTT’S SON PICTURED WITH ANDY ROBERTSON, SCOTLAND’S CAPTAIN & LIVERPOOL PLAYER, WHO SIGNED MEMORABILIA TO AUCTION

If you require further information about using the new donation platform, need our bank details or would like to do some fundraising for The Butterfly Tree, please contact me via email: jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk