Africa – love it or hate it there is no in between The heat, dust, poverty, corruption, violence that is how many sceptics describe this vast, parched continent, but have they ever actually visited the real Africa? The second largest and second most populated continent, Africa has huge geographical diversity and a mixture of many different cultures. In the middle of some of the most volatile countries on the planet is a haven called Zambia, totally land-locked yet boasting some of the best wildlife in Africa and the magnificent Victoria Falls. It borders eight other countries including Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
The breathtaking Victoria Falls – Zambia
Today marks Africa Day and the one thing that unites all Africans is their love of music – they are born with rhythm! From their very first steps to adulthood they are natural dances and love performing at schools, in churches and at community gatherings – song and dance are part off their traditional heritage. Surrounded by such extreme cases of poverty and deprivation music can bring a light relief and is a great way to spread awareness of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. The Butterfly Tree is working with a number of volunteers who are helping to raise funds to help the fight against these devastating diseases. Basement Entertainment supports our malaria prevention program. Brendan Mission, through Music Earth Rise is currently raising funds to build a music centre in Mukuni Village. The pupils will be able to use it to hold concerts, drama and workshops.
Africa Day: Mukuni Basic School performing a tradtional dance
To make any lasting progress the HIV/AIDS situation has to be addressed. In Mukuni alone almost 50% of the children are orphaned, whereas one in six adults are HIV positive. We have a number of programs to help tackle this enormous problem but more funds are needed. As always education is the key and this coming year we are fortunate to have several volunteers, including Mutsa Murau, who want to work with the orphans to help reduce the number of new cases of HIV. Mutsa will assist our HIV/AIDS prevention program by training peer educators in some of the schools supported by The Butterfly Tree.
Orphans at Simasimbi Basic School
Although there is vast wealth among some Africans the majority of people native to countries like Zambia live in extreme poverty and rely on international aid. However we feel that it is vital to bring about sustainability in areas where we operate once the education and health facilities have been improved. We are developing a number of enterprises at both the school and community in Mukuni. Perhaps one day the children on our orphan sponsorship program can be supporting their own families.
