BOOST FOR HEALTH, EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Posted on November 4, 2022 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

First of all I would like to apologise for the issues we have recently experienced with our website and emailing. We are currently in the process of updating the entire system, which will include a new website, with support from Steven Waller, an IT volunteer. We also welcome Anthony O’Neill, a long-term donor of The Butterfly Tree, to our board of Trustees. Anthony has supported our education projects for several years and is keen to find ways of providing solar power to clinics and schools in Zambia.

The Butterfly Tree also has a new address: 6 Walnut Tree Close, Banstead SM7 1QT. The telephone numer remains the same 0203 161 5877 and will be in operation once BT connect it on the 18th November! In the meantime if you wish to contact the charity please call 07535 424416 or email jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Last month we were delighted to learn that we are this year’s winner of the Central England Prestige Awards for 2022/23 for the category – ‘HIV Support Non-profit Organisation of the Year’.

‘Truly congratulations Jane, yourself & all involved within the organisation have certainly dedicated a lot of time and effort. A great acheivement as we rarely have winners recognised consistently.’ Last year the charity was the winner of the Central England Prestige Awards – ‘Orphan Charity of the Year.’

After the completion of the health post at Katondo we are thrilled to have be awarded further grant aid from the Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission to construct a health facility at Boombwe, a remote area in Musokotwane where currently people must walk 24km to seek medical attention. The area becomes inaccessible during the rainy season when women must deliver their babies at home. One senior headman’s comment after hearing the news – ‘this will be a first in my lifetime’, he is 65 years old. The project will include a clinic, two staff houses, a biodigester and equipment. The Butterfly Tree will fund a borehole. This will be the fourth health post funded by the Commission, others we have developed are at Sikaunzwe, Bunsanga and Katondo.

BOOMBWE COMMUNITY BRIEFED ON THE NEW HEALTH POST

The rainy season is about to start in Zambia so we are currently busy working with the Ministry of Heath to get malaria prevention interventions in place. Moomba, with the highest prevalence of malaria, is our priority. Houses are to be painted with a safe insecticidal coating. Larvacide will be applied to streams and ponds to prevent the larva developing into mosquitos. The schools in Boombwe area, the location for the new health post, are to receive mosquito nets. Every pupil and teacher will be given a net. Our ‘mosquito nets for schools‘ project is proving to be highly effective in helping to prevent new cases of malaria.

After a receiving a further donation from the Murphy Family Foundation two teachers’ houses are under construction at Musokotwane high school. Our trained youth builders are being paid to do this work. The Murphy Family are also supporting seven university students who are studying accountancy, pharmacy, engineering, teaching, and journalism. More students are participating in skills, including five girls sponsored by Their World, another three are studying nursing and carpentry. A classroom has also been built at Mukuni Primary school.

NEW CLASSROOM – MUKUNI PRIMARY SCHOOL

We have an exciting project underway for some of our former sponsored students, funded by the Murphy Family Foundation. In May, Jonathan Sedo, a toursim consultant who has volunteered for The Butterfly Tree since 2013 flew to Zambia to initiate a youth project at Mukuni Village and the Victoria Falls. Every year around one million tourists visit this magnificent World Heritage site, known locally as the Mosi-Oa-Tunya Falls.

The aim of the project is for the youths to take visitors on a tour of Mukuni Village and the Victoria Falls. Tourists can gain an insight into the traditional culture of the Leya people from youths who were born in Mukuni, and learn about their culture.

SIX FORMER SPONSORED YOUTHS AND MANAGER OF THE TOUR GUIDES

The latest community project for women entitled ‘Hope for a Better Future’ has taken off and proving to be lucrative. Funded by our Canadian partner, Give a Hand, women in Sekute grow maize and vegetables, and rear chickens. Situated close to the town of Kazungula and the Botswana border these enterprising women have found a demand for rape, a vegetable high in calcium and phosphorus, and chickens. The project includes a grinding mill for maize which can be used by other communities for a small charge to add to the women’s income. Previously the nearest grinding mill was a distance of 8 kilometres. These women are now able to support their families and have ‘hope for a better future!’

As always we are grateful to everyone who has supported our grass root projects, which are impacting the lives of thousands of vulnerable children and communities.

THE BUTTERFLY TREE ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2021-2022

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

I am delighted to present The Butterfly Tree’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22. This was our second best year since the founding of the charity in 2006. Our projects include water, food security, health, education, sustainable community projects, and an orphan support programme in Mukuni, Sekute, Musokotwane, Nyawa and Moomba Chiefdom – Kazungula District, Southern Province of Zambia.

Please scroll down the file to view the accounts, images and graphs or click on the link below to download the file.

Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2021-22

Chairman’s Report

Despite all the challenges and the increase in demand for charity donations, I am delighted to report that 2021-22 was the second-best year since the founding of The Butterfly Tree. The only other year when we raised more money was in 2019-20, though almost a quarter of the donations were to assist with emergency food relief when The Southern and Western Provinces suffered the worst drought in over 30 years. This past year has been exceptional in all sector with Water, Food, Health, Education, Community projects and of course our all-important orphan sponsorship programme being funded.

The Butterfly Tree was voted ‘Best Orphan Charity of the Year’ – Midlands Prestige Awards

Every donation, no matter how small, counts and is greatly appreciated. Whether it be from individuals, corporate, schools, clubs or from grant aid awards every donation goes directly into our vital grass root projects in Zambia. The Butterfly Tree is the biggest contributor to education in the Kazungula District, enabling more children access to basic and secondary education.

Our substantial contribution towards malaria prevention has made a significant impact in the global fight against malaria.

My sincere thanks to fellow trustees Ann and Jackie whose invaluable input, support and encouragement help to make the charity function efficiently. Many thanks to volunteers David, Carolyn, Leah, Valerie, Meg, and Mike for giving up their free time to help with fundraising, child protection and safeguarding, and youth projects which improve the lives of orphans and vulnerable people.

As always I cannot thank enough our incredible team in Zambia, their commitment and dedication is incomparable. Having our own locally registered NGO on the ground is what makes the charity sustainable. Mupotola Siloka (secretary), Rev. Presley Mulenga (education), Martin Mushabati (community projects/sport), Stain Musungaila (malaria prevention), Natasha Mufeya, (orphan sponsorship/peer education) and Sibeso Maseka (health) successfully manage and oversee all our projects.

We are extremely grateful to all our supporters from the UK, Republic of Ireland, Guernsey, USA, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Portugal and Hong Kong for helping to make 2021-22 such a successful and rewarding year!

A special thanks to our major donors. During this period their donations have funded the construction of classrooms, teacher’s and medical staff houses, health posts, borehole installation, orphan sponsorship, women’s and girls’ projects, and malaria and HIV prevention programmes.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

Founder

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

1926 – 2022

We are deeply saddened by the news that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away on Thursday, 8th September and thank Her Majesty wholeheartedly for her inspiration, dedication to service, and her lifelong committment to the peoples of our nations, the realms and the entire Commonwealth.

The Butterfly Tree members in the UK and Zambian send our sincere condolences to King Charles III, and to the entire Royal Family during this time of sorrow.

Queen Elizabeth II reigned from the 6 February 1952 until her death on 8 September 2022. Her reign lasted for 70 years and 214 days and was the longest of any previous British monarch, and the second-longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country.

Elizabeth was born in London on the 21st April 1926 and became Queen after the death of her father, King George VI – she was just 25 years old. Her Majesty’s coronation took place on 2nd June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. She was married to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died on 9th April, 2021 and left four children – Charles (now King Charles III), Anne, (Princess Royal), Prince Andrew and Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex).

Her Majesty’s State Funeral will take place on Monday 19 September at Westminster Abbey. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

October Newsletter

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

I recently returned home after another rewarding visit to Zambia. It is hard to believe the progress we have made. What started off as helping a handful of orphans has now expanded to over twenty schools, seven clinics and more than 100 villages in four Chiefdoms, throughout the Southern Province of Zambia. The distance we are covering is a radius of 200 kilometres from base and thousands more orphaned and vulnerable children are receiving a sound education, improved healthcare and drinking safe, clean water.

Jane with Kamwi twins, Elvis and Vincent now three years old

Bore holes have been installed at Kauwe and Muchimbala schools with a third one about to be completed at Kanimbwa. Not only do the pupils have access to safe drinking water, but the bore holes will be used to irrigate crops for much needed feeding programmes. I was horrified to learn that some of the food, provided by the World Food Programme, is rotten by the time it reaches the schools.

One Head teacher reported that this year the food provision had been delivered for term one, the second term the maize was stale and the beans were mouldy. When the Head complained he was told by the distributors ‘beggars cannot be choosers – they can eat it!’ Nothing was received for term three. It is heartbreaking, knowing that young school children have no food during the day. Many of them leaving home as early as 4am to return twelve hours later, on any empty stomach. Next month we will increase the number of donated seeds to support this project.

New bore hole and Indian hand pump for Kauwe Basic School

As the rainy season approaches so does the increased risk of contracting malaria. Though prevalent all year, malaria cases increase between November and March. I spent two days distributing mosquito nets to outreach communities. Due to the remoteness of these villages the government do not spray the mud huts putting the people at great risk. Our malaria prevention programmed is vital. Thanks to Saga’s generous funding and most recently Health Express we have been able to cover much of the Mukuni Chiefdom and beyond. Since January no new cases of malaria have been reported in under fives and zero deaths caused by malaria.

Malaria prevention – Ndele children receive mosquito nets

While I was in Zambia I was invited by Sky News to give a ‘live’ interview on the much anticipated malaria vaccination, which could be available as soon as 2015. Glaxo,SmithKline has developed the first ever vaccine and I was asked to comment on how effective this could be for our malaria prevention programme.

Malaria remains the biggest killer of man. Every year around 660,000 people, mostly children under the age of five in sub-Sahara Africa, die from this mosquito-borne parasitic disease.

Malaria prevention – mosquito nets donated to Siachalwa Village

On another serious matter sadly the HIV and AIDS statistics remain far too high, at 27%, in the Mukuni and Livingstone areas. We are continuing our support for children with HIV, increasing our funding for workshops, specifically targeting school children. Mutsa Marau, our HIV prevention coordinator, will return to Zambia next month to offer peer education for HIV prevention. As always I was presented with a long list of orphans who need help. Our sponsor an orphan programme has supported hundreds of individual children in education.

Orphan sponsorship – Enoch to be sponsored by The Butterfly Tree

Now it is back to raising funds for mosquito nets, classrooms, bore holes and orphan sponsorship through a number of planned initiatives. Our popular desk top calendar will shortly be available to order. In December we have the opportunity to get donations matched thanks through our partner the Big Give, through their Christmas Challenge initiative. Already we have £5000 in pledges, now we need to raise a further £10,000 in donations from 5th December. If we are successful, the £15,000 will be turned into a massive £30,000. Anyone who would like to help us reach our goal please contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Africa Day 2011

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

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.

More schools for Zambia

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

Welcome to the new website! We hope that you will be able to see more of the vital work we carry out in Zambia and find these pages easier to navigate. A special thanks to Miranda at Morphity for freely donating her time and expertise.

2011 has got off to a prosperous start with many more donors offering to sponsor an orphan, fundraisers organising events as well as volunteers planning their trips to Mukuni. There are so many ways that you can get involved without having to break the bank. What has helped us considerably are the number of donors who have offered on going support, which has enabled The Butterfly Tree to continue feeding programs in schools, malaria prevention and HIV/AIDS prevention in clinics and sponsorship for initiatives such as the Mukuni pre-school.

More schools for Zambia – feeding program at Kamwi School

Over the next few months we will start work on three new schools in very remote areas – one in the village of Malima in the Mukuni Chiefdom and the other two in Matengu and Silelo in the Musokotwane Chiefdon, a new area of expansion for the charity. Each community has impressively attempted to create an educational environment for their children using mud hut structures and untrained teachers.To assit them The Butterfly Tree is to build three classrooms, six teachers’ houses, twelve pit-latrines with the addition of a bore hole at Malima. These community schools will then become basic schools with trained teachers provided by the government. Education is the key and without it these vulnerable people will not move forward. Once the rainy season is over in March our work will commence and we look forward to what we hope will be another beneficial year for education in Zambia.

More schools for Zambia – new school coming in 2011 for Silelo children

If you would like to get involved in fundraising, orphan sponsorship or a particular project contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Travel Philanthropy

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

Happy New Year! Now is the time when we all start to think about holidays and getting away from the cold weather and grey skies in search of the sun. Perhaps this year you would like to try a holiday of a different kind by becoming a philanthropic traveller or volunteer. This is how my journey started with The Butterfly Tree. I first visited Zambia in February 2006 on an organised trip, which included boat rides on the mighty Zambezi River, micro-lighting over the spectacular Victoria Falls and exhilerating safaris through the African bush. Little did I know that something as simple as visiting a rural village would turn into a life-changing experience.

Many people are unaware that just a few miles from exotic hotels, such as the Royal Livingstone Hotel situated in one of the most stunning locations in Africa, live some of the poorest people on the planet. My visit to Mukuni Village left such an impression that I have spent the past five years raising funds and awareness in an attempt to improve the health and education of thousands of HIV and AIDS orphans in Zambia.

Rural life in Mukuni Village

A trip to Mukuni, although very moving, can be fun and rewarding. The people are humble and friendly and go about the daily chores in a dignified manner. Numerous tourists, after visiting the village, have contacted The Butterfly Tree and donated to one of our local projects or sponsor an orphan. Some of these travellers have returned as volunteers for The Butterfly Tree, where they have had the opportunity to teach at the school, assist at the clinic or work on one of the building projects. We do not run a volunteer organisation as such, therefore travel and accommodation arrangements have to be made by the participant. The charity can give advice on what is available and which projects to work with. Whether it’s just a visit to the village for a couple of hours or a stay of several weeks, becoming a philanthropic traveller or a volunteer can have mutual benefits for all parties concerned. Without exception everyone who has been involved longs to return.

Volunteer – work with the Mukuni children

If you like further information on philanthropic travel or volunteering please contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Join our Facebook page & see how we are making a difference.

I am saddened to announce that Shaun Crystal, one of the singers who donated his time and expertise for our charity song, ‘Change for the Better’ passed away in December. His memory will live on in his great music.

Greetings from Mukuni

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

Christmas in Mukuni will be very different to what many of us will experience tomorrow. Apart for going to church it will be like any other day sharing a meal of n’shima, vegetables and gound nuts with family and friends. There with be no turkey, Christmas pudding or gifts under the Christmas tree nor has there been weeks of preparations to make everything perfect for the festive Day. So who has got it right? Do we really need to put ourselves under so much stress for just one day? The true meaning of Christmas has been overshadowed by the need to spend more and more money on food, drinks and gifts, often resulting in bank overdrafts and credit card debts.

Working in one of the poorest nations on the planet, where thousands of children have been orphaned through the HIV and AIDS in Zambia pandemic, makes me realise that we have got it wrong. These desperately poor communities need food, water, health and education. Fortunately for many people in Mukuni Village life has improved considerably this year. The charity has built extra classrooms, more orphans have been sponsored and much has been done to improve the education and health facilities for Mukuni and several other outreach villages.

Greetings from Mukuni: Lillian Mweene with her daughter

2011 promises to be another successful year for The Butterfly Tree kicking off with substantial grant aid once again awarded by the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission. This grant will enable us to build three new schools in remote areas; one in Mukuni and two in the Musokotwane Chiefdom. Saga Charitable Trust has also ensured that our Africa malaria program continues with another generous donation for next year. Many of our supporters have sent Christmas donations and some sponsor an orphan, making it our most successful year to date.

Jane with children from Mandandi Village

On behalf of the team and Mukuni Village I would like to genuinely thank everyone for your bountiful support and wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year.

WORLD AIDS DAY

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

The latest figures show that there are over 33 million people living with HIV and over half of them will die of AIDS before they are 35 years of age. A staggering 2.3 million children under 15 are infected. Although advances in treatment and HIV and AIDS Prevention have been made I have seen first-hand the destruction caused in Zambia, where every family, if not infected, is affected in some way. It is one the worst nations with one in six adults being HIV positive. There are 33,000 children infected with HIV and over 700,000 are orphaned as a result of the HIV and AIDS in Zambia pandemic.

World Aids Day: An HIV positive orphan sponsored by The Butterfly Tree

HIV and AIDS education is the key, particularly in developing countries. Providing educational workshops, helping to remove the stigma and voluntary testing is crucial. Unlike malaria HIV is slow to develop, therefore many do not take it seriously. Women are four times more likely to be infected then men, not only putting themselves at risk but also their unborm babies. For the past four years The Butterfly Tree has successfully run an under-fives feeding program in Zambia for HIV positvie mothers. This gives them the opportunity to replace breast milk with formula to prevent mother to child transmission of the virus. This method has proved to be very effective as all the children on this program since 2007 have been tested free of HIV. It also encourages more women to come forward and be tested.

Children free of HIV on the under-fives feeding program

In the UK there are over 90,000 reported cases of HIV, many more are undiagnosed. Understanding the facts of HIV, removing the stigma and knowing your status are essential motives to not only protecting your own health but to the well-being of those close to you. Today in recognition of World Aids Day our charity is funding a workshop in Mukuni Village.

Charity Calender 2011

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Jane Kaye-Bailey

The Butterfly Tree’s fourth edition of our charity calendar is available to order. It has been so popular that the twelve companies who each sponsor a page have generously continued to do so every year. Some of these companies also sponsor projects annually and have made an invaluable contribution to our work in Zambia.

The calendar pictures highlight some of our projects at Mukuni and other villages and of course at the forefront are the orphan orphan sponsorship program. Almost everything we do is for the benefit of these vulnerable children. Providing them with clean water, nutritional food, improved education and health facilities to help the fight against Africa malaria and HIV and AIDS in Zambia is paramount.

I would sincerely like to thank the following for sponsoring the calendar: Executive Futures, The Fell Group, Three Counties Insurance, LCR Systems, INTL Global Currencies Ltd., Gardiff, Casio, ListersVolkswagon Group, Tommee Tippee, DCA, Cunninghams and Saga Charitable Trust. A special thanks to Miranda at Juggle Frogs for helping me to produce the calendar.

These captivating pictures show just a few of the pages for 2011. The high quality desk top calendar measures 21cm x 16cm and can be bought for £4 plus postage, US$10 including postage.

Second class postal charges in the UK: 1 calendar; 80p 2-3 calendars £1.50; 3-4 calendars £1.95 4-5 £2.35

Postal charges for Europe: 1 calendar £1.60; 2 calendars £2.40

Rest of the World: 1 calendar £2.40; 2 calendars £3.70

100% of all sales will go directly to the cause. To place an order complete the form below:

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