The Mukuni Health Centre has to cover for a population in excess of 7,000 people. When I first visited the health centre in March 2006 is was in an appalling state. The clinic had one thermometer and one blood pressure monitor.  

Photo: Outside Mukuni Health Centre

Our first donation included funding restoration work and providing much needed medical supplies for Mukuni Health Centre. We have since provided blankets, sheets and all kinds of medical equipment including vast amounts of bandages, syringes, pregnancy testing kits to name but a few.   Read the rest of this entry »

The Tusole Lwangunuko Support group was formed by people living with HIV and AIDS in Zambia who came together to join the world community in the fight against HIV/AIDS through sensitisation activities in the Mukuni Chiefdom in a bid to promote VCT and positive living and eliminate stigmatization and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS in Zambia.  

Photo: Jane with HIV/AIDS Support Group

The Butterfly Tree is proud to support these brave people who I met during a visit to the area in May 2007. After three meetings with the HIV/AIDS support group learning about the problems these people face on a daily basis, we donated money for the group to register as a society and paid for one member to be transported to hospital and receive physiotherapy.  

These people are living in very poor conditions and need a sustainable income generating activities, transport and a better diet as most of them suffer from anaemia. The group need training so that they can provide a community sensitization program throughout the Chiefdom and beyond and to empower women with the knowledge of mother to child transmission.   Read the rest of this entry »

A rural community in Zambia has become an important part of my life after visiting the area during a business incentive trip. The contrast of staying at the beautiful Royal Livingstone Hotel on the edge of the Zambezi River overlooking the magnificent Victoria Falls and visiting a rural village has opened my eyes to the world of Philanthropic Travel.

Photo: Three Zambian little girls who inspired me

It’s hard to ignore a statistic like the one I was given when I visited the Mukuni Village School, that out of 1,000 pupils nearly half of them have lost one or more parents.

Being driven back to our luxury hotel I couldn’t get the orphans out of my mind and decided that I must do something about it. I rallied round the group we were with and by the end of my trip I had ‘bagged’ over £5,000.

On my return to the UK my husband pointed out that if you send the money out it may never get to the orphans. Three weeks later along with my son David, who was at the time having a ‘gap’ year, I returned to the area laden with medical supplies, stationary and clothing for the orphans. After being given a resounding welcome by the Chieftainess Bedyango, the Prime Minister, the Head Teacher and hundreds of children, it was a very emotional experience, I felt ‘at home’ with these warm and humble people. We had just given the largest donation the village had ever received!   Read the rest of this entry »