Victor Simango is nineteen years of age and was unlikely to have completed his education without the assisatance of a sponsorship. In October 2007 Victor had to drop out of school as his mother had no spare funds to pay for his education, his father had died. This was devastating for Victor as he only had two years left at school. Now he happily attending grade eleven at the Mukuni High School, one of The Butterfly Tree’s projects.

Photo: Victor in Mukuni Village

Brenda Musonda was only 6 years old when she was confirmed HIV positive in 2004. She lives with her grandparents who have lost all three children and now have 15 dependents. Brenda’s sponsor Steph Bateson, a book buyer for Asda, when told that Brenda had HIV, said that she wanted to make a difference to someone’s life and learning of Brenda’s condition, made it even more worthwhile. The Butterfly Tree is also sponsoring Brenda’s brother Philip.

Photo: Brenda at school

When Obrien Sitali was asked if there was anything else he needed after receiving news of his orphan sponsorship, his reply was ‘only to say thanks’. Not computer games, ipods, or designer clothes just simply an education was all he needed. Having lost his parents and many other members of his family, Obrien lives with his elderly grandmother and has to walk several miles to school but like many of the children his education means a great deal to him.

Photo: Obrien with his grandmother

Jacob Siatubitubi aged 20 has never given up on the chance to be educated. Despite his only living relative being his disabled grandmother, Jacob repeated grade 9 three times due to having no funds to take the exams to go to high school. He took care of the homestead, growing maize and cooking and walking several miles to school each day. Now aged 20 Jacob, grateful for having a sponsor, has passed with high marks and has been offered a chance to go to boarding school in town. When asked if it was difficult having to live with his grandmother he replied ‘no she is my best friend’.

Photo: Jacob with his field of maize.

Fransisca Munchindu is aged 13 and lives with her sister Concilia aged 10 and their 91 year old grandmother, they have no other relatives and are exceedingly poor. Fransisca could not go back to school in January 2007 due to lack of funds, but now like her sister, the Butterfly Tree has found her a sponsor.

Photo: Fransisca and Concilia at their home

The last three months have been very eventful for The Butterfly Tree. In May we hosted a seminar on responsible tourism and Philanthropic Travel at the European Travel Distribution Summit; the organisers Eye for Travel named The Butterfly Tree as the summit’s official charity. This was a great networking opportunity especially as we are working so close to the Victoria Falls, a major tourist catchment area in Zambia.

We have had many people contacting us to do fundraising events and sponsorships, Mike Kaye with SWITCH raised a substantial amount of money at an event in Nottingham, where two Zambian DJs provided African music. This summer we have supporters participating in the ‘strong man’ competition, a sky dive and a marathon all offering to raise money for the charity. Also there are several volunteers from the UK and Norway going out to help at Mukuni Basic School and the Mukuni Health Centre all of them are self-funding.

At last the Mukuni Maternity Clinic, helped by a grant from KTCT is now complete with ante-natal, delivery room, toilets and showers. The Chieftainess performed a tribal blessing at the opening ceremony, attended by the department of health. We have been told that our successful under fives’ feeding program, supported by Avert, which replaces breastfeeding in HIV positive mothers, is the first in the entire nation. Our aim is raise funds for other areas, especially where many babies are suffering from malnutrition. The Mukuni Basic School feeding program, provided by The Butterfly Tree, is now supporting 230 vulnerable children; this number will increase in September.

 
  Butterfly Tree maternity clinic | Jane opening Mukuni Maternity Clinic

Water is being pumped at Chise village thanks to the new bore hole we were able to provide with assistance from Just a Drop. The Butterfly Tree plans to build three further bole holes this year in other remote villages; this is one of our top priorities. Read the rest of this entry »

The highlight of any trip for an NGO has to be when a vision becomes a reality. For almost two years I have strived to complete a maternity clinic for the women in the Mukini Cheifdom. Having heard that many Afican women die in labour, in their attempt to reach a rural clinic; I was totally committed and determined to see this project through and build Mukuni Maternity Clinic.

Thanks to an initial grant from John Humprys’ Kitchen Table Charities Trust the Mukuni Maternity Clinic is finished, and is situated next to the Mukuni Health Centre. As often happens, the governments’ plans were way under budget and it has taken a substantial amount of additional funds to include ever-increasing costs for materials, plumbing, electricity and equipment. The Butterfly Tree has been offered an ultra-sound scanner, which will further enhance the project.

New Mukuni Maternity Clinic

The Beyango, Chieftainess of Mukuni, performed a tribal blessing before I cut the ribbon to officially open the clinic. Members from the Kazungula district health office were in attendance along with village headmen and community members. Read the rest of this entry »

Of all the projects we have achieved in the Mukuni Cheifdom, providing a bore for rural villages has to be top of the list. Water, the most precious of commodities is taken for granted in our priveleged western world, but when you have to draw water from a crocodile infested river, receiving a bore hole can make a huge difference to a remote community.

Testing new bore hole

For the people of Chise Village life is very hard; extreme poverty and unemployment affects every family, now at least they have fresh, safe water and it was a pleasure to visit these people and receive their apprecation. Just a Drop kindly provided assistance for The Butterfly Tree to initiate this project and a Zambian company was used to drill and build the bore hole.

New bore hole needed for Chise

We have done a survey of all the villages in the Mukuni Cheifdom and our aim is to provide them all with safe, clean water. For just £3200 we can provide an entire community with a bore hole complete with pump.