Jesse Musowe lives in Kamwi Village with her mother, twin brothers & step-father who is 76 years of age. She is eleven years old and in grade four at Mukuni Basic School. Although Jesse is not really an orphan she is from an extremely poor family. To earn money to provide for the family her step-father grew vegetables some miles from their home then carried two heavy loads twice a week to Livingstone, a distance of twenty miles from Kamwi. To ease the burden The Butterfly Tree bought the old man a donkey and asked him to provide his vegetables for our feeding program at Mukuni school , only three miles from his home.

The Butterfly Tree has also added Aaron and Saikuba, both thirteen years of age, to our orphan sponsorship program, all three children are gaining a good edcuation and the step-father has a much easier task.

Jesse Musowe attending Mukuni Basic School

Jesse with her family in Kamwi Village

Oliver Kamwi lost his father when he was very young. His mother in order to earn money to feed her young, gave herself to men in return for payment, she has five other children to support, Oliver is the oldest. When he first arrived to start grade seven at Mukuni Basic School he only possessed the torn clothes that he was wearing. He now benefits from the orphan sponsorhip program. Oliver lives in Kamwi Village and each day walks the three miles to Mukuni Basic School, where he not only receives an education thanks to his sponsor but also a daily nutritional meal from the feeding program provided  The Butterfly Tree.

Oliver back left with his mother and siblings

The Butterfly Tree website has got some great new additions, thanks to Miranda at Juggle Frogs who donates hours of her time and skills to helping the charity. Being a web designer she is able to use all the latest techonolgy keeping our website moving with the times. Along with the numerous photos I take during my travels to the remote villages of the Mukuni Cheifdom we are able to bring these images to life.

One of the most amazing things about working with Zambian people is that despite all their hardships they always manage to smile. Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world and yet most people are genuinely happy. They have only the basics in life, most live on less than a dollar a day, using these meagre funds to buy food and clothing.  Before the HIV/AIDS pandemic rural communities lived off the land and led a very humble life. Sadly so many people have been lost through this devasting disease, as result most of these villagers are living below the poverty line.

We are making progress in the Mukuni Cheifdom, having advanced the education by building a pre-school and high school at Mukuni, we are supporting over one hundred and fifty orphans in five schools and providing  funds for two health centres besides setting up many more projects for these vulnerable people.  The community are now ready for sustainability.

Underneath a mango tree is where Zambian education is started for many children. I came across this little group of pre-school children when driving out to some remote villages in the Mukuni Chiefdom close to the Zambia-Zimbabwe border. Siachilobe has a population of just over one hundred, each day the older children have a three hour walk there and back to Mukuni Basic School and Mukuni High School. The nearest bore hole is over almost a mile away from the village and there is little employment within this community.

Although English is Zambia’s national language children first learn to speak the local language called Tokaleya. Once a Zambian Education  is started at pre-school they learn English through songs and a makeshift blackboard, having very few materials or books to learn from. We are hoping to build and fund more pre-schools like the one we have at Mukuni; this is totally funded by Gardiff, a donor of The Butterfly Tree who visited the village while on holiday. The government does not fund pre-schools and with our funding we are able to provide two teachers and a classroom helper, besides supplying all the neccessary books and materials.

Start of Zambian Education: Pre-school children taught under a mango tree in the Mukuni Chiefdom

To help sustain the Mukuni Pre-School The Butterfly Tree bought two sewing machines and fabric so that the teachers could make the school uniforms, they then sell them to provide extra funding for the pre-school’s needs. One of my greatest pleasures walking around Mukuni Village is to see over two hundred young children receiving an education provided by the charity. We aim to build more of these all important classrooms to facilitate young Zambians education, most especially the orphans.

Mukuni Village lies just seven kilometres from Victoria Falls, accessible by a good gravel road and home to the Leya people. For a site-seeing tour with a difference a visit to Mukuni Village is a popular choice for toursits traveling in the Southern Province of Zambia. Sadly most of the children from Mukuni have not seen the Victoria Falls.

We have partnered with Exquisite Safaris who promote Philanthropic Travel by sending their clients to visit a humanitarian project while on holiday.  Exquisite Safaris donate some of their profits to The Butterfly Tree and our team on the ground meet the guests and give them a private tour of our projects. They get to meet the school children, visit the health centre and are able to interact with the people.

First visit to the Victoria Falls for Cynthia, Angela and Esnat, sponsored by Jane - philanthropic traveler

Feedbacks from these philanthropic travelers has been extremely worthwhile. Without exception everyone is  completely moved and humbled by the sites the experience and many have said the visit was the highlight of their entire tour of Southern Africa. We now have many of them from the UK, Europe and the US offering on going support to the charity with over thirty tourists sponsoring orphans after meeting the children of Mukuni Village. More on Philanthropic Travel.