Happy, smiling faces, big wide eyes, innocent. This sums up the African children I work with in Zambia. It is refreshing to be with children who are undemanding, unspoilt, who are so poor but somehow manage to be happy. They have so little - no TVs, no computers, no toys nor sports equipment and yet they rarely complain. Some of my most pleasurable times at Mukuni are visiting the school children and watching the younger ones playing on the sandy terrain.

African children are tough. From an early age they have to fetch water, help with the chores and look after their younger siblings. They have no choice of what they eat, their staple diet in countries like Zambia is maize; typical daily meals are porridge made from mealie meal (ground maize) for breakfast, sheema (ground maize resembling unseasoned mash potato) with vegetables for lunch and for supper more sheema, salad and ground nuts, the latter being their main source of protein. Only families who have a good income can afford eggs, chicken or bread; with two thirds of the population living on less than 50 ($1 dollar) a day, these items are a luxury. Too many African children have to suffice on one meal a day, when I first set up the charity one of our initial projects was to provide a daily nutritional meal at Mukuni Basic School to feed vulnerable children.

African children walk long distances to school through bush, crossing elephant paths and rivers. I actually drove to one area where children set off at 4am to get to Mukuni High School for 7pm often having no breakfast until they reach school. For this reason many younger children are unable to be educated until they are old enough to walk several miles a day. Zambian education is something they all love, they are eager to learn and enjoy going to school, it gives them hope and a chance to better their lives and support their families in the future.

African women make loving and caring mothers, and are very protective towards their offsprings. African children are generally well diciplined both at home and at school. They support one another especially in the rural villages, where families are extended to accommodate the numerous orphans of AIDS. It is heartbreaking for mothers having to cope with so many illnesses and diseases: malaria, HIV/AIDS, aliments that cannot be cured and no money to send their children for treatment. The Butterfly Tree funds operations, medication and physiotherapy for children at Mukuni Health Centre.

Despite the terrible hardships African children have to endure they can always manage to smile. Sponsor an orphan and make a difference to the life of  these aids children. It costs only £95 ($160) or £8 per month.

Losing a parent is heartbreaking for any child; then having to give up your education makes it almost unbearable. This is the case of many orphans in Zambia. In the six Zambian schools supported by The Butterfly Tree there are almost 1000 orphans. To date we are sponsoring 175 children and desperately need more  donors to sponsor orphans in Zambia. On my last trip to Mukuni Village I was staggered to meet over sixty children who could not meet their school and exam fees. By giving a child an education it is not just giving them a chance in life it is also giving them hope.

Mukabalenga was one of the first orphans in Zambia to be on The Butterfly Tree orphan sponsorship program and writes the following letter to her sponsor:

“It’s really beyond human understanding for me to have this opportunity of writing this letter to you, hope and trust all is well with you, as for me not so bad. I really appreciate your support, I don’t how I can express my appreciation. You are playing an important role in my life such as that I cannot think of my dead parents. I don’t have much to say only words of thanks dwelling in my heart.” 

Orphans in Zambia: Mukabalenga Siachanane at Mukuni Basic School

By paying for the orphans’ schooling, which covers school and exam fees, books, uniforms, shoes and school bag someone in the villages will accommodate them. This way the orphans do not have to be sent to the orphanages in Livingstone. Often it pushes the guardians further below the poverty line but at least the orphans are able to remain at the school with their friends, the teachers are very generous some of them having as many as five orphans living with them. Presley Mulenga, Head Teacher at Mukuni Basic School has five of his own chilren plus seven orphans living with he and his wife in his two-bedroomed house. The Butterfly Tree offers a daily feeding program to orphans in Zambia, sponsored by Cunninghams, to over 500 vulnerable children providing them a nutritional meal in addition to their morning porridge.

It costs only £95 ($150) to sponsor orphans in Zambia, alternatively £8 per month. I believe that every child has a right to education. Many more like Mukabalanga urgently need your help. To find out more visit our orphan sponsorship page. See the orphans singing with the choir on Youtube.

I am delighted to announce that The Butterfly Tree is now an aid agency for Jersey Overseas Aid. The Commission funded by the people of Jersey firmly believe that it is their moral duty to care about other people and to help them help themselves.  We are honoured to working with such a wonderful organisation who give substantial funding for aidwork in developing countries and grateful for the grant that we have been given to improve the the clinic and school at Katapazi.

Katapazi is a remote village in the Mukuni Chiefdom, over thirty miles from Livingstone and some twenty miles off the Lusaka Road travelling through bush using dirt tracks. The school and clinic has a catchemnt of 5400 people and has very little help from the outside world. When I first visited Katapazi in February 2008 I discovered that they had no electricity and one bore hole for the community and school to share. Through Just a Drop and W Foundation we have added a bore hole solely for the school, which gives them an opportunity to grow food for their feeding program.

Katapazi: Basic School pupils                          Elizabeth, health centre midwife

Now with a grant form Jersey Overseas Aid we have commenced building a 1×2 classroom block, enabling the school to upgrade to grades eight and nine as there is a high drop out rate after grade seven. The children have to walk several miles to school most of them without shoes. We will also include desks and chairs in addition to four pit-latrine toilets for the pupils and staff.

The funding will include and extention and improvements to the clinic, run by a midwife and her community-trained helpers. There is no male ward and the nearest hospital at Zimba is a thirty mile walk from Katapazi, resulting in unnessary deaths. Solar panels, a fridge and equipment will also be provided. The communty’s contribution to the project is making bricks, providing building materials and labour and The Butterfly Tree will train them in sustainability, HIVand AIDS in Zambia awareness, water and community projects.

Katapazi: Basic School choir                                  Basic School football team

Katapazi like Mukuni is an extremely poor village and has a large number of orphans. If you would like to sponsor an orphan it is £95 per annum or £8 per month. Visit Youtube and see the Katapazi choir singing and the boys playing football with bare feet using a ‘bag and string’ football.

Once again we are delighted that Eye for Travel has chosen The Butterfly Tree as the official charity for the Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2009, the world’s biggest event for travel marketing, pricing and technology executives. This is being held on 19th-20th May at the Business Design Centre, London. Helping to reduce world poverty through the tourist industry is one of the charity’s key aims and we have gained a number of suppoters as a result of this.

The tourist industry has a huge market in developing countries and must be prepared to give something back to the communities they are operating in. Besides providing jobs for local people, safe clean water and medical care is also extremely important. Many community bore holes have been drained as a result of golf courses being watered! Over sixty per cent of hoteliers worldwide do not participate is social corporate initiatives. The Butterfly Tree has partnered with Sun International Zambia where their community programs support orphanges, a hospice and sustainable businesses for vulnerable people.

Philanthropic Travel: Mukuni Pre-school funded by a tourist

Zambia’s tourism is rapidly developing, Livingstone is the capitol of tourism and  The Butterfly Tree is working with tour operators such as Exquisite Safaris, pioneers in philanthropic travel and local lodges such as Stanley Safari Lodge who through their clients raise funds for Mukuni Basic School. If you are a tour operator or hotelier working in the area ensure that you are helping the community and if you are visiting the Victoria Falls spare a couple of hours to go to Mukuni Village and see a cultural way of life, for many it is the highlight of their entire trip. Giving something back is both rewarding and beneficial to those in need, join our cause to reduce world poverty by making a donation.

For an orphan in Mukuni Village going to school is the highlight of their life. When you live in one of the poorest communities in the world there are no computers, IPods or TVS. Mud huts have no electricity, so school is the only place they can learn and they love it! To reach Mukuni some children have to walk as much as ten miles each way often having no breakfast before leaving home, this is ok when you are sixteen but far too far if you are only six. I drove out to Siachilobe to actually judge the distance the older children walk from their village to Mukuni, it’s a long, long way especially when the temperatures soar to over 40 degrees.

The Butterfly Tree is currently supporting six schools in the Mukuni Chiefdom but we need more classrooms to upgrade these schools so that the children do not have to spend too many hours of their day walking. We are currently raising funds for a Science block at Mukuni to complete our high school project. Ngandu has been able to upgrade to grades 8 and 9 as a result of the charity renovating an old classroom, last month we have commenced develoment at Katapazi school. 

 Mukuni Education  classroom in need of restoration

Now we needs funds for Kamwi and Siamasimbi two remote schools that receive no other support from the outside world. Siamasimbi becomes inaccessable during the rainy season therefore is is imperative to develop the school. We insist on community participation by asking the villages to make bricks, provide river sand and fetch water; the government provides the teachers therefore we also need to source funds for teachers’ houses.

Education is the key to developing these rural schools, building classrooms, providing safe, clean water and feeding programs. Sponsor an orphan and give a vulnerable child a chance in life.