They may not receive gifts on Christmas Day at Mukuni but thanks to everyone around the globe who has supported The Butterfly Tree we are able to offer them the essentials in life - WATER, FOOD, HEALTH and EDUCATION.

We have had great success with our fundraising efforts this year. During the past few months we have increased our orphan sponsorship program, provided seeds for several school gardens and funded treatment for children. We have added five bore holes, built six community houses for widows and orphans, set up a sustainable chicken farm for a women’s group and provided essential funds for the HIV/AIDS in Zambia and malaria programs. Our biggest project, funded by JOAC, was to build a 1×3 classroom and extend the clinic at Katapazi Village, which is now complete.

Christmas: bore hole & classroom for Katapazi      Treatment funded for Kevin

Offering the chance for people to buy alternative Christmas presents has also been fruitful - donkeys, bicycles, chickens and even a house have been generously donated and the calendars as always have been very popular. Many people chose to donate instead of sending Christmas cards.

N’gandu boy takes his sisters to school A new home for a Mukuni widow and orphans

2010 will bring forth the most amazing grants we have ever received. JOAC has offered a huge amount of grant aid to enable us to do six building projects at Mukuni, Siamasimbi and Kamwi Schools, build a brand new school at Mandandi, open a pre-school at Machenje as well as the opportunity to improve a clinic at N’songwe. Just a Drop will fund a bore hole for Kamwi Basic School and Saga Charitable Trust have offered continual support for our health projects at Mukuni Village. The BFSS are giving us another generous grant to purchase stationery and materials for six more schools. All our schools will now receive a feeding program as World Bank are no longer providing porridge to these remote areas.

I would like to say a huge thank you to my fellow trustees, all the volunteers and fundraisers who have worked tirelessly to make this such a successful period and most especially to everyone who has generously donated to our cause and given hope to thousands of people in the Mukuni Chiefdom.

I am so grateful to everyone for helping me to achieve our goals and wish each and every one of you a very happy Christmas and a peacful and prosperous New Year.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

How many of you find it a struggle to know what to buy someone for Christmas, especially someone who appears to have everything? So how about giving something that will benefit someone who has nothing!

The children of Mukuni don’t receive Christmas presents, they don’t know about Father Christmas or the celebrations of the festive season. Apart from the joy of going to church on Christmas morning the rest of the day will just be as any other day at Mukuni Village. No stocking fillers nor treats just a plate of nsima (ground maize), vegetables and groundnuts and for the few lucky ones the addition of chicken or kapenta (dried fish) swilled down with water. Coke, Fanta and Lemonade are a luxury very few can afford and despite the constant heat ice-cream is unheard of.

Alternative Christmas presents could really help a child or community in need and give more satisfaction to the donor than the risk of purchasing an unwanted gift. From as little as £6 for a goat to building a house for a family your money will help to improve the life of someone less fortunate.

Presents for Mukuni: Donate a donkey

Life in these remote villages is tough - with daily challenges to meet these people strive to find food for their families, fresh water to drink and medicine to heal their sick. All things that we in the west take for granted. For the past seven months the rural clinics have received no government funding. Yesterday I was told that there is an outbreak  in the district and no money available to buy the neccessary insecticides. The Butterfly Tree will help to eradicate this issue, at least for Mukuni Village, in the forthcoming week. These are just some of the many problems these gentle people have to endure while we suffer from the pressures of our Christmas - what to eat and drink, what to wear and finding the perfect tree! 

The following can all be purchased through the charity as an alternative Christmas present to provide valuable funds to overcome these hardships:

Donate a goat - £6

Donate a football - £8

Donate 5 mosquito nets £20

Donate a donkey for a disabled child - £70

Donate a bicycle - £75

Sponsor an orphan - £95 per annum

Build a house for widows and orphans - £400

Buy a 2010 charity calendar - £4 plus postage

For more information email jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk or telephone 01926 843699

Over 33 million people are infected with HIV, over 2 million are children and millions more are affected by this devasting virus. In the UK alone there are 80,000 reported cases and the number increases every year.

This year’s World Aids Day theme is ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’. Today let us unite to help the world fight against HIV/AIDS by ensuring that human rights are protected. Touch Radio are supporting our campaign in addition to an appeal on the GlobalGiving website to attract world-wide attention.

In 2008 it was estimated that 2 million people died from AIDS, mostly under the age of 35, half of them not reaching their twenty-fifth birthday. Last year there were 2.7 million new cases reported. HIV/AIDS in Zambia affects every family, there are 710,000 orphans, one in every six adults have HIV and life-expectancy is only thirty-five.

World Aids Day: Protect this young child from Mukuni

The Butterfly Tree supports a number of HIV/AIDS programs at Mukuni Village, among them are an HIV group who provide voluntary testing and workshops, an under-fives feeding program to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to infant and an orphan sponsorship program for over 250 pupils. We supply educational materials provided by TME to communities throughout the nation.

HIV education is the key; by encouraging people to be tested, challenging the discrimination and removing the sitgma can make a significant impact. Schools, groups and companies must make use of the materials available - education leads to empowerment, helping to ensure that the global target for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care are met.

RESPECT - PROTECT 

Help us to protect and prevent losing the next generation.

Sponsor an orphan for Christmas and make a difference to a child’s life.