The Butterfly Tree’s fourth edition of our charity calendar is available to order. It has been so popular that the twelve companies who each sponsor a page have generously continued to do so every year. Some of these companies also sponsor projects annually and have made an invaluable contribution to our work in Zambia.

The calendar pictures highlight some of our projects at Mukuni and other villages and of course at the forefront are the orphan orphan sponsorship program. Almost everything we do is for the benefit of these vulnerable children. Providing them with clean water, nutritional food, improved education and health facilities to help the fight against Africa malaria and HIV and AIDS in Zambia is paramount.

I would sincerely like to thank the following for sponsoring the calendar: Executive Futures, The Fell Group, Three Counties Insurance, LCR Systems, INTL Global Currencies Ltd., Gardiff, Casio, ListersVolkswagon Group, Tommee Tippee, DCA, Cunninghams and Saga Charitable Trust. A special thanks to Miranda at Juggle Frogs for helping me to produce the calendar.

These captivating pictures show just a few of the pages for 2011. The high quality desk top calendar measures 21cm x 16cm and can be bought for £4 plus postage, US$10 including postage.

Second class postal charges in the UK: 1 calendar; 80p 2-3 calendars £1.50;  3-4 calendars £1.95 4-5 £2.35

Postal charges for Europe: 1 calendar £1.60; 2 calendars £2.40

Rest of the World: 1 calendar £2.40; 2 calendars £3.70

100% of all sales will go directly to the cause. To place an order complete the form below:

Education is the key and the only way to overcome poverty, hunger and disease. Thanks to a substantial grant from Jersey Overseas Aid Commission we have been able to advance the education in five schools in the Kazungula District of Zambia. All of these schools are in remote areas and receive very little assistant from the outside world. With the addition of a 1×2 classroom, teacher’s house and latrines Kamwi Basic School has been able to add extra grades, which means that children no longer have to walk several miles to Mukuni. Simasimbi Basic School has been given the same development as Kamwi; the school becomes inaccessible during the rainy season making it even more beneficial to have improved facilities.

Education advancement: new 1×3 classroom block for Mukuni Basic School

The children of Mandandi used a simple mud hut as a school, where they were taught by untrained teachers. The addition of a brand new school has been welcomed by the community, trained teachers will be provided by the government for the opening in the new year. A new pre-school classroom has been built for the children of Machenje Village, with the aim of being supported by the community through income-generating activities. The flagship of the all our constructions is the new 1×3 classroom block, complete with an office and storerooms at Mukuni Basic School. The Jersey Overseas Aid Commission funding also included a much needed staff house for the clinic at N’songwe Village. This is the third clinic we are supporting.

New pre-school for Machenje children & Special Education class & donated bicycles

The Besom funded a Special Education classroom, which has also attracted a number of donors including Stanley Safari Lodge and Fountaindale School. The 230 young children had totally outgrown the Mukuni pre-school funded by Gardiff and now has an additional classroom, built in memory of Sandra Challenger, a former Saga employee. Joining me on my recent trip to Zambia was Janice Lee, Director of Saga Charitable Trust who support our malaria and other health projects at Mukuni Health Centre. With the rainy season underway this funding is crucial in providing mosquito nets to support our Africa Malaria program.

A grant from the BFSS gave us an opportunity to supply six schools with much needed stationery and equipment. LSR Rotary Club in Leamington Spa selected The Butterfly Tree as their international charity for the second year running. Their fundraising efforts have paid for the construction of several new homes for widowns and orphans and bicycles for school children, making their journey to school much easier.

New home for a widow with six children - Mosquito nets donated to the community

Two volunteers, Margaret Bax and Casey Short from Oregon, have worked tirelessly, spending two months during 2009 and 2010 to set up sustainable income-generating activities for women. Using the funds raised amongst their friends and families the Acme Chicken project is in its second year and a goats’ milk project will soon be underway. These projects are a vital part of our work if the communities are to stand on their own feet and not rely entirely on international aid.

Our under-fives feeding program, now funded by Karen Lytle, is making a substantial difference, since its initiation in 2007. Every child who attended the program is free of HIV after receiving formula and fortified porridge; this replaces breastmilk in HIV positive mothers to prevent the transmission of the virus.

I had to deal with one of the most heartbreaking stories I have encountered in almost five years of working in Zambia. Elvis and Vincent were born two months’ premature after their mother went into labour at seven months and died in childbirth with a third baby. The Butterfly Tree has offered to support these helpless infants who need four tins of formula a week. Dealing with this case reconfirmed just how vulnerable these people are and how desperately they need our help. Advancing the health and education facilities will hopefully reduce the number of these distressing cases. The support we have received this year has been overwhelming, as you can see your donations have been used to make a difference to the lives of many people, please continue this vital support.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

Founder & Chairman

The Butterfly Tree charity calendar is now available to order.

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Many of us frequently complain about our National Health Service; after numerous visits to Zambia I really appreciate having this facility and no longer take it for granted. During my visitis to Mukuni Village I have come across countless situations where people are too sick to walk to a clinic, too poor to be able to afford transport to hospital or too broke to purchase a much needed perscription. Nothing however upset me more than the plight of two baby boys, Vincent and Elvis born last month.

The infants’ mother, from Kamwi Village, was seven months pregnant when she went for a routine check-up at Mukuni Maternity Clinic, funded by The Butterfly Tree. A simple test showed that she was suffering from anaemia and she was subsequently referred to Livingstone General Hospital. Two days later, having gone into premature labour, she died in child birth with one of the three triplets. Due to  the lack of scanning equipment no one knew that she was expecting three babies. The distraught grandmother left the hospital leaving the medical staff to care for the two remaining baby boys. For twenty-four hours they were given only water until their father’s mother arrived taking them under her wings. Relying on ‘well-wishers’ she set about nurturing the two boys, each weighing just over one kilogram.

Mukuni Babies – Vincent

The infants were to remain in hospital for two months, however there was no formula available and no support on offer from social services. They were too small be be taken to an orphange. After two and a half weeks the infants, weighing only 1.4 and 1.6 kgs, were discharged! Having previously sent blankets and clothing, kindly knitted by Solihull Inner Wheel and mosquito nets and baby products donated by Mellors Chemist in Warwick, I went to visit these new arrivals at their rural home in Kamwi Village, some seven kilometres from Mukuni and twenty-three from the hospital. I learnt that the father was unemployed and that they had sufficient funds for just one week’s supply of formula and only two feeding bottles. I was reduced to tears when I saw these helpless infants with no mother, lying on their grandmother’s bed; it was heartbreaking and impossible for someone from the West to comprehend how little these people have. Pieces of torn material were being used for nappies, Lifebouy soap for washing them and only a minute paraffin flame to assist the grandmother during the night for their three hourly feeds.

Three weeks old – Elvis

Hence my shopping mission in Livingstone – nappies, feeding bottles, formula, brushes, clothing, blankets, baby products and Milton; all the things that we take for granted and have readily available when caring for newborn babies. To give the father a chance to support his sons the charity has donated a bicycle so that he can collect charcoal to sell in the village and has also given seeds to grow maize. The grandmother accepted money for food to keep up her strength. For the first time in two weeks I saw the father smile having been in complete shock after his tragic loss. The rainy season is under way, which increases the risk of diarrhoea, pneumonia and Africa malaria, so it is crucial that they are well protected.

Before I left Zambia I took them for a review at the hospital – Vincent’s weight had remained the same and his brother Elvis had gained, both now weighing in at 1.6 kilograms, but no loss! The nurse was very happy with their progress. The baby boys will now be put on The Butterfly Tree under-fives’ feeding program and have weekly check-ups at Mukuni Health Centre. These infants have a long way to go before they are out of danger, but I have no doubt that the father and grandmother will do everything they can to help them to survive.