Alfred is not an orphan but his parents are seperated and have very little income. He attends school and makes clothes to generate some money. During my last visit to Mukuni Village I was horrified to learn that Alfred had attempted to commit suicide. When I was asked to counsel him I was unsure of how to approach the matter. I got a run down from his teacher and learnt that he was very intelligent and hard working. When I met this fine young man I let him explain what happened. He told me that he had helped with the housework, prepared supper for the family but had to go away for a couple of hours. When he returned, feeling very hungry after not eating since early morning, he was horrified to find that all the food had been eaten by his family. After an argument with his brother, feeling weak and deprived he went into the bushes and attempted to end his life. Miraculously he was found before it was too late.

School Feeding Programs: Albert earning a sustainable income

When we hear of a young person in the west taking a life it is most likely to be fuelled by drug or alcohol abuse or perhaps bullying at school, but not from hunger. For these rural communites in Zambia hunger goes hand in hand with poverty and our aim is to address the situation at all the schools we support. Sustainable feeding programs are a long-term solution. For the past five years Cunninghams have provided funds for 350 vulnerable children to receive a daily nutritional meal at Mukuni. Many of these children have to walk several miles to school to commence lessons at 7am followed by an afternoon of activities. This feeding programme has helped to improve the health, concentration and stamina of numerous school pupils.

Kamwi Basic School feeding programme

Without sponsorship we are unable to offer such programmes in other schools, though we do provide seeds for several schools to grow produce to supplement their diet. October to March is the rainy season in Zambia therefore it is vital to plant as much maize as possible to provide food for the dry season. The daily porridge from the World Food Program is intermittent and insufficient  for three school terms. Education is the key to overcoming problems of hunger. As for Albert, though he is not an orphan he is vulnerable, and has been added to our orphan sponsorship programme and will be given funds to develop his sewing business to create sustainability for himself and his family.

Today marks World AIDS Day. Over 30 million people have died from AIDS related causes. An estimated 33 million are living with HIV. 2.9 million of these are children. Around 68% of from sub-Sahara Africa. Zambia has the seventh highest prevalence in the world. Today gives the opportunity to unite in the fight against HIV and to commemorate the people who have died from this devastating disease.

World AIDS Day - young Mukuni girl free of HIV

For the past five years The Butterfly Tree funds several HIV projects in the Mukuni Chiefdom of Zambia. These include orphan sponsorship, educational workshops and voluntary testing, treatment for the sick and an under-fives’ feeding programme to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Formula is provided to replace breast milk in HIV positive mothers. Since its conception in 2007 every infant accepted on our program has been tested negative. Due to high costs of powdered milk we have initiated a goats’ milk project to supplement the programme, with the aim of making it sustainable.

Mutsa Marau with a Mukuni baby

This year we have intoduced a new project thanks to Mutsa Marau, a young volunteer from London, who at our own cost, has been working in Mukuni Village for the past three months. Her HIV prevention programme to train peer educators amongst the school pupils has been a huge success. Having spent her time training these young educators, assisted by Margaret Mulenga, they are now targeting outreach villages to ‘spread the word’. Today to mark the occassion 15 members, between the ages of 14 and 20 years, will be performing at the Chief ‘s Palace as part of Mukuni Villages’ activities to mark World AIDS Day. The groups performance will include poetry reading along with the presentation of art pieces explaining how every one of them can help the prevalance of HIV in their community get to zero.

Peer educators in HIV prevention including sponsored orphans

From the 5th – 9th December all donations to The Butterfly Tree have a chance to be doubled if made through our partners, the Big Give, during their Christmas Challenge week. To participate and help to give these young AIDS orphans a chance please donate to our programme through the Big Give website.

During my recent visit to Zambia the nation’s general elections took place. With a change of government it is believed that Michael Sata, the new President, will increase aid to deprived areas and stamp out corruption. Although I never involve the charity in political matters, measures to improve health and education sectors need to be addressed. In the past five years I have seen a reduction in funding for  both rural schools and clinics, which have to rely more than ever on international aid for development. I came across a woman who had walked 37 kilometers, taking 13 hours, to reach Mukuni maternity clinic from Chuunga - she was nine months pregnant.

37 kilometer walk to the nearest clinic       School with teacher’s house – Malima

Thanks to substantial grant aid from the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission we are in the final stages of completing three new rural schools. The villages of Silelo and Matengu in the Musokotwane Chiefdom had to rely on unskilled teachers operating in mud hut structers. It was amazing to see the transformation, each school has three classrooms, two teachers’ houses and latrines. The community participation had been impressive and once approved these schools expect to open in January 2012. A third school at Malima, in the Mukuni Chiefom, has been given the same funding with the addition of a bore hole.

Silelo - old community school                     New school for Silelo pupils

The highlight of my entire trip was to see the Kamwi twins, who lost their mother and sister during childbirth. Vincent and Elvis celebrated their first birthday this month.  Last October, when I first set eyes on them, I feared they would not survive; they each weighed just over one kilo. At barely two weeks old they were sent to a remote village, after being discharged from hospital because they could offer them only water. I could not refuse to support to these helpless infants. For twelve months the charity has provided formula, clothing and blankets and all their requirements, while their grandmother has lovingly nurtured them. They have been tested free of HIV and both are happy and healthy and are testament to the vital role we play in these vulnerable communities.

Vincent showing us his standing skills        Elvis with his grandmother

October sees the start of the rains and many mud huts cannot stand up to the deluge. This is particularly hard for old people supporting orphans. In the past few months we have build an additional nine homes. Two of them have been donated by one of the volunteers, James Ashley, who helped construct the houses. Five of them were funded by ENRC marketing who have also funded a teacher’s house, HIV and AIDS prevention projects and the under five’s feeding program, which has also received support from Brady Italia. One home was donated by LSR Rotary Club, one by Aurora and the other through the Cyclothon Challenge.

New house for widow with orphans            Under-fives’ feeding programme

I had the pleasure of working with a number of volunteers, Casey Short and Margaret Bax, from Oregon, returned for a third year to continue the goat’s milk project. Mutsa Marau, a young lady from London, is spending four months at Mukuni teaching peer education in HIV and AIDS prevention. Petteri Alppi a former UCL student from Finland has documented the work of The Butterfly Tree in addition to writing a much needed Maths and English Revision guide. Claire Richardson and Hannah Lainton spent time teaching business skills to women’s groups. I have been so impressed with their hard work and dedication and thank them for helping us to make a difference.

On Saturday I will be flying out to Zambia for what I am hoping will be a very rewarding trip. The three schools that we are currently building in the villages of Matengu and Silelo in the Musokatwane Chiefdom and Malima in the Mukuni Chiefdom should be completed by the end of October. A teachers’ house at Mukuni is also under construction as well as five community houses for widows and orphans. We have a number of volunteers who are helping to improve the Maths and English standards at Mukuni Basic School, others are assisting with the HIV and AIDS prevention projects and teaching business skills to groups of women. We are very grateful to all of them for giving up their time to volunteer for The Butterfly Tree.

Education for Zambia - New school for pupils at Matengu to open shortly

In addition to our on going sponsors the Barrington Educational Initiative, a Swiss based private charitable endeavour, has offered to support our work. We have also recently partnered with and Travelers Gift Vacations, a tour operator that provides luxury and purpose travel. A philanthropic traveler has a chance to get involved with charitable work in one of the developing countries they are visiting. The longer I work with the charity the more I realise there is a great need for collaboration amongst small charities operating in Zambia. If we endeavour to work with other organisations together we can make a bigger impact, create transparency and help to alleviate corruption. One of our new partners is Global Partners for Health, a US based charity also working in Zambia, who aim to provide vital medical supplies for our clinics.

Health education – young women from Kamwi Village gives birth to seventh child

Tomorrow our own cycling team, The Flying Butts, will be competing in a cycle challenge at Brands Hatch. The CyclothonUK event has some thirty teams involved in the challenge to raise funds for charities. One of our volunteers, Oscar Miyanda of Basement Entertainment, is providing the music to spur the teams on. So far we have raised almost £2000 all of which will go towards our orphan programmes in Zambia. We wish Mike Kaye, Nigel Birch, Jake Wilson-Gunn and James Blackburn every success and thank them for giving up their valuable time to take part. If you would like to sponsor the team this can be done either on our website or through Just Giving, no deductions will be made.

We have just received our figures for the 2010-2011 accounts and I am delighted to say that we have reiased a remarkable £270,000 (US$445,000. This is our best year to date. All the funds have gone directly into our grassroots projects in Zambia. Our annual report and accounts will shortly be circulated and available on the Charity Commission website.

Supplies donated to Machenje pre-school     New football to replace ‘bag & string’

Despite a quiet start to the new financial year we have a had a great boost to the funds during July and August from both individuals and corporate who have visited Mukuni Village. During their cultural tour they took the opportunity to visit The Butterfly Tree projects. Donations of blankets, mosquito nets, sports equipment, stationery and clothing have helped a number of vulnerable people in addition the clinic and the school received money. Two companies Brady Italia and Canon Australia have generously offered on going support. Individual donations came from the UK, the US, Europe and Australia some of them in the form of orphan sponosrship.

The three schools we are currently building, two in the Musokotwane Chiefdom and one in Mukuni are well under way and should be completed by the end of the year. This has been made possible thanks to grant aid form the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission. We are now reaching out to fifteen schools in the Kazungula District. In addition we are supporting three clinics and many villages.

Most of our existing donors have liberally continued sponsoring orphans. The first orphans to be on our prgram have now completed grade twelve and our aim is to source funds for futher education. The Mukuni Village Fund in South Australia is now sponosring fifty orphans through our charity. However many more sponsors are needed. Due to the gloabl recession and lack of employment fra too many children, even those with parents, are failing to pay their school and exan fees.

Peter sponsored orphan completes school    HIV/AIDS education for Mukuni pupils

This month I was invited to Zurich to receive a substantial donation from ENRC Marketing AG. Unknown to us their employees held a fundraising campaign and the benficiary was to be an NGO working in one of the many countries where they operate. The Butterfly Tree was selected for haivng the best proven records of transparency and for the fact that we are all volunteers both in the UK and Zambia. All the staff gave generously with matched funding provided by ENRC’s Head Office in London. The funds rasied totalled an amazing $27,000 and will be used to build a teacher’s house at Mukuni Village, five community house for orphans and to support our HIV/AIDS prevention for children, which will include peer education, workshops and feeding programs.

Jane accepting ENRC Marketing’s donation     Employees involved in challenge

Saga, who’s charitable trust, is one of our major donors, are challenging their employees to raise funds to build a bore hole and a shelter for boarders at Mukuni. We have constructed an additional building at our maternity clinic, funded by The Besom, this will provide accommodation for women prior to labour who live a long distance from the clinic, ensuring a safer delivery of their babies. Thanks to Just a Drop four new latrines have been added to the Mukuni schools and a bore hole at Libala Basic School.

   New latrine for Mukuni pre-school              Women’s shelter – Mukuni Village

Next month, after winning a team place we are to participate in Cyclothon UK, a cycle challenge initiated by Victor Umbugo of VU Ltd and former England rugby prop. The event is to be held at Brands Hatch on the 15th September from 7am. Our team ‘The Flying Butts’ needs your support. Donations would be greatly appreciated and can be sent to The Butterfly Tree, 3 Gannaway Court, Norton Lindsey, Warwick CV35 8JR or made using our secure Just Giving page. If you are in the area any time during the day from 4pm onwards, when the excitement reaches its peak, please go and support the team and see many of the International rugby players taking aprt. We are grateful to CRB Solutions, Academy Leasing and Geddes and Associates who are are three main sponsors.

This summer we have a number of volunteers who are working at Mukuni. Mutsa Marau is doing a peer education project to tackle the HIV/AIDS issues, Peterri Alpi from UCL is improving the maths and English standards and Hannah Lainton and Claire Richards will share their business skills with womens groups

Thank you to all the individual, corporate, schools, clubs, volunteers and philanthropers who have ginven so generously to support our grassroots projects, which have improved the lives of thousands of children and vulnerable communities in Zambia.

The Butterfly Tree is the beneficiary of a fundraising campaign initiated by Jim Cochrane, CEO of ENRC Marketing AG based in Zurich. When Jim suggested that one of his colleagues should grow a moustache to raise funds for charity, the flippant remark developed into a challenge to raise funds for an NGO working in one of the countries where ENRC operate. Unknown to The Butterfly Tree we were being strutinised along with hundreds of other charities that provide education, health and social care for disadvantaged children throughout Africa, Asia and South America.

The campaign had been organised by Marilena and Tatiana who worked tirelessly to coordinate the objective until they reached their target of 20,000 Swiss francs. Eventually three charities were selected and the employees had to vote on a winner. Amazingly The Butterfly Tree was chosen as the charity having the best records of proven transparency and for the fact that we are all volunteers both in the UK and Zambia. In just one month the employees at their Zurich office, helped with match funding from head office in London, raised a staggering $27,000 (over £16,000).

Funds for Children’s Health & Education: Jane with ENRC Marketing employees 

I was invited to Zurich where I gave a presentation on our work in Zambia before receiving this generous cheque. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet all the participants and to see the collection of moustaches and beards. The perfect day ended with a summer party on board a boat which sailed across Lake Zurich. I felt very privileged to be with such an caring group of people and inspired after learning that The Butterfly Tree was their preferred charity.

Fundraising campaign raise $27,000 for The Butterfly Tree

The funding will be used to build a teacher’s house at Mukuni Village, five community houses for orphans and the remainder will be used to boost our HIV/AIDS prevention projects for children, which will include peer education, worshops and feeding programmes.

In the past five years The Butterfly Tree has concentrated on advancing the water, food, health and education facilities and has made a difference to the lives of  thousands of people in the Mukuni Chiefdom and beyond. Now we are to take this a step further thanks to the help of international volunteers who will be working with the charity to initiate projects which will include peer educating, improvement in education methods and sustainability.

Mutsa Marau from London has spent the past year raising funds to visit Mukuni and introduce a peer education system at Mukuni Basic and High Schools. HIV/AIDS remains the major problem within the Mukuni community leaving almost fifty per cent of the children orphaned. One in six adults is HIV positive and the longevity is merely thirty six years of age. Mutsa is determined to make her HIV and AIDS Prevention project work; educating pupils between the ages of twelve and twenty about the dangers of HIV, holding workshops and teaching during her four month visit to the village.

Volunteers to make change: education improvements at Mukuni

Joining Mutsa will be Petteri Alppi from Finland who is a student at University College, London and a member of their Global Development Initiatives. Although the teaching standards in Zambia are good many pupils fail their exams due to a lack of materials and teaching staff. Petteri has compiled educational data to help improve English and Mathematics skills at the schools. He will also assist the charity by documenting and producing videos of our projects, volunteering and the Zambian cultural way of life.

For the third consecutive year Margaret Bax and Casey Short from Oregon will be returning to Mukuni to continue their work with sustainable projects. A successful chicken farming enterprise has given a number of women an opportunity to have an income-generating activity. Last year Margaret and Casey started a goat-rearing project to assist The Butterfly Tree’s under fives’ feeding program. One of our most successful projects to date this requires a large injection of funds and due to the high cost of formula only a limited number of infants can participate. The project provides formula, to replace breast milk in women who are HIV positive, to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child. Since 2007 all infants partaking on this program have been tested free of HIV. The production of goat’s milk will provide a nutritional supplement for this feeding program.

Sustainability – under fives’ feediging program, Mukuni Village

Our aim is to make the Mukuni Chiefdom projects models for other areas of need.

Africa – love it or hate it there is no inbetween. The heat, dust, poverty, corruption, violence that is how many sceptics describe this vast, parched continent, but have they ever actually visited the real Africa? The second largest and second most populated continent, Africa has huge geographical diversity and a mixture of many different cultures. In the middle of some of the most volatile countries on the planet is a haven called Zambia, totally land-locked yet bosting some of the best wildlife in Africa and the magnificent Victoria Falls. It borders eight other countries including Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.

The breathtaking Victoria Falls – Zambia

Today marks Africa Day and the one thing that unites all Africans is their love of music – they are born with rhythm! From their very first steps to adulthood they are natural dances and love performing at schools, in churches and at community gatherings – song and dance are part off their traditional heritage. Surrounded by such extreme cases of poverty and deprivation music can bring a light relief and is a great way to spread awareness of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. The Butterfly Tree is working with a number of volunteers who are helping to raise funds to help the fight against these devasting diseases. Basement Entertainment supports our malaria prevention program. Brendan Mission, through Music Earth Rise is currently raising funds to build a  music centre in Mukuni Village. The pupils will be able to use it to hold concerts, drama and worshops.

Africa Day: Mukuni Basic School performing a tradtional dance

To make any lasting progress the HIV/AIDS situation has to be addressed. In Mukuni alone almost 50% of the children are orphaned, whereas one in six adults are HIV positive. We have a number of programs to help tackle this enormous problem but more funds are needed. As always education is the key and this coming year we are fortunate to have several volunteers, including Mutsa Murau, who want to work with the orphans to help reduce the number of new cases of HIV. Mutsa will assist our HIV/AIDS prevention program by training peer educators in some of the schools supported by The Butterfly Tree.

Orphans at Simasimbi Basic School

Although there is vast wealth amongst some Africans the majority of people native to countries like Zambia live in extreme poverty and rely on international aid. However we feel that it is vital to bring about sustainabilty in areas where we operate once the education and health facilities have been improved. We are developing a number of enterprises at both the school and community in Mukuni. Perhaps one day the children on our orphan sponsorship program can be supporting their own families.

Peter Liyungu was the first orphan to be accepted on The Butterfly Tree orphan sponsorship program, some five years ago, when we first started operating in Mukuni Village back in 2006. At the time despite being very intelligent, Peter had lost interest in his education after loosing both parents and having no funds to continue. A sponsor was sought and this transformed his life; as there was no high school at Mukuni Peter wanted to go to boarding school and subsequently attended Zimba High. We are also sponsoring his younger brother Mishek.

Orphan Sponsorship: Peter with brother Mishek – February 2007

I am delighted to say that after four years Peter has completed grade twelve and did exceedingly well in his exams.  In his own words Peter wished to thank his sponsors.

‘It is my pleasure to show my gratitude and say thank you for opening up my life to a dream come true. You are my father and my mother who would have done the same if they were alive. It takes a strong sole to take up the work of someone else.

I must let you know that I have made it through my senior secondary with 16 points which gives me the opportunity to apply for university. It is because of you that I have achieved this, your contribution to my education and my life in all was not in vain and once more thank you for making my dream come true.’

Peter after completing high school – February 2011

To date The Butterfly Tree has sponsored over 400 idividual orphans in addition to providing nutritional feeding programs, classrooms, teachers’ houses and bore holes holes. Our healthcare projects including HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, boosted by a recent donation from Viking River Cruises, are all for the benefit of these vulnerable children. One of the great things about working in these rural communities is that when we can assist with the orphans’ education, there is always someone who will offer to be a guardian, whether it be a family member, a friend or even a teacher. This is by far more preferable than having to leave their village and be placed in an orphange in town.

Sponsored daily feeding program at Mukuni Village Schools

There are over 700,000 orphans in Zambia alone and they desperately need your support. Education is the only way they can get out of the cycle of poverty to enable them to better their situation. For as little as £110 per annum or just £10 per month a child’s life can be transformed. The money is used to pay for school and exam fees, books, shoes, uniform and school bag. In addition to this the children receive a daily nutritional meal, such as the one at Mukuni, sponsored by Cunninghams. The Butterfly Tree provides educational workshops, using interactive DVD’s donated by TME, teaching the pupils about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, malaria, teenage pregnancy, drugs and alcohol.

If you would like to sponsor an orphan like Peter or Mishek and make another child’s dream come true, please complete the online form or contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Listen to the orphans singing with the Mukuni Basic Choir on Youtube  

Follow our progress on Facebook

Today is World Malaria Day. The Butterfly Tree is committed to continue helping the fight to reduce the burden of malaria, the biggest killer of man. Although the number of deaths have declined over the last decade 75% of deaths caused by malaria are children under the age of five in sub-Sahara Africa. Zambia is no exception. 

Malaria disease caused by P. falciparum may result in death within hours or a few days of infection especially in those with a low immunity such as children, pregnant women, people with AIDS and travelers with little or no malaria. It can also result in the miscarriage of pregnant women, low birth-weight infants, developmental disabilities and other complications.

World Malaria Day: help prevent Paddington from contracting malaria

Until a cure is found prevention is the only way to avert this dehabilatating disease, which is the leading cause of school absenteeism. Providing mosquito nets, malaria tests and educational workshops effectively reduces the number of new cases. Saga Charitable Trust donates annually to our malaria prevention program, enabling us to provide this vital aid. The Zambian government’s aim is to distribute mosquito nets every child under five as well as pregnant women. Sadly the supplies are insufficient and there is a massive shortfall. UCL GDI members recently hel fund-raising events during One World Week and donated the money to our program.

Just £5 ($8) will buy a mosquito net and could save a child’s life. The Butterfly Tree has produced a charity CD, called ‘Change for the Better’  this can be downloaded for £2 or £3 for a CD – all proceeds go to the malaria prevention program.