We have had many people contacting us to do fundraising events and sponsorships, Mike Kaye with SWITCH raised a substantial amount of money at an event in Nottingham, where two Zambian DJs provided African music. This summer we have supporters participating in the ‘strong man’ competition, a sky dive and a marathon all offering to raise money for the charity. Also there are several volunteers from the UK and Norway going out to help at Mukuni Basic School and the health centre all of them are self-funding.

At last the maternity clinic, helped by a grant from KTCT is now complete with ante-natal, delivery room, toilets and showers. The Chieftainess performed a tribal blessing at the opening ceremony, attended by the department of health. We have been told that our successful under fives’ feeding program, supported by Avert, which replaces breastfeeding in HIV positive mothers, is the first in the entire nation. Our aim is raise funds for other areas, especially where many babies are suffering from malnutrition. The Mukuni Basic School’s feeding program, provided by The Butterfly Tree, is now supporting 230 vulnerable children; this number will increase in September.

 
  Butterfly Tree maternity clinic | Jane opening Mukuni maternity clinic

Water is being pumped at Chise village thanks to the new bore hole we were able to provide with assistance from Just a Drop. The Butterfly Tree plans to build three further bole holes this year in other remote villages; this is one of our top priorities.

The Butterfly Tree is working with TME to distribute their educational DVDs, on key subjects such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB and safe water throughout the nation targeting schools, hotels and local communities. We have built two boarding houses to assist older pupils who walk long distances to get to school; they can now remain at Mukuni Village during the week.

Earlier this year Zambia experienced the worst flooding in decades. The Butterfly Tree answered the presidents’ flood appeal by air freighting over 1000 kilos of medical supplies, blankets and clothing to distribute amongst the victims. We are now assisting the 19 health clinics in Kazungula District with medical supplies and equipment, including much needed dentistry tools.

 
Bore hole and pump for Chise Village | Mukuni boarding house

We are still able to give 100% of all donations, which go directly to the cause and our team of dedicated helpers in Zambia are committed to assisting other districts as the charity expands. Many thanks to all our helpers both here and especially at Mukuni Village and our generous supporters, in the UK, the US and other areas of the globe; without your help, none of this would have been possible.

As always we need further funds to start additional feeding programs, build more classrooms and bores holes for communities still having to drink river water. We are supporting 116 orphans but urgently need more sponsors for the hundreds of children left orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Your donations could make a huge difference to someone’s life.

If you would like to read more about our work please go to the website: www.thebutterflytree.org.uk or if you wish to offer further support contact Jane on email jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk or telephone 01926 843699

Best regards,

Jane Kaye-Bailey
Founder of The Butterfly Tree

The hightlight of any trip for an NGO has to be when a vision becomes a reality. For almost two years I have strived to complete a maternity clinic for the women in the Mukuni Chiefdom. Having heard that many Afican women die in labour, in their attempt to reach a rural clinic; I was totally committed and determined to see this project through.

Thanks to an initial grant from John Humprys’ Kitchen Table Charities Trust the building is finished. As often happens, the governments’ plans were way under budget and it has taken a substantial amount of additional funds to include ever-increasing costs for materials, plumbing, electricity and equipment. The Butterfly Tree has been offered an ultra-sound scanner, which will further enhance the project.

Maternity clinic for Mukuni Village

The Beyango, Chieftainess of Mukuni, performed a tribal blessing before I cut the ribbon to officially open the clinic. Members from the Kazungula district health office were in attendance along with village headmen and community members.

Jane officially opening the maternity clinic at Mukuni Village

The clinic has an ante-natal room, a nurses’ station, delivery room, showers and toilets making a vast improvement on the tiny two-bedded room at the existing Mukuni health centre.

Of all the projects we have achieved in the Mukuni Chiefdom, providing a bore for rural villages has to be top of the list. Water, the most precious of commodities is taken for granted in our priveleged western world, but when you have to draw water from a crocodile infested river, receiving a bore hole can make a huge difference to a remote community.

For the people of Chise Village life is very hard; extreme poverty and unemployment affects every family, now at least they have fresh, safe water and it was a pleasure to visit these people and receive their apprecation. Just a Drop kindly provided assistance for The Butterfly Tree to initiate this project and a Zambian company was used to drill and build the bore hole.

We have done a survey of all the villages in the Mukuni Chiefdom and our aim is to provide them all with safe, clean water. For just £3200 we can provide an entire community with a bore hole complete with pump.  

Although the HIV/AIDS in Zambia situation is not getting any worse it is not improving fast enough. Education is the key factor to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A quote from Avert, ‘as of 2005, although almost all adult Zambians know that HIV/AIDS exists, still 8.8% of the population do not know that it can be avoided. Over 25% of adults think that mosquitos can transmit HIV, 22% think they can be infected by withchraft; and 15% believe that sharing a meal with an infected person puts them at risk. The level of understanding is lower in towns, and women are less knowledgeable than men’.

The Butterfly Tree aims to built more pre-schools in Zambia; almost half of the population is between 5 and 14 years old, very few have HIV. and by educating these young Zambians at an early age the HIV/AIDS statistics can be reduced. There is little else to occupy these children, living in poor rural communites, unless they can go to school.

The Mukuni Village pre-school built by The Butterfly Tree, thanks to a generous donation by Gardiff, who are also supporting two teachers and a classroom helper, is a huge success. Over 200 children attend three classes throughout the day, learning English and Maths skills, preparing them for the basic school at the age of five.

We need donors to sponsor more pre-schools for Ngandu and Kamwi and other villages supported by The Butterfly Tree. At Mukuni and many schools in Livingstone we are using educational DVDS, provided by TME, to teach HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and voluntary testing. These are the childen who, by helping in the fight against HIV/AIDS, could really make a difference.

During my talks at the travel exhibitions I always state that if tourists were made more aware, by their tour operators, of the poverty surrounding their luxury resorts, then they would be more inclined to give a donation.

One tour company, Exquisite Safaris and one of our partners insists on sending their clients to visit a humantarian project as an essentail part of their itinerary. Exquisite Safaris is the pioneer in luxury philanthropic travel and donates $US250 for every client who visits an NGO project and The Butterfly Tree is fortunate to be operating in a catchment area, being so close to the Victoria Falls, where tourists can make daily visits to Mukuni Village.

This year we have received many offers of visitors wishing to sponsor an orphan or give a donation to this rural community and just as I was so touched on my first visit, others have felt the same. I am delighted to say that several of these people have come ‘on board’ to raise further funds and awareness for The Butterfly Tree.

Zambia is experiencing a ‘boom’ in tourism and as an NGO I am dedicated to getting more tour operators, lodges, hotels and tourists involved in ‘giving something back’. Just a small donation could make a difference to someone’s life and a more substantial one could built a bore hole, providing safe, clean water for hundreds of people.

Twelve months ago, during one of my visits to Mukuni Village, I was saddened to hear that a baby had died from malnutrion. The infants father had passed away only a few days earlier, suffering from TB and her older brother was one of our sponsored orphans. I immediately set up a feeeding program at the Mukuni Health Centre.

Mothers who are HIV positive are discouraged to breatfeed babies over six months, in order to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to infant. This is virtually impossible when you are so poor that you cannot find the money to pay for  nutritional food; resulting in a child being prone to illness and subsequently malnutrition.

Within six months The Butterfly Tree’s feeding program has greatly improved (more…)

The main source of income for the rural villages near the Victoria Falls is curio selling, most especially the beautiful wood carvings. There are two main areas where these can be purchased, one is the Victoria Fall Craft Village and the other is at Mukuni Village Craft Market.

I have been working with the both centres to help them improve their methods of selling; unfortunately they had been receiving bad press as they were noted for being too pushy, which can be off putting to a tourist visiting the area for the first time. I can sympathise with them knowing that without a precious sale, which enables them to buy a bag of ground maize, the family may go hungry.

Now the guys from Mukuni Village have now ‘cleaned up their act’ and a trip to either of the markets is a definite must on everyone’s itinerary. The animal carvings are the most popular using African woods - magongany, iron, and ebony; the worksmanship is of a high standard and the prices very reasonable. Elaborate walking sticks, tribal masks, drums and basketware are also locally made as well as unusual soap stone carvings. The Butterfly Tree has set up two families in business and also supported a sustainable business for a group of widows to produce needlecraft, intricate African beadwork and jewellery.

It was the first time that the European Travel Distribution Summit had a charity stand in their exhibition hall. Some attendees where surprised to see The Butterfly Tree exhibiting and many congratulated Eye for Travel for including us. Fellow exhibitors showed a keen interest offering a link to our website, some gave donations of software and money and several offered to promote the charity.

The seminar, which I hosted, was aimed at getting more companies involved in philanthropic travel and responsible tourism initiatives. Too many do not have any kind of corporate social responsibility programs and Gyonne James from Tourism Concern discussed this issue along with exploitation in the tourist industry. Victoria Bolton of Charity Challenge told the audience how their company helps to reduce world poverty through fundraising expeditions while Mark Nall, Chief Executive of Everyclick explained how businesses and individuals can generate money for charities by using their search engine.

The travel industry has a huge capacity to raise funds for NGO’s and charities especially through the internet. Tour operators need to make their tourists aware of the poverty surrounding their luxury resorts, in the developing countries they are visiting. Hoteliers must provide clean water, health and education for local communiteis as well as becoming ‘eco’ friendly. It is essential that this industry awakens to its responsibilities, using their marketing skills to promote awareness and help to reduce world poverty.

With five days left until the European Travel Distribution Summit, there is still time to register for the seminar hosted by The Butterfly Tree at 11am on Wednesday 21st May at the Business Design Centre, North London.

A key aim of The Butterfly Tree is to reduce world poverty through the tourist industry and we are delighted that Eye for Travel have given us this opportunity to join such a renowed group of exhibitors and speakers at this marketing event. They have generously given us a room to host a seminar as well as an exhibiting stand for the duration and also named The Butterfly Tree as the summit’s official charity.

Along with Exquisite Safaris we will continue to promote philanthropic travel and responsible tourism and hope to get this message over to many of the tour operators, hoteliers and other members of the tourist industry who have a great capacity to improve the health, education, water and enviromental issues in the developing countries where they are operating.

For more information and to register for the seminar, click here

Last night I attended a fundraising event in Nottingham hosted by SWITCH and orgainzed by my son, Mike and his friends to raise money for a Science lab at Mukuni High School. The venue was Ecucha, one of Nottingham’s top bars and Basement Crew, a live DJ set from Zambian provided the music.

The evening was a great success and all the money raised will go towards The Butterfly Tree project. The drinks were sponsored by Peroni and Bacardi Brown-Forman and the bar staff donated their wages to add to the total. Basement Crew were amazing, playing Zambian music, which proved to be more popular than the UK hits; the African beat creating a great atmsophere.

The Butterfly Tree would like to thank SWITCH, Escucha, the sponsors and all the bar staff and the DJs who freely volunteered their services.

SWITCH members Mike, Nick and Christian

Basement Crew from Zambia

During the recent teacher’s strike I am sure that many of you had sympathy for the wonderful people who educate our children. If you think that they are badly done to in this country, in Zambia, where the average monthly pay for a teacher is £75, teachers have to endure appalling living conditions. They have no choice of schools, a teacher can be sent anywhere throughout the country, and despite having lived in a town or city, they suddenly find themselves in the middle of the bush with no plumbing or electricity.

At Mukuni Village I see teachers living in leaking storerooms, tuck shops and classrooms, sharing a pit-latrine toilet and an ‘open air’ bathroom, using bowls of cold water to wash with. Sadly The Butterfly Tree receives very few donations to build teacher’s houses, despite the fact that teachers are the backbone of these remote schools. In one house where there are five male teachers, with only four rooms, one poor guy has to sleep in a cupboard. It is these teachers who are helping the orphans to overcome their hardships and find a way to better their lives.

As well as having poor living conditions the teachers are also battling with inadequate facilities. Many classrooms are in desparate need of restoration, books are in short supply and the sports facilities are virtually non-existant, with numerous schools having to use ‘bag and string’ footballs and the gymnasts training on the ‘dirt’ ground. Most rural schools have no plumbing or electricty, many are without even a bore hole, and some with no facilities at all, use using the shade of a mango tree to conduct their lessons.

The Butterfly Tree is seeking corporates and individuals to sponsor a teacher’s house or classroom, with a donation between £5000 - £20000 you could make a difference to an entire Zambian community.

A child dies of malaria every 30 seconds.
According to the World Health Organisation malaria epidemics kill more than 100,000 people of all ages every year; an estimated 10,000 of these women and 200,000 of their infants die as a result of malaria infection during pregnancy. “Malaria remains a major threat for 3.2 billion people in more than 107 countries throughout the world,” says Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro, president of the International Red Cross Federation.

Malaria is such a huge issue that it is difficult for a small charity such as The Butterfly Tree to get involved . However we already have a malaria project in place, as the Zambian communities we work in are badly affected by malaria. The disease can be treated but in some of the remote communites they are unable to get to a clinic or do not realise they have malaria through lack of education; mosquito nets are the answer. Although the government issues nets there is never enough for each member of a family, many sharing one net, which makes it impossible to get complete coverage.

We have provided malaria testing kits and TME’s edcuatioinal DVDs on ‘avoiding malaria’ and ‘bed nets’. Now we are appealing for donations to provide more children with mosquito nets.

Donate a mosquito net for £2.50

For centuries African countries have been exploited, many prospering from the rich natural resources found in countries such as Congo, Zimbabwe and Zambia. These countries are now some of the poorest in the world decimated by war and poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Now it is time for the West to ‘give something back’ and help Africa overcome their numerous hardships. Earlier this year several countries in Eastern and Southern Africa suffered the worst flooding in decades; lives and livestock were lost, homes and crops destroyed, entire communities submerged in water. Is this a result of ‘global warming? There is no welfare available and the governments are so poor they have to appeal for international aid.

Where I am working in Zambia, as an NGO, close to the Victoria Falls area I see complete extremes of accomodation; from mud huts to luxurious hotels and lodges. The nation is experiencing a ‘boom’ in tourism and once again the hoteliers and tour operators are exploiting local communities. It isn’t enough just to offer employment to the people; they need health care, safe water and education. It is shameful to hear that hoteliers drain the local bore holes to water their golf courses, which is the case in some developing countries.

(more…)

Having previously been involved in the travel industry, since travelled extensively around the globe and now working in one of the poorest countries in the world, I have observed a great deal. Now that experience can be put to use at the seminar hosted by The Butterfly Tree at the Europe 2008 Travel Distribution Summit being staged at the London Design Centre to encourage tour operators, hoteliers and tourists to be more aware of the needs of the communities they are operating in.

For the past two years we have partnered with Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide who have agreed to donate £125 for every one of their tourists who visit our projects at Mukuni Village. This also gives the traveller an opportunity to ‘get involved’ or give something back.

I am delighted that three other like-minded organizations have agreed to join me at this event. Tourism Concern, is the only UK organisation campaigning on exploitation in the global tourism industry; Charity Challenge, gaining an award for Best Tour Operator for Poverty Reduction at the World Travel Market and Everyclick, the search engine that gives 50% of its revenue to charity every month.

If you would like to join The Butterfly Tree at the seminar reserve your place and use the link for free registration for further information read our previous post Travel Distribution Summit  or contact Jane Kaye-Bailey jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk telephone 01926 843699 or Simon Carkeek simon@eyefortravel.com

I am delighted to announce that The Butterfly Tree is the nominated charity for Europe 2008 Travel Distribution Summit to be held on the 20-21 May at the Business Design Centre, London. Organised by Eye for Travel the summit is the world’s biggest event for marketing, pricing and technology experts.

Having spoken at last year’s World Travel Market I aim to get more people in the travel industry involved in corporate social responsibilty; sadly the industry is lagging behind.

The Butterfly Tree promotes responsible tourism and will be hosting a seminar at the event on 21st May at 11am:

Title - How to incorporate Philanthropic Travel and Responsible Tourism initiatives while substantially improving your overall business performance.

Travel companies can concretely benefit by improving the effectiveness of social responsibility. Supporting and promoting humanitarian and environmental causes, will enhance your reputation, add further appeal to your customers and attract better employees.

Speakers: 

• Jane Kaye-Bailey - Philanthropic Traveler & Founder of The Butterfly Tree
• Victoria Bolton - Charity Challenge - General Manager
• Guyonne James - Tourism Concern - Program Manager
• Mark Nall - Everyclick - Chief Executive

Photo: Providing safe water in third world tourist destinations

To learn more about the Travel Distribution Summit and the seminar contact: Jane Kaye-Bailey email - jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk or Simon Carkeek simon@eyefortravel.com

Although there are over 100 orphans being sponsored by The Butterfly Tree, many more urgently need help. I was distressed to learn yesterday that out of 50 pupils who had past grade 9 to attend the new high school, only 20 had been able to afford to pay for the fees and uniform.

In October 2007 when I was driving through Livingstone, the teacher from Mukuni who was accompanying me, asked me to pull over after she spotted a pupil from her class. When she asked Victor Simango why he was not at school, he bowed his head and simply replied ‘I cannot’. I also questioned him and found that he had no father and a mother who could no longer afford to educate him. I asked him if he liked school and that if he got the chance of a sponsorship would be attend. The answer was yes to both questions.  I suggested he meet me at the Head Teacher’s office at 9am the following morning, he was early!

It is heartbreaking to see these children who’s education is the most important part of their life, having to drop out of school as one or both of their parents have died. Next week grade 9 pupils are due to sit their exams; twenty would have been unable to take them until The Butterfly Tree intervened; their grandparents or guardians could not find the £4.50 to pay for the examination fees.

£85 a year will cover the cost of school and exam fees, books, uniform, shoes and school bag. Our aim is to get the older children back into school as quickly as possible so that they do not miss any more valuable lessons.

Please consider sponsoring an orphan and make a difference to someone’s life!

The improvements in education made by The Butterfly Tree over the past two years at Mukuni Village is having a positive effect on the community.

With the addition of a high school, now in it’s second year, pupils are able to complete grades ten to twelve of their education with a far better prospect of finding employment and with the boom in the Zambian tourist industry more positions will be available to school leavers.

Photo: Pupils have made these bricks for the high school laboratory

The addition of a pre-school totally funded by The Butterfly Tree now has 198 children attending three classes throughout the day. With very little entertainment in these remote villages young children can learn to read and write and speak English at a much earlier age. (more…)

I have just returned from an eventful trip to Zambia, which included meeting Vice-President Rupiah Banda during his visit to survey the areas devastated by the recent floods.

Chief Mukuni invited me to attend the meeting when the Vice-President came to Mukuni Village. The Chief explained The Butterfly Tree’s involvement in his Chiefdom and I was given the opportunity to voice my disappointment in Zambian customs failure to release our shipment to assist the flood victims. Mr. Banda told me that it would be looked into by his office.

I personally visited the areas around Maramba, where many people had been displaced during the torrential rains that caused such destruction. I met a new born baby living in one of the tents provided by Shelter Box and learnt of the shortages of food amongst the people. Much of the nation’s maize crops have been destroyed during the peak growing season with a famine predicted in many areas. (more…)

Tomorrow I will be leaving for Zambia and I am looking forward to seeing just how much progress has been made since my last trip in September 2007. I recenty learnt from my NGO committee that this month the Ministry of Finance sent a delegation from Lusaka to visits our projects. Apparently they were extremely impressed and could not believe that so much had been achieved in just two years.

The water is now flowing freely in Mukuni Village after replacing the nine leaking tanks and pipework. There are seveteen pit-latrine toilets and a much better equipped health centre since our input. The HIV/AIDS program is underway and the additional malaria testings kits mean that more people can be tested and treated. We have built twenty houses for vulnerable people and set up three families in sustainable business ventures. Young children are healthier thanks to the feeding programs we are providing at both the clinic and Mukuni School.

Photo: Jane with pupils from the remote school in Siamasimbi Village

However more funds are needed. Although we are supporting three village schools, Siamasimbi a remote community, receives very little help from the outside world (more…)

Thanks to JuggleFrogs most generous donation of a new website we now have supporters from Hawaii to Australia. Miranda of JuggleFrogs has devoted weeks of her time to develop the website and we feel very priviliged to not only having such an advanced site but also to having her on our team.

The website has had hits from seventeen States in the US this month and recently I received an email from a group of people from Colorada who visited Mukuni Village and wanted to help. After searching google they came across The Butterfly Tree and have kindly offered to sponsor twelve orphans.

We are now able to raise funds through everyclick which works like every other major search engine with the added bonus that every time you ‘click’ you can raise money for The Butterfly Tree. It doesn’t cost you anything and all you have to do is register your support - click here.

(more…)

One and a half million people have been affected by the recent floods in Zambia; several weeks of continuous rain have devastated many areas of the nation. On Friday of this week The Butterfly Tree is air-freighting huge amounts of medical supplies, blankets and clothing to help the victims. Cunninghams Epos Systems are providing the transport to Heathrow and MTEC Global are the shipping agent asssiting in the operation. Our appeal has received a great response from Zambians living in the UK who want support their fellow countrymen during this crisis.

Six thousand people have been displaced in the Southern Province and most of the crops have been destroyed. I shall shortly be flying to Zambia to assess the damage in the Kasungula District where we work. (more…)

The Butterfly Tree has launched an appeal to help victims of the recent floods in Zambia. The president has announced it as a national disaster and it is still raining!

Due to the lack of information reported by the world press it is difficult to access just how bad the situation is; talking to my contacts in the Livingstone area it is devastating. A number of lives have been lost and many people displaced; schools have had to closed and crops destroyed. The make shift homes, in compound areas such as Maramba have collasped and rural mud huts are not standing up to the deluge. 

Perhaps the worst is still to come, with most of the crops being lost during this prime growing season, a famine is predicted. (more…)

I was deeply saddened to learn that Shadreck Mabote, the Prime Minister of the Mukuni Chiefdom, passed away yesterday. In the brief time I knew him I believe that he was a great man who was totally dedicated to his people and respected by all who knew him. During my visit to Mukuni in September 2007 I spent many days travelling around the community with him and admired his dedication and committment.

Quite noticeably he was dearly loved and will be sadly missed by everyone. (more…)

As if malaria, HIV/AIDS and poverty are not enough problems to contend with; now much of Zambia has been devastated by severe floods. Several weeks of continuous heavy rain has resulted in thousands of homes, livestock and agricultural products being submerged under water. Although it is the ‘rainy’ season the rainfall has been unusually high and this is the time of year when their summer crops are flourishing

Having visited Zambia several times in the past two years I have seen the hardships the people have to endure on a daily basis now they have a natural disaster to overcome. I cannot imagine how they will survive without financial aid from the Western World; President Mwanawasa has appealed for $13 million in international aid. Although we are experiencing severe flooding in the UK we do have insurances, government aid and social services to assist; many Zambian people have lost everything with little hope of recovery.

The authorities have closed schools, converting them into shelters for displaced families. More then 40 have died; many drowned or killed by crocodiles as they attempted to cross rivers for higher ground. (more…)

The Butterfly Tree would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas.  

The words ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ echo in my ears every time I here the music playing. If only there were more people like Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure the world would be a better place and the wealth would be more evenly distributed.

Christmas, for me brings feelings of mixed emotions, I look forward to the time spent with family and friends. However Christmas shopping has never been the same since I founded the charity almost two years ago. I find it hard to cope with the ‘glut’ and the ‘greed’ of the western world during this festive season, everyone in state of frenzy; shops laden with merchandise; panic buying; people giving unwanted gifts; women stressed with the work load; couples arguing; children complaining that Santa didn’t bring the latest technical gadget. Is it all necessary?  

So do they know it’s Christmas? (more…)