The Butterfly Tree has over twenty projects currently running in the Kasungula District of Southern Province, Zambia. Our first projects were to offer an orphan sponsorship program and improve the health in Mukuni Village. Due to the success of our fundraising we have been able to extend this support to various sectors of the rural community and include valuable water projects, six bore holes have been added. We are supporting ten schools, three clinics and over twenty villages.

Over 250 orphans are being sponsore, we have built a high school and pre-school at Mukuni, funding a feeding program for 1000 vulnerable pupils at Mukuni and helping nine other schools. Over twenty villages in the Mukuni Cheifdom are benefitting from our support, we are providing medical supplies to three rural health centres in the district. At Mukuni Health Centre our under fives feeding program replaces breast milk in mothers who are HIV postive. We fund HIV/AIDS workshops and voluntary testing besides paying for treatment for children and sick patients.

In February 2008 The Butterfly Tree air freighted emergency relief aid for the national disaster caused by flooding in the Southern Province. We are providing TME’s educational DVDS to schools throughout the nation and aim to spread our work to other districts.

2009 will see a massive development at Katapazi, where we are extending the Health Centre, building a classroom and pit-latrine toilets in addition to a bore hole. Mukuni, N’gnadu and Siamasimbi Schools will also get new bore holes. We are putting in more funds to assist the malaria and HIV and AIDS projects. A feeding program has commenced at Siamasimbi School and a Science Laboratory at Mukuni High School is being constructed. Mubiana Village will be developed and additional bore holes will be added to remote villages. A program for children with special needs is being established at Mukuni Basic School where donkeys will be given to transport disabled children to school and bicycles will be available for children who walk long distances to school.

2010 will see a great deal of expansion for the Mukuni Chiefdom particularly in education, the key to improving the lives of these vulnerable people. The following Basic Schools will each have an additional classroom: Mukuni, Simamasimbi and Kamwi; Mundandi will have a new school and Machenje a pre-school. In addition several teacher’s houses and pit-latrines will complete the projects. Mukuni will also have a classroom for children needing special education. At N’gongwe village we are to build a medical officer’s house to enable their community-built clinic to be operational. Kamwi School will also have the addition of a bore hole. A grant has been given to provide the following schools with stationery and equipment: Siamasimbi, Katapazi, N’songwe, Libala, Mulindi and Manyemumyemu. Further support with be on offer to assit the health programs - exciting development for these rural communities is taking place.

Sponsor an Orphan:
There are 710,000 Orphans in Zambia and over 700 in the five schools supported by The Butterfly Tree. 200 orphans are currently being sponsored, the program is overseen by female volunteer in each village. Each orphan is selected by a committee, who carefully choose the most 'critical' cases, many having dropped out of school.

HIV and AIDS in Zambia Project:

Mukuni Pre School Projects:
Due to lack of funds the pre-school was at risk of closure. The Butterfly Tree has built a new, fully equipped classroom with outdoor play area and also funds two pre-school teachers’ and a helper’s salaries. Pre-schools do not receive government backing. Now there are now 205 children attending three classes throughout the day.

Kamwi School Upgrade:
Kamwi, a remote school in the Mukuni Chiefdom, goes up to grade 5. The school needs to be upgraded as the children have to walk great distances to get to Mukuni Basic School, crossing elephant paths on the way. The younger children are frightened and run to school becoming too tired to do their lessons. The Butterfly Tree is funding a three-bay classroom.

Mukuni HIV / AIDS Projects:
We have four projects underway to help the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We are funding voluntary testing programs; sponsoring HIV/AIDS orphans, a feeding program to help prevent mother to child transmission, and distributing educational DVDs throughout the nation.

Mukuni Sanitation:
The Butterfly Tree sanitation project has provided seventeen pit-latrine toilets for Mukuni Village. Thirteen are for the schools and teachers and four for the community. Lack of sanitation is these rural communities causes a number of health problems. We are also working with TME to provide educational DVDs on Health and Hygiene.

Mukuni Widows Project:
The Butterfly Tree is funding a project for widows to have a sustainable income. By providing the materials the woman can make the school uniforms, clothing, basket ware and jewellery to sell in the curios centre. Many women are left with several children to support and have no way of earning a living. Mostly men do the wood carvings to sell to the tourists.

Mukuni Feeding Program:
Children from remote villages walk over 10 miles each way to school, departing at 4am and returning home at 7pm, on only one meal a day. We provice a feeding program at Mukuni for 500 pupils. We also provide an under 5's feeding program, for undernourished infants and to replace breastfeeding in mothers who are HIV positive.

Mukuni Basic School Project:
The Mukuni Basic School has an addition of the first rural high school in the district. Principal Mr Presley Mulenga was struggling to make progress due to the lack of government funds. Since The Butterfly Tree’s involvement the school has advanced tremendously, find out more about the school and the work that has been going on.

Ngandu School Project:
At Ngandu School we have fully restored two classrooms and added two higher grades and put in a bore hole. Several pupils from the school are included in our orphan sponsorship program and we are currently building a teacher’s house. Many children from the school attend the Mukuni high school.

Water Project:
For six months Mukuni Village had only thirty minutes supply of water a day. With Saga Charitable Trust’s help, The Butterfly Tree has rectified this problem. Nine new water tanks have replaced the leaking ones. The villages of Sichalobe and Kafekwa will no longer have to draw they water from the river.

New Mukuni Maternity Clinic:
The Butterfly Tree helped by a grant from the Kitchen Table Charitable Trust has now raised funds to build a complete maternity block with a ‘shelter’ for women to stay at prior to labour and a safer place to deliver the babies. All woman who are pregnant will be tested for HIV and will recieve education on how to prevent mother to child transmission.