With thanks to all our charity sponsors - 
Sustainability
International aid can be damaging for communities if they are not given the chance to become sustainable. However before this can be done the essentials need to be provided: WATER, FOOD, HEALTH and EDCUCATON. The main reason why The Butterfly Tree concentrates on one area at a time is to make sure all these are in place before moving on. Once adequate facilites are available income generating-acitivities can be introduced. There is very little opportunity for employment when the poverty levels are so extreme, the main source of income comes from curio making and selling, which has been very badly affected by the global reccession.
Farming and agriculture are very much in demand, hence we have initiated a number of sustainable enterprises, some through micro-financing, which are proving to be successful. These include chicken and goat rearing, vegetable growing and uniform making. This year will see a goat rearing project under way to produce milk, with the aim of feeding babies who’s mothers are HIV positive to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to infant.
One notable chicken-rearing project is run by our ten volunteers who oversee the orphan program. In late 2009 the group were given a micro-finance loan for their start-up costs, which was paid back within just a few months. They are now running an income-generating enterprise. Besides supporting themselves their aim…
A successful sustainability project rearing goats for meat, run by women who have disabled children and need funds to support this. A donation was offered for start-up costs to build a goat pen and buy a number of goats with the aim of providing an income-generating for these hard-working women.
Although everyone is poor, widows and the elderly are particularly affected as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has pushed virtually every family below the poverty line. It is quite common to see a widow left with six children to support or a grandparent, having lost all their children, realising they have…
Funding projects for widows to have a sustainable income is vital. Educate a women and she will educate her whole family. Empower a woman and the entire family will be supported. Far too many women are left widowed with several children to support and have no way of earning a living. Creating…
Music is a great way to raise funds and promote awareness for hardships such as HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention as well as poverty. Children in remote villages have very few activities to keep them occupied so when a volunteer called Brendan Poynton, accompanied by his friend Valerie Buchanan, arrived…
For a Zambian family uniforms can be costly especially if they have to be purchased some distance from the villages. The Butterfly Tree pre-school at Mukuni has been successful in making uniforms to help support their activities. The charity bought sewing-machines and materials and the teachers make the garments….
Children in these remote villages like Katapazi suffer from hunger, therefore it is vital to provide food in schools, especially for the pupils who have to walk a substantial distance. The Butterfly Tree provides a nutritional meal in six schools with the aim of them becoming sustainable. Each school is…
Latest Happenings WITH OUR Sustainability Projects
Education & Sustainability
Volunteers to Make Change at Mukuni
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…
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Africa Day 2011
Support HIV/AIDS Prevention
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…
Music Supporting Charity in Africa
Music Centre for Mukuni
Africans are born with rhythm, so it is not surprising to come across many talented people during my trips to Mukuni; song and dance play an influential role in their culture. The forthcoming Lwiindi Ceremony, the ‘Cutlural Feast of the Spray Ceremony of the Victoria Falls’ scheduled for the 2nd…
Christmas 2009 Newsletter
Christmas Joy for Mukuni
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…
Presents for Mukuni
Alternative Christmas Presents
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…