The Butterfly Tree Charity

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 few months we have increased our orphan sponsorship program, provided seeds for several school gardens and funded treatment for children. We have added five bore holes, built six community houses for widows and orphans, set up a sustainable chicken farm for a women’s group and provided essential funds for the HIV/AIDS in Zambia and malaria programs. Our biggest project, funded by JOAC, was to build a 1×3 classroom and extend the clinic at Katapazi Village, which is now complete.

Christmas: bore hole & classroom for Katapazi      Treatment funded for Kevin

Offering the chance for people to buy alternative Christmas presents has also been fruitful - donkeys, bicycles, chickens and even a house have been generously donated and the calendars as always have been very popular. Many people chose to donate instead of sending Christmas cards.

N’gandu boy takes his sisters to school A new home for a Mukuni widow and orphans

2010 will bring forth the most amazing grants we have ever received. JOAC has offered a huge amount of grant aid to enable us to do six building projects at Mukuni, Siamasimbi and Kamwi Schools, build a brand new school at Mandandi, open a pre-school at Machenje as well as the opportunity to improve a clinic at N’songwe. Just a Drop will fund a bore hole for Kamwi Basic School and Saga Charitable Trust have offered continual support for our health projects at Mukuni Village. The BFSS are giving us another generous grant to purchase stationery and materials for six more schools. All our schools will now receive a feeding program as World Bank are no longer providing porridge to these remote areas.

I would like to say a huge thank you to my fellow trustees, all the volunteers and fundraisers who have worked tirelessly to make this such a successful period and most especially to everyone who has generously donated to our cause and given hope to thousands of people in the Mukuni Chiefdom.

I am so grateful to everyone for helping me to achieve our goals and wish each and every one of you a very happy Christmas and a peacful and prosperous New Year.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

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 celebrations of the festive season. Apart from the joy of going to church on Christmas morning the rest of the day will just be as any other day at Mukuni Village. No stocking fillers nor treats just a plate of nsima (ground maize), vegetables and groundnuts and for the few lucky ones the addition of chicken or kapenta (dried fish) swilled down with water. Coke, Fanta and Lemonade are a luxury very few can afford and despite the constant heat ice-cream is unheard of.

Alternative Christmas presents could really help a child or community in need and give more satisfaction to the donor than the risk of purchasing an unwanted gift. From as little as £6 for a goat to building a house for a family your money will help to improve the life of someone less fortunate.

Presents for Mukuni: Donate a donkey

Life in these remote villages is tough - with daily challenges to meet these people strive to find food for their families, fresh water to drink and medicine to heal their sick. All things that we in the west take for granted. For the past seven months the rural clinics have received no government funding. Yesterday I was told that there is an outbreak  in the district and no money available to buy the neccessary insecticides. The Butterfly Tree will help to eradicate this issue, at least for Mukuni Village, in the forthcoming week. These are just some of the many problems these gentle people have to endure while we suffer from the pressures of our Christmas - what to eat and drink, what to wear and finding the perfect tree! 

The following can all be purchased through the charity as an alternative Christmas present to provide valuable funds to overcome these hardships:

Donate a goat - £6

Donate a football - £8

Donate 5 mosquito nets £20

Donate a donkey for a disabled child - £70

Donate a bicycle - £75

Sponsor an orphan - £95 per annum

Build a house for widows and orphans - £400

Buy a 2010 charity calendar - £4 plus postage

For more information email jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk or telephone 01926 843699

Over 33 million people are infected with HIV, over 2 million are children and millions more are affected by this devasting virus. In the UK alone there are 80,000 reported cases and the number increases every year.

This year’s World Aids Day theme is ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’. Today let us unite to help the world fight against HIV/AIDS by ensuring that human rights are protected. Touch Radio are supporting our campaign in addition to an appeal on the GlobalGiving website to attract world-wide attention.

In 2008 it was estimated that 2 million people died from AIDS, mostly under the age of 35, half of them not reaching their twenty-fifth birthday. Last year there were 2.7 million new cases reported. HIV/AIDS in Zambia affects every family, there are 710,000 orphans, one in every six adults have HIV and life-expectancy is only thirty-five.

World Aids Day: Protect this young child from Mukuni

The Butterfly Tree supports a number of HIV/AIDS programs at Mukuni Village, among them are an HIV group who provide voluntary testing and workshops, an under-fives feeding program to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to infant and an orphan sponsorship program for over 250 pupils. We supply educational materials provided by TME to communities throughout the nation.

HIV education is the key; by encouraging people to be tested, challenging the discrimination and removing the sitgma can make a significant impact. Schools, groups and companies must make use of the materials available - education leads to empowerment, helping to ensure that the global target for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care are met.

RESPECT - PROTECT 

Help us to protect and prevent losing the next generation.

Sponsor an orphan for Christmas and make a difference to a child’s life.

The Butterfly Tree calendar is ready to order and can be viewed on this page. This is our third year and already we have had numerous requests to buy them for gifts, offices and home use. The high quaility desk top calendar measures 21cm x 16cm and can be bought for £4 plus postage, US10 including postage.

If you would like to make a purchase please complete the form below.

I would like to thank all the companies who have each generously sponsored a page of this publication, enabling all proceeds on the sale of the calendar to go directly to the cause. 

UK postal Charges using 2nd class - 1 calendar is £1.41, 2-3 is £1.85, 4-5 is £2.24

US & rest of world - 1 calendar including postage $10 

Europe - 1 calendar including postage EUR6            

Finding new ways to raise funds isn’t easy, particulary during this economic downturn when money is tight. The Butterfly Tree continues to source new methods in order to reach out to additional rural villages and schools in Zambia. GlobalGiving, who directly support the work of grassroots charities worldwide, have invited us to participate in their Project Challenge 2, which gives non-profit charity organisations, implementing innovative projects, to earn a permanent spot on GlobalGiving’s website. This will be useful for our international supporters especially those donors in the US.

To achieve this we have to raise £1000 from at least 50 unique donors by the 30th November - easier said than done! The project we have submitted is entitled HIV/AIDS education and support to ZambianVillages, such as Mukuni. Virtually every Zambian’s life has been infected or affected by the HIV/AIDS panedmic, which has left 710,000 children orphaned. Education is the key to overcoming this incurable disease and our aim is to provide educational workshops and health support to the rural communities. Working with the professional team at the Mukuni Health Centre the funds will be used to provide this vital service offering voluntary testing, counselling and treatment for HIV/AIDS sufferers, most especially children. In addition we will provide education at the schools, help to remove the stigma and discrimination and offer income-generating activities to assist the HIV/AIDS support groups.

GlobalGiving Challenge: Educate these children about the dangers of HIV/AIDS

We are appealing to everyone to help us achieve this challenge by donating just £5 to our project through the GlobalGiving website, where you can read further details about this mission. We also have the chance to win an additional £1000 if we are at the top of the leader board.

Other ways you can help:

We have recently partnered with Raffle.it a new and exciting online raffle site, offering great prizes from leading companies, for every ticket we sell 80% is donated to The Butterfly Tree.

Sponsor an orphan - just £8 per month or £95 ($150) per annum

Clever Squirrel - a way of claiming back funds from insurance policies & pensions: http://cleversquirrel.com/htmlFiles/about.php

Despite all the set backs that arise when working in a country as poor as Zambia, the good news outweighs the bad. The development at Katapazi Village is in the final stages of completion. Thanks to an extremely generous grant aid from Jersey Overseas Aid Commission, this project undertaken by The Butterfly Tree to improve the health and education facilities for Katapazi, is almost finished. To advance the project a bore hole funded by Just a Drop and W Foundation has been installed for the school, this had an additional use making the building of the classroom much easier.

Katapazi a remote community with a polulation in excess of 5000 lies over 30 miles from Livingstone. It is accessible only by tracks and during the rainy season these become impassable. Part of the Mukuni Chiefdom Katapazi has a basic school and clinic, both were badly in need of restoration and advancement. The school has 500 pupils and most of them had to drop out after grade seven as the distance to the next school was too great. They can now add two more grades for the older children and benefit from having a spacious 1×3 classroom block and additional pit-latrine toilets.

Katapzi Village: new classroom block             pit-latrine toilet

For the men of Katapazi the facilities at the clinic were non-existent, the nearest health centre demanded a walk of over 25 miles resulting in uneccessary deaths. Besides restorating the existing clinic we have built a seperate male ward and installed solar panels to provide lightning for the clinic to operate at night. In addition we have purchased a paraffin fridge for the medical needs which include malaria and HIV/AIDS medication. We would like to thank the people of Jersey for this invaluable assistance, where the men can be treated and lives can be saved.

Male ward under construction                       paraffin fridge containing medication

There are many more villages that have no schools or health centres. The Butterfly Tree aims to offer others the same opportunity as Katapazi, which has enabled these vulnerable children to receive a sound education and given access to improved health facilities for an entire community.

Today marks the 45th Independence Day of Zambia, formerly known as Northern Rhodesia. A land-locked country in Southern Africa with a tropical climate. Today is also International Day of Climate Action and Zambia like most developing countries is effected by global warming. January 2008 saw the worst flooding for over twenty years. With no rain from March to October the rural communities depend heavily on ‘good’ rains - too little means shortage of food; too much and the crops are damaged and people are displaced through flooding.

The Butterfly Tree, although primarily a humanitarian charity, believes that supporting enviromental issues will enhance our programs and improve the areas where we work. We are currently seeking funding to build an Eco-toursim Centre in Mukuni Village. This will include planting millions of trees; many forests have been depleted due to the indingenous people’s dependency on wood. Trees are cut to build houses, make charcoal for cooking and in the use of curio making, the communities main source of income.

Stagnant drinking water: young Mukuni boys drink this bacteria infected water 

We will be working with African Community Project, founded by Canadian Garry Brooks, who will manage the project. This is an exciting time for Mukuni, the Chiefdom is progressing and the area around the Victoria Falls is rapidly developing in toursim. The Eco-Tourism Centre will create employment and education for the local people with the aim of attracting international volunteers to attend the program, where a lodge will accomodate the visitors.

Every level of community has to do its bit to help with climate change, planting trees is one of the best ways we see fit for Mukuni Village. Global warming badly effects these vulnerable communities, mosquito-borne diseases are increased and this area is prevelant in malaria. To commerate Zambian Independence and acknowledge International Day of Climate Change we are joining forces with Basement Crew, a group of Zambian DJs who work in London. Tonight they are appearing at a 45th Zambian Independance Day Celebration and will appeal to all Zambians worldwide to help tackle the Africa malaria problem that effects millions of their families and friends in Zambia.

After six months without rain October sees the start of the rainy season in Zambia. The parched earth, the dry river beds, the farmers and wildlife welcome the precipitation and so do the mosquitos - the most unwelcome of creatures. Africa malaria is the number one killer of man; seventy-five per cent of people worldwide who die from this disease are children under the age of five mostly in Sub-Sahara Africa. This region has Plasmodium falciparum, the most common and deadliest form of malaria, but easily treated if diagnosed in time.

The Zambian government’s policy is to provide mosquito nets for all pregnant women and under-five children. However during my recent visit to Mukuni I found that there was a huge shortfall, when asked to deliver these nets to certain villages less than half of the required amount had been provided. HIV/AIDS sufferers are also vulnerable and need protection. Working with our NGO team on the ground we are determined to supply these remote communities with additional nets before the heavy rains make the villages inaccessible. 

Malaria at Mukuni: These young children need protection against this disease

This week I attended a Philanthropy Forum in London, listening to some of Briton’s biggest charity donors, including Sir Richard Branson tell us how they are tackling major issues such as global warming, poverty HIV/AIDS and malaria. Though there is tremendous support from international governments and wealthy donors I see very little filtering through to the rural villages such as  Mukuni. The Butterfly Tree supports a malaria program at Mukuni Health Centre by providing mosquito nets, malaria testing kits and education workshops. Please help us save lives by donating just £3 to purchase a mosquito net.

Challenging - this is how I would describe my recent trip to Zambia! As always good progress is being made in all areas but I was faced with a number of serious problems which needed urgent attention. This proved to me how essential it is to go regularly to Zambia not only to check on our projects and see where your funding is being used but most especially to establish the most critical needs.

Driving around the remote villages I frequently come across an orphan who has dropped out of school through lack of funds or a child who needs hospital treatment; again we were able to send a number of children to Livingstone Hospital. I was joined once more by Professor Doug Saunders from Sydney University accompanied by his wife, Margie and Karen Lytle from Arizona; their support was invaluable. Due to issues in the public health sector Mukuni clinic has not received any government funding for six months. I was informed by the district health officer without The Butterfly Tree’s medical supplies and funding, boosted by generous support from Saga Charitable Trust, the centre would be closed down. In addition there was no water for four days until we repaired the leaking tank and underground pipe work preventing an outbreak of disease.

On a happier note my sons, Mike and David did a terrific job raising funds through Facebeook to build four community houses for the elderly and widows with orphans. Accompanied by Martin, one of our team members, they drove endless journeys to remote villages to collect poles, grasses, mud and water. With temperatures soaring to 36 degrees they toiled daily until all four were completed.

The Butterfly Tree Community House        Baby Jane first baby born at maternity clinic

Our biggest project underway is at Katapazi Village, where we are building a 1x 3 classroom block; this will enable the school to upgrade and take in more pupils. A bore hole was added, one of three recently funded by Just a Drop and W Foundation. We are also making improvements to Katapazi clinic, adding a male ward, pit-latrines, solar panels and a paraffin fridge. This is being achieved through a grant received from Jersey Overseas Aid Commission. In the forthcoming year we aim to upgrade the schools of Siamasimbi and Kamwi, open a new school at Mandandi and a pre-school at Machenje.

New Katapazi classroom block                     Play Pump at Katapazi School

While visiting the six schools we are supporting I was dismayed to learn that the daily porridge, normally provided by the World Food Program, has not been forthcoming for several months. This means that many children are walking long distances to school and have to wait until supper before receving any nourishment. We are currently providing a feeding program at Mukuni for 350 children, funded by Cunninghams and have recently set up another one at Siamsimbi. Our intention is to supply porridge and beans to all these schools and provide them with seeds so they can grow vegetables and eventually become self-sustaining.

Although I love every part of my work as always The Butterfly Tree pre-school, totally funded by Gardiff,  holds a special place in my heart. Listening to these chlidren singing songs in English and acting out rhymes is a sheer joy to watch. We now have 245 young children and the number is growing, which means we must strive to provide more of these invaluable pre-schools to enable early education.

The Butterfly Tree pre-school at Mukuni      Ngandu pre-school

Education is the key and our orphan sponsorship program gives many pupils, who would otherwise have had to drop out, a chance to remain at school.  Obviously the more we expand our support to other schools more donors are needed to sponsor an orphan. We are aiming to complete the Mukuni High School science laboratory in the next few months, this will allow the orphans to complete grade 12 with all the neccessary qualifications. Three philanthropic travelers joined me from the US - Karen Lytle, Margret Bax and Casey Short who generously donated their time and funds to improve the education at Mukuni. In December the first high school leavers will be seeking career opportunities, with your support and sponsorship they now have prospects to improve their situation. Many, many thanks to everyone for supporting The Butterfly Tree and the children of Zambia. To see more photos of happy smiling faces go to the Photo Gallery and hear the Mukuni school choirs singing on Youtube.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

Founder & Chairman

After working in temperatures reaching 35 degrees my sons, Mike and David built four homes in Mukuni Village for the elderly and widows with orphans. The senior headman selected the most deserving cases. All four houses were given to elderly people living in delapidated conditions and having to look after their grandchildren who have been orphaned through HIV/AIDS in Zanbia. As always transport is a huge issue but the guys used our 4×4 to ferry poles, mud, grasses and water, which speeded up the project.

David & Mike with a Mukuni Widow            Widow with two orphans in her new home

Assisting the local builders - firstly Mike and David collected poles and grasses from the remote villages of Kamwi and Machenje, then the mud had to be dug from an area outside Mukuni and the water fetched from the nearest bore holes. Each house was built in stages, the poles were put into the ground, next the erecting of the roof poles, then the expert thatchers got to work - each house needed eighty bundles of straw.

Mike unloading grasses                               David carrying water

Traditionally the women add the mud to the walls, which has to be mixed with gallons of water. Ladies from the local church took part donating their earned income to the church. The final stage was to put in the floor and paint the outside of the walls. It took two days to complete each house and thanks to everyone’s generous donations and Mike and David’s hard work four families in Mukuni are now enjoying the comforts of their new homes.

The Butterfly Tree’s community houses cost £400 to build.