The UN International Day of Peace on 21 September is a day of global ceasefire and non-violence. It is not just asking aggressors in war-torn countries to disarm, but for everyone around the globe to refrain from violence – in the home, the work place, and school. It’s also about helping to save the lives of those less fortunate than we are. Although Zambia is a very peaceful country life for most people is an arduous challenge. With water shortages, incurable diseases and some of the worst poverty in the world for many life is certainly not peaceful.
In recognition of global Peace Day The Butterfly Tree is fundig a workshop at Mukuni to highlight the importance of our work in these remote communities. HIV and AIDS in Zambia is a virus that can be caught at any age most especially for babies born to an HIV positive mother. One of our most successful projects is our under fives feeding program, which provides formulae to replace breastmilk. It has also encouraged more women to come forward to be tested. Today we will be inviting women and their families to participate in a workshop at Mukuni Village, further educating the people of the dangers of this devasting disease, helping to remove the stigma and to encourage more people to be tested.
Peace Day: Young children at Siamasimbi joining hands – a sign of love & peace
To enhance our work at Mukuni Brendan Mission is raising funds to build a music centre at Mukuni. This will be a great place for the school children throughout the Chiefdom to perform music and drama to raise further awareness of HIV/AIDS. Concerts can be held to make the project sustainable and give the pupils a chance to ‘make change’ through music. Brendan is launching three songs and donating all the profits to The Butterfly Tree. On the 30th September Brendan will be doing a sponsored cycle ride from London to Devon where he will perform a gig. The songs can be pre-ordered for download on the 3rd October.
Two young American girls, Sammi Cohen and Madison Sacks have also been working hard to raise funds for The Butterfly Tree. Their initiative was to collect change from all their classmates and make it into a competition to see which class could raise they most money. They collected an amazing total of $3762. The staff at Natwest in Warwick completed a 10k walk on Sunday for the charity. Gordy Munro has been trying for two years to do a sponsored Skydive for the charity; after six cancellations due to bad weather he finally completed it on the seventh attempt. We are very grateful to all our supporters, the ones doing challenges and fundraising deserve a very special thanks for giving up their time to support our cause.
