The Butterfly Tree continues to spread its wings thanks to the tremendous support we receive from regular and new donors. Further schools are being developed, an entire health post is under construction, a new women’s project is underway, and more orphans and vulnerable children are being sponsored.
KAMWI TWINS SPONSORED SINCE BIRTH AFTER LOSING THEIR MOTHER IN CHILDBIRTH
Five students started university in September, including Charity Sikota, thanks to a donation from The Murphy Family Foundation. Charity had never left the Kazungula District, but having an ambition to improve her life she accepted the sponsorship to become a teacher in business studies. In her own words…
“My name is Charity Sikota born in a family of three sisters and one brother. I am the last born in my family. I lost my parents at an early stage and I started staying with my grandmother. Growing up with my grandmother was rough but we were managing to get by. Unfortunately, my grandmother also passed on and I started staying with my aunt. I wrote my grade nine but my aunt failed to pay school fees for me. I had to stop school and stayed in the village for 3 years. The Butterfly Tree started sponsoring me till I completed my grade 12, I am very grateful for the opportunity. I was so excited when I was told that I would be sponsored further through university. Even though I was so scared to travel alone to a place so far away, I reached my destination safely. I have even started taking my classes and am very excited to be in this place. Words may never describe the full content of how grateful I am. ”
CHARITY – COMPLETED GRADE 12 AT RIVER VIEW SCHOOL
This donation has also given six youths an opportunity to enrol in a variety of skilled-based courses, including building, welding, catering, accountancy, and forward and clearing. Theirworld, who offer sponsorship for girls has given us a further grant for five students to attend college. The five girls that the organisation sponsored last year have done exceedingly well, all gaining diplomas with three distinctions and two merits. More students will commence courses at both university and college in January.
HENRY, FROM MUKUNI VILLAGE, NOW STUDYING PHARMACY AT UNIVERSITY
The Mukuni Village Trust, South Australia continues to sponsor 40 orphans, through individual donors a further 16 are being sponsored, and a new school in Musokotwane is to added to the sponsorship programme. To improve learning in these rural schools we have donated vast amounts of text books, especially in Maths and Science, as these are subjects that pupils struggle with. This is mainly due to having to share one textbook between 20 or more pupils. We have seen improved examination results in schools that have been helped.
Kamwi Junior School now has a new classroom block, which will enable the facility to advance to grades 8 and 9, reducing the distance pupils must walk. A generous donation left in the will of a teacher, who volunteered in Zambia, is being used complete a classoom and science lab for Sichifulo Junior Secondary School in Nyawa. Funds for classroom blocks in two additional schools are also in place.
NEW CLASSROOM BOCK, CONSTRUCTED BY OUR TRAINED YOUTHS – KAMWI SCHOOL
Construction is underway for a Health Post at Katondo, after receiving a generous grant from Overseas Aid and Development Commission of Guernsey. The borehole has been installed and a clinic, two staff houses and a biodigester will complete the project. Two mother’s shelter have been built at Manyemuyemu and Sikachapa, offering women a safe place to stay prior to the onset of labour, after receiving a donation from the Sacred Heart Foundation. Blooms the Pharmacy donated further funds to purchase medical supplies for Bunsanga, Simonga and Mambova clinics.
BOREHOLE AND HANDPUMP FOR KATONDO RURAL HEALTH POST
In addition to the Beekeeping and Mangoes of Hope women’s project, Give a Hand, our Canadian partner, has given a further donation to develop a sustainable income-generating enterprise for 200 women in Sekute. These food security projects help to empower women, giving them an opportunity to support their children, while providing sufficient food to alleviate hunger. One of our UK volunteers has written a wonderful booklet on ‘Empowering Girls’. The aim is to form Girl’s Clubs in school to help reduce teenage pregnancies and early marriages. This pioneer project is underway in Mukuni with one of our Zambian volunteers and a teacher conducting the workshops.
One of the most vital projects we support is that of malaria prevention. After months of hot dry weather Zambia’s rainy season is about to start, which is welcome for planting crops and filling up streams and rivers. However, it is also the start of the malaria season when children are at risk of contracting this potentially fatal disease. A new vaccination has recently been approved by the World Health Organisation, but no doubt this will take years to deliver it to regions as remote as the ones we work in. The government’s priority is to provide mosquito nets for pregnant women and under fives, which means that school children are left out. Our successful ‘Mosquito Nets for Schools‘ project is to be highly successful. Each pupil and teacher is given a mosquito net and monitoring takes place.
PUPIL RECEIVE MOSQUITO NETS FOR MALARIA PREVENTION – MUYUNDA SCHOOL
We are appealing for donations for mosquito nets, which cost just £4 or $6. Our target is to raise enough funds to provide mosquito nets for every school, in the Kazungula District, where there is a high prevalence of malaria. If you would like to make a donation please clink on this link.
