2026 has got off to a great start with the success of the Christmas Appeal and new donations forthcoming in January.
Twenty years ago this week I visited Zambia for the very first time. Little did I know that this trip would be a life-changing experience, not only for me, but for the thousands upon thousands of orphans and vulnerable children whose lives have been transformed.
After visiting Mukuni Village and learning of the high number of children that were unable to attend or continue their schooling after losing their parents, I wanted to do something to help. In March 2006 I returned to Zambia with David, my younger son, to distribute items we had collected, and to donate the funds we had raised to sponsor orphans, for Mukuni primary school and for the health centre.
Initially my aim was to find sponsors for orphans. However, after learning that there was no secondary school in the entire Kazungula District we set about raising money for one in Mukuni, which opened in February 2007. We have since developed secondary schools at Riverview, Musokotwane, and most recently Nguba, and advanced the facilities at Kauwe and Nyawa secondary schools.
To date we have provided support to 78 schools. Many schools, like Silelo, Bunsanga, Ndele and Simukumbwa that were originally mud and pole structures, have permanent infrastructure. Others have been given additional classrooms, science labs, computer rooms, staff houses, boreholes, toilets, educational supplies and sports equipment. The Ministry of Education employ the teaching staff, an ongoing cost that we do not have to provide.
After subsequent visits to Zambia I soon learnt that education was only valuable if children had clean water, enough food and basic healthcare. Hence the reason why we have added 87 boreholes and 10 complete solar-powered water systems to provide safe drinking water, and food security for schools. We have constructed health posts at Mahalulu, Mambova, Sikaunzwe, Katondo, Boomwe and Mabwa in Kazungula District, and the one at Katanda in Kalomo District, is about to be completed. Existing health centres have received maternity wards and mother’s shelters, medical supplies and equipment.
Other invaluable projects we have initiated are for malaria and HIV prevention, special education, community housing and many more. After 20 years I am as passionate about helping children to have a better life as I was back in 2006. The Butterfly Tree was registered as a UK charity and a Non-Government Organisation in Zambia in early 2007 and is run entirely by volunteers, enabling 96% of money raised for charitable purposes. Three of our Zambian trustees have been with me from the beginning. We have generous donors who have continued to support us since the founding, and thankfully we manage to attract new support every year. We remain a grassroot charity working directly with the local people. The orphan sponsorship remains the core of our organisation.
2026 has got off to a great start with funding in place from Nick Bousliman and Alex Ottewell for more boreholes. Thanks to a grant from the Petter Stebbings Memorial Charity two boreholes were recently drilled at Nguba Rural Health Centre and Siamusunse school. Now that the rainy season is in full swing drilling will recommence when it is dry enough for the rigs to access new sites.
We have also received funding to build another 1×2 classroom block from one of our regular donors. Construction is underway for a special education unit at Mukwela Primary School after receiving a grant from our Canadian partner, Give a Hand. The unit will be bigger than the one we opened in 2009 at Mukuni which has enabled children with various challenges to gain a sound education.
The first training session was initiated in 2024 in Kazungula District as a result of seeing for myself how these special needs children are neglected. I thought of the idea of training teachers on how to ‘teach children with physical and mental health challenges in an inclusive education system.’ Most have no option other than to attend a mainstream school where class enrolment can be 60 to 100 pupils, if they are to gain an education. This is tough if you have hearing or visual difficulties, or intellectual impairment.
In early January teachers from 190 schools in the Kalomo District received training on the above and each school was given a training manual which we produced last year. A report from the Head of Special Education for this district included these words: ‘The training was attitude changing on the way society perceives people living with disabilities.’ As a result, schools indicated that they were going to accommodate learners in inclusive classrooms and open special units for learners that may not benefit from inclusive classrooms.
On health matters a mother’s shelter is under construction at Nguba Health Centre, funded by Blooms the Chemist, Australia. More mosquito nets to add to the 1,200 already distributed to schools near Katanda, an area where malaria is prevalent, will be delivered next month. The new health post at Katanda, funded by the Guernsey Overseas Aid and Development Commission, will shortly be completed. The facility includes a clinic, mother’s shelter, two staff houses, a water system, toilets and bio-digester for waste.
A school garden is being developed at Kamwi Primary school after a successful fundraiser by Alissa, a former volunteer of The Butterfly Tree. The women’s food security projects will again be advanced, with new ones added thanks to a donation from one of our US supporters.
I cannot thank our donors, trustees and volunteers enough for their generosity, loyalty and commitment. I once read this African proverb ‘If every little person did a little bit, the world would be a better place.’ Your donations, however small, have helped to sustain The Butterfly Tree for twenty years.
Jane Kaye-Bailey
Founder
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
