Orphan Education Support - Zambian Villages

WORLD AIDS DAY - DECEMBER 1^st, 2018

This day is a way of people coming together to commemorate the loss of some 35.4 million of people who have died from this devastating disease, and to acknowledge the estimated 36.9 million people living with HIV. It is also a time to create further awareness – the theme for this year is ‘know your status’.

The reason why I founded The Butterfly Tree was because I was deeply disturbed after learning that there are so many orphans in Zambia – 1.2 million! In Mukuni Village over half the children have lost one or both parents. Since 2006 the core of our work has revolved around the orphans in Mukuni and throughout the Kazungula District.

Working with orphans is not always easy, but it’s something I embrace whenever I’m in Zambia. Many are living with elderly grandparents in dilapidated conditions. Our orphan support programme has funded the education of hundreds of orphans. To offer further support we hold workshops and mentoring sessions using our peer educators, some are orphans themselves and have been fully trained by UK volunteers. Today, these amazing young people held a workshop for those on our programme.

Twelve years down the line we have produced teachers, technicians, journalists, policemen, hotel managers and security guards to name but a few. Besides sponsoring individual orphans and vulnerable children, we have improved their living conditions, built schools and clinics to give them access to better education and healthcare, provided safe drinking water and feeding programmes, as well and initiating an advanced malaria prevention programme.

I am pleased to say that November was one of the best months in the history of the charity. Besides gaining recognition after being awarded with the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award, the charity came second in a Global Innovation Challenge for our malaria prevention initiative. 

We also received some significant funding in November, which included a substantial grant to advance Kawewa School and donations for a new classroom block at River View Junior School and VIP latrines to add to the borehole for Muyunda School. Mukuni women’s shelter will also receive a VIP latrine.

The entire health centre at Sikaunzwe is almost complete and includes a main clinic, maternity unit, women’s shelter and latrines funded by a grant. The grant also included mosquito nets, which have been given out to pupils and teachers at Sikaunzwe and Kawewa Schools as part of our pioneer programme donating ‘mosquito nets for schools’. River View Science Secondary School’s block is almost finished and one for Nyawa is currently under construction, both generously funded by the Hilary and Neil Charitable Trust. In addition to a borerhole and latrines, Nakawa Pre-school is getting a new classroom block.

Being able to achieve so much has helped so many disadvantaged children – we cannot help all the orphans in Zambia, but with your support we aim to reach out to many more!

I feel incredibly lucky to once again go back to Zambia to see the progress your donations have made and to meet up with our wonderful local team. Their tireless efforts to help the people most in need never seizes to amaze me. Currently we have construction works taking place in Sekute, Mukuni and Nyawa Chiefdoms and I managed to get to virtually all of them!

River View is now one of the best schools in the District. In addition to the 1×4 classroom block added last year, the science lab is almost complete, which means that pupils no longer have to travel 60km to Livingstone to sit their exams. A further science lab is currently under construction in Nyawa where pupils travel up to 120km to reach an examination centre.

Donations have also helped the communities in Kauwe and Singwamba to expand their schools and permanent structures are being built at Nakawa Pre-school. A donation for 60 desks for Kauwe School was given out. As the biggest contributor to education in the entire Kazungula District, The Butterfly Tree is continually praised by the Ministry of Education.

A new partnership from Norway has helped to further advance education at River View School. While I was there the lab was set up and the children immediately responded to this new form of learning with the use of technology and game stations. We aim to raise funds to add more learning labs in schools.

An entire new health centre for the people of Sikaunzwe will make a significant difference. With 8,500 people depending on this facility the addition of a new clinic, maternity unit, women’s shelter and latrines as well as beds and equipment will help considerably. This grant will also include the purchase of 1,000 mosquito nets.

The highlight of my trip was to watch the entire process of water being sourced at Mukalahani Village. I was on site at 8am with the donor. For over four hours we patiently waited while the drilling machine dug deeper and deeper until suddenly the deposits of sad turned to mud and eventually water spouted out. The jubilation of the community was a wonderful site to see and by 4pm the Indian hand pump was installed. This is one of six boreholes that we have added in the past few months.

The community housing project for the elderly, widows and orphans continues to grow with 12 more houses completed - a further 6 houses are currently under construction.

One of the toughest, though very rewarding projects I worked with during my time in Zambia, was holding workshops on HIV Prevention, early pregnancies and alcohol abuse at Mukuni, N’gandu and Kamwi Schools. Life is so difficult for these young people, that not only live in an area of extreme poverty, but an area of high HIV prevalence – they have suffered so much loss. However, I have learnt a great deal over the years, improving the ways to get the message over and hope that the orphans in particular will benefit from these sessions, which will be continued by our trained peer educators.

There was one more thing I needed to do before I headed back to the UK and that was to wish Vincent and Elvis, the Kamwi Twins, a ‘Happy Birthday’. Now eight years old The Butterfly Tree has sponsored them since their mother sadly died during childbirth with their baby sister. They are an absolute joy and like most Zambians they love football – credit must be given to their grandmother who has continued to nurture them.

Many thanks to all of you for your tremendous support.

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