By Jane Kaye Bailey | Founder
I recently returned from three wonderful and rewarding weeks in Zambia with temperatures ranging from 38 to 41 degrees and the time simply flew by. The Butterfly Tree has so many exciting new and exciting projects that it was impossible to visit all of them, but I managed to get to many of them some of which are in the remote areas of Nyawa.
These include the new health post at Mabwa which should be completed by the end of the year. The entire community was out to welcome us. A grant has enabled us to construct this invaluable facility, which will include a clinic, two staff houses, biodigester, toilets and a borehole.
On the route to Mabwa we called in at Bunsanga health post. I was delighted to see that it was being put to effective use. In addition to offering general practice, maternal care, HIV and malaria testing, a polio vaccination clinic was taking place.
We visited Kauwe Secondary School where we were told there is a high number of teenage pregnancies. Involving our peer educators and role models, who are former beneficiaries from our orphan sponsorship programme, pupils were given a talk on the dangers of HIV, teenage pregnancies, and alcohol and drug abuse.
It was great to see a new 1x3 classroom block under construction at Musokotwane Secondary school. Three of our sponsored builders were on site, including Thabo who was awarded the best bricklayer while at college, in 2022. The project will also include desks, computers, and electrification for the entire school. The same donors have also funded a 1x3 classroom block at River View Secondary school.
After visiting Musokotwane Secondary school we proceeded to Musokotwane and Sinde Primary schools to distribute textboks. This was followed by a meeting with women in Musokotwane to initiate a new vegetable-growing project. Just before the start of the meeting a storm appeared from nowhere and for over an hour, we had to take shelter in a church. Such was the noise from the howling wind and rain bouncing off the iron sheet roof that it was impossible to have a conversation!
On our return we passed by Muskotwane Primary school and was horrified to see the destruction caused by the storm. The roof of a 1x2 classroom block and the head teacher's office, had completely blown off with the iron sheets landing over one hundred metres from the site. A dormitory had also lost its roof. Miraculously, there was only one injury when a young boy was hit by a brick. Our aim is to raise funds to help rehabilitate the facility.
As always it was a pleasure to meet up with the orphans, most especially at River View Secondary school where the first ever prize giving ceremony took place. I was moved to tears when a young amputee, who is on our sponsorship programme, received three prizes. Another sponsored pupil was awarded the maths prize, and one sponsored girl was appointed Deputy Head girl for 2024. I also met up with pupils that are on sponsorship at Mukuni, Kamwi, Ng'andu, Senkobo and Musokotwane schools.
Once again, a volunteer from Costa Rica, joined me. He spent a month giving extensive training to former sponsored pupils who are now running the Mukuni Village Tours project. This also includes a visit to Victoria Falls, which has strong links to the Leya tribe in Mukuni Chiefdom. The aim is for them to take ownership and earn and a sustainable income.
The new project to empower young people with physical and mental challenges and those living with HIV was initiated. Sixty young people from Mukuni, Ng'andu and Kamwi will participate in cooperative, which will include chicken rearing, and vegetable and crop growing. Three from each village will attend college. A borehole has already been installed for vegetable growing at Kamwi.
I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our existing and new donors. This year is proving to be one of the most productive and successful since the founding of The Butterfly Tree in 2006. A special thanks to our amazing team of Trustees and volunteers in Zambia, without them none of the above could have been achieved.
In the lead up to Christmas we will be raising funds for bags of ground maize to distribute amongst widows, the elderly, and orphans. A bag of maize costs $10 or £7 and can feed a family of four for three weeks.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
