Seeds for Life in Zambia

March sees the start of The Butterfly Tree’s tenth year working to improve the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia. Despite having considerable success we now have to address two fundamental projects, Water and Food, to avoid a major crisis currently threatening the lives and livelihoods of numerous people living in the areas of our work.

The rainy season in Zambia starts in November and ends in April. Some parts of Zambia have recorded good rains, sadly this is not the case in the Southern Province, where very little rain has fallen. Now the peak growing season is coming to an end and for many villages and schools there is no maize. Crops have failed to grow, resulting in a shortage of food, hunger is already apparent which will get worse over the coming months.

Water, so essential for all forms of life, is in short supply. Rivers and streams, normally flowing at this time of year, are dry. Many remote communities still have no access to safe water and have to rely on streams. We need to identify these areas and raise funds to provide additional bore holes. Fortunately all the schools we work in now have bore holes to provide safe drinking water.

If the crisis continues it is hoped that the Zambian government will send maize from the north of Zambia to the affected southern region. In the meantime The Butterfly Tree will provide further seeds and fertilizer for school feeding programms, to enable them to grow beans, rape and cabbages using bore whole water for irrigation.

All of our work has had a big impact in these rural villages, but none more so than water projects. We need to provide more bore hole to improve health issues, reduce the number of diarrhoeal cases and to deliver a supply of water to irrigate for school gardens.

Donations for seeds and fertilizewr are urgnetly needed.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Links:

• The Butterfly Tree Newsletter

I have just returned from Zambia after visiting many of the schools we support. It was the middle of the rainy season and it was wonderful to see healthy maize growing in the fields. The poor rural communities are dependent on rain water for the maize crops as they do not have irrigation systems. In some areas were the early rains were infrequent the crops are growing slowly, whereas in other areas the growth is stronger.

With your recent donations we have been able to add three more schools to the twelve we had already given seeds to. Kauwe, Muchimbale and Namuyani Schools in the Nyawe Chiefdom will received seeds to grow vegetables to suppliment the school's feeding program. It is too late to grown maize but at least they can grown tomatoes, cabbage, beans and pumpkins.

Due to the high poverty levels in these remote villages, families cannot send their children to school with packed lunches. Threfore it is imperative for schools to provide one meal a day. The World Food Program provisons are inconsistent and are often sent for only one term per year.

Maize is the staple diet for Zambians and provides a source of energy if not highly nutritioua. Ground nuts (peanuts) are a good source of protein and leafy green vegetables provide the neccessary vitiamins. Seasonal fruits can be found on the local trees and bushes, the mango being the most nutritious. Due to the long dry season there is only one crop of mangos.

Our aim is to set up a local enterprise for school leavers to use dried mangos, and to make tea with the view of supplying the hotels and lodges in the Victoria Falls region.

Please keep donating so that we can reach out to more schools and communities.

Links:

• Food Programs