By Jane Kaye-Bailey | Chairman
The recent appeal for bags of maize has proved to be highly successful. Due to the severe drought there is a great deal of hunger. Supporting the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal for 'Zero Hunger', The Butterfly Tree has distributed over 5,000 bags of maize to schools and communities affected by the sever drought in Zambia. Orphans and vulnerable children are our priority, though help has also be given to the elderly and widows who have no income. We have donated 20 bags of ground maize to seven schools in the Kazungula District as the World Food Programme has closed school feeding programmes in this in this region.
Heart breaking stories materialise. On the 26th June an old man, from Katanda Village, had not eaten a proper meal in two months. He heard that we were distributing maize at Muyunda, he walked there but found nothing left as it had already been given out. He then walked to Singwamba and luckily, we had a few bags remaining He was in such a sorry state but declined the offer of help to carry his bag of maize to his home. To Muyunda from his home 20km...to Singwamba...16km and back home 8km. A staggering 44km (26 miles)!
Children in desperate need of food try to catch fish from stagnant streams and consequently they are contracting Bilharzia. However, as medication for this is not readily available in the rural clinics, the charity has donated funds to pay for medication for 120 children.
Water is in short supply unless a school or community has a borehole or well. Otherwise streams and some rivers are dry therefore people have to walk several kilometers in search of drinking water. We have funding in place to provide two more boreholes for schools and three communities, which will give approximately 2,000 people access to safe drinking water.
The rainy season does not start until December therefore we need more donations to sustain the supply of food and water for vulnerable people who live in extreme poverty and cannot help themselves as crops cannot be planted in the cool dry months.
Though we cannot help everyone we are providing food for a substantial number of people in outreach areas and making contributions to avoid a widespread famine.
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