Mukuni Schools range from pre-school to high school

Rural schools face many challenges – lack of classrooms, insufficient teachers, shortage of materials and stationery and most especially lacks of funds to educate the many children left orphaned as a result of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. At Mukuni alone the charity has funded two 1×3 classroom blocks, five teachers’ houses, numerous latrines and a bore hole. In 2007 here we opened the first high school in the Kazungula District. A pre-school commenced in 2008, which is totally funded by the charity and attended by over 200 youngsters. A 1×2 classroom block has recently been completed thanks to a generous donation from the British and Foreign School Society, who has also provided several grants to help improve and advance the education at Mukuni.

Mukuni Basic School – new 1 x2 classroom block

Education is the key, but many of these children have to walk long distances to get to school – some leave at 4am, covering a distance of 15 kilometres to start lessons at 7am. Hunger is another major challenge, which can affect both the performance and attendance of school children. A daily feeding programme, kindly sponsored by Cunninghams, provides a nutritional meal for over 400 orphaned and vulnerable children, including ones from outreach villages. We have recently constructed two boarding shelters for older children who live far away, thanks to Saga who offer ongoing support to both our health and education programmes.

Daily feeding programme for over 400 vulnerable children

We have sponsored over 500 individual orphans and helped hundreds more with school and exam fees. In total there are over 1500 children attending the schools in Mukuni Village. This is just one of the twelve schools in the Mukuni Chiefdom that we have reached out to. Our work has now expanded to three further Chiefdoms – Musokotwane, Sikute and Nyawa. If you would like to help us with our education programmes we are currently seeking donations to purchase desks, at a cost of £45 each, for the new classroom block at Mukuni and as always we need more of people to sponsor an orphan.

Healthcare for children: Under-fives’ feeding program, Mukuni Village

The rural Health Centres we support at Mukuni, Katapazi and Nsongwe deal with general practice. The clinical workers examine patients suffering from common colds to full blown diseases such malaria, TB and HIV and AIDS. Most households cannot afford to keep a paracetamol or bandage at hand. The clinical staff are well trained but facilities and medical supplies are basic. The Butterfly Tree supports a number of health projects at Mukuni, which include helping sick and under-nourished children. It is heartbreaking to learn that children have been waiting several years to have a spleen or bladder operation or in need of physiotherapy. In addition we provide support for orphaned babies and an under-fives’ feeding program.

Orphaned baby cared for by a community member & supported by the charity

The nearest hospital to these clinics is Livingstone, some 16 kilometres from Mukuni Village, which has a new paediatric ward. The surgical ward in the general hospital is where I have taken a number of young children to seek further examinations. One such case was a little boy who had a swelling on his eye, thought to be a tumour. The doctor told me that he would have to perform a biopsy. I was horrified to learn that the results can take between three to six months as there is only one pathology laboratory in the entire nation with a population of 13 million. Fortunately for Jordan his eye swelling was caused by a piece of wire embedded in his eyelid and not a tumour as first thought.

Jordan in Livingstone General Hospital

Most families have no money for transport to get to hospital, the charity provides these funds whenever possible. Even more challenging is when a patient is referred to Lusaka Hospital, which is over 500 kilometres from Livingstone. Currently we are funding five children for on going treatment and seven infants who are orphaned or under weight. Global Partners for Health has generously supported this program. In addition we provide funds for malaria and HIV and AIDS prevention. To further assist these vulnerable children the Inner Wheel Club of Solihull knits beautiful blankets and babies clothes.

Malaria disease caused by P.falciparum may result in death within hours or a few days of infection. Most at risk are those with a low immunity such as children, pregnant women, people with HIV and AIDS and travelers with little or no malaria protection. It can also result in the miscarriage of pregnant women, low birth-weight infants, developmental disabilities and other complications. Until there is a cure, malaria prevention is the only way to save lives. In developing countries like Zambia using impregnated mosquito nets is essential. Sadly there are insufficient government supplies to reach everyone.

This net found in Kamwi Village was full of holes and shared between four children

The Butterfly Tree’s malaria prevention program provides mosquito nets, malaria testing kits and educational workshops. One of our major donors Saga Charitable Trust, has donated enough funds for every household in the Mukuni Chiefdom to each have three nets. The result is that there are no new cases of malaria where nets are being used. This year we have also distributed nets to four clinics in the Sekute Chiefdom, many of the villages are close to the Zambezi River, a breeding ground for mosquito. These were generously donated by Grant and Marilee Gibson of Canada. Though malaria can easily be treated far too often people have to walk over 30 kilometres to seek treatment due to the lack of rural clinics.

Jacob (left) delivers nets to Mandea Rural Health Centre in the Sikute Chiefdom

Education is foremost in making progress, but more importantly health concerns have to be dealt with. A number of children had to be referred to hospital suffering with various conditions ranging from Cerebral Palsy to stomach ulcers; some had waited for many weeks due to not having transport money to reach Livingstone. In addition there were several babies who needed support.

During my first week in Mukuni a woman had walked for three hours from Ndele to ask for my help. Last year a fifteen year old school girl had fallen pregnant in her village. During the girl’s pregnancy her mother, who she lived with, sadly passed away. Some months later the girl herself tragically died in childbirth. For the past two months the guardian had to beg for contributions from the community, so that she could buy the costly formula and care for this helpless infant. It was heartbreaking to see this beautiful baby orphaned at such a delicate age and it was agreed that the charity would support her.

March 2013 Newsletter: Baby Mary, aged 2 months from Ndele Village

The rainy season in Zambia ends in March. Unfortunately the rains, which started in October, have been intermittent – either too heavy or insufficient. This means that the crops will yield only around 30 – 40% of what is normally expected. This will result in a great deal of hunger, if not famine, amongst the rural communities that depend on maize as their staple food. I came across many hungry children living on just one meal a day, some of them walking for three hours to get to school.

Thanks to donations from an existing supporter and some generous tourists I met during my stay, we were able to distribute bags of ‘mealie meal’ (ground maize) to vulnerable families in both Mukuni and Kamwi Villages.

One of our volunteers delivering mealie meal to a vulnerable family

World Women’s Day is celebrated every year on 8th March and as always I hosted a function for the rural women. Over 100 women from neighbouring Kamwi, Nsongwe and Machenje Villages, marched through Mukuni to reach the Palace for a workshop followed by lunch. This year’s theme ‘The Gender Agenda’ – ‘Time to end violence against women’ was discussed along with issues concerning HIV prevention in women and teenage pregnancies.

Mukalya, the Chief’s wife, was invited to speak and Mutsa Marau and Tope Medupin, two of our volunteers from London who spoke about their topic on HIV Prevention through Peer Education. As a result of this event Mutsa and Tops also held a workshop for both boys and girls on problems concerning teenage pregnancies.

World Women’s Day – Mukuni Village

Despite all the hardships it was great to see all the progress. A boarder’s shelter, along with over 1000 mosquito nets, in the Mukuni Chiefdom has been donated by Saga. A further 1300 nets, as a result of Marilee and Grant’s fundraising efforts in Canada, were distributed amongst four rural clinics in the Sekute Chiefdom.

Five new community houses have been completed, two of them to house young widows each with several children. Sibbulo Village has an entire new school and bore hole.

A clinic, which comprises of a maternity unit, women’s shelter, three staff houses, latrines and a bore hole will be opening in May. This will help people who are currently walking over thirty kilometres to seek healthcare and treatment. Both these projects have been generously funded by grant aid from the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission.

New bore hole and Indian hand pump for the Mahalulu Health Centre

As always there are many more orphans seeking sponsorship. Some children are returned to the villages from townships when their parents pass away. It is really tough for these children and also for their grandparents who become their sole guardians. I met one elderly man whose daughter and son-in-law had died as a result of AIDS related illnesses. His grandchildren had been brought to him from Sesheke, some two hundred kilometres from Mukuni. A neighbour had kindly offered him his mud hut as the old man did not have suitable accommodation. We will soon provide a house for this family along with support for the children.

Young children from Sesheke brought back to Mukuni

These are the really vulnerable people who desperately need funding. Working at grass root level, we can identify the real need and ensure that all donations go directly to the cause, without deducting costly administration and personal fees.

We have had tremendous support from our donors, fundraisers and volunteers. Please continue to help us to reach out to more vulnerable children in these remote villages of Zambia.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

Education For All: Kamwi children receive a full education

As always our focus is on orphaned and vulnerable children. The Special Education unit at Mukuni Basic School is a great success – the first of its kind in a Zambian rural village. With ongoing support from Fountaindale School, many children with varying disabilities are now receiving a sound education. We aim to use this model to build additional units at other basic schools. In one area of the Sekute Chiefdom we have identified over thirty children who have never received an education due to having no facilities. Now thanks to a generous donation for ENRC Marketing we can add a special education unit to River View School.

The Princess Royal visited the Special Education in September 2012

No real advancement will be made unless we continue to tackle the HIV and AIDS pandemic, which has ravaged the entire nation. We will be funding additional workshops and voluntary testing but our main objective will be to target the school children. This weekend I will be returning to Zambia with Mutsa Marau, who initiated her own project in 2011, entitled ‘Catch Me I’m a Butterfly’. Mutsa teaches Peer Education for HIV Prevention in rural schools. She will be assisted by Tope Medupin; both are funding their own trip and have raised substantial funds for the project.

Mukuni Village HIV/AIDS support group funded by The Butterfly Tree

As always we are committed to providing education in all areas for these vulnerable children. If you would like to sponsor an orphan or fund one of our education programmes please contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Travel to Zambia: Victoria Falls – during the dry season

Where we work is close to the mighty Victoria Falls and Botswana’s Chobe National Park. There is an abundance of things to do in the region with a good selection of hotels, including Sun International’s The Royal Livingstone and the Zambezi Sun, as well as accommodation for backpackers like JollyBoys in Livingstone. Many tourists have visited our projects in Mukuni Village and said it was the highlight of their entire trip. Zambia is rapidly developing in tourism, which we hope will benefit the rural communities and most especially the orphans seeking employment on completion of school or college. We aim to involve these young people in sustainable Ecotourism so that they can protect their environment as well as earn an income to support their families.

Visiting a rural village can result in a life-changing experience

We have generated a vast amount of income through our travel philanthropy program, most especially through Saga Travel. Others have sponsored an orphan, donated money or funded a bore hole after visiting our projects. Business incentive groups have offered ongoing support, most mentionable is Brady Italia and Cunninghams. We engage our donors and give regular feedback, showing that the money has gone directly into grass roots projects with no administration costs being deducted. We have a number of options, whereby individuals, groups or businesses can sponsor a specific project, these include constructing houses, building classrooms or funding school feeding programs and of course visiting our work in Zambia.

Traveller’s funds have built classrooms for this pre-school at Mukuni

Thank you to many of our existing donors who have offered to sponsor another orphan or increase their funding after reading my last post on this website.

Support for orphans – Jane Muumba, Mukuni Village

With so much poverty in rural villages education is crucial for these needy children. We have provided bore holes, improved health facilities and feeding programs but far too many orphans are struggling to meet the school fees. It cost just £110 ($180) per annum to sponsor an orphan or £10 per month for UK donors. Last year twenty orphans who had completed high school were able to go onto further education thanks to a grant from the BFSS. The majority of them took hotel management or food and beverage courses. Zambia is an up and coming tourist destination and new hotels are being built in the area. More jobs will become available for these students who are now trained in this industry. Two of the first orphans we sponsored have employment as security guards at Stanley Safari Lodge.

James and Victor were sponsored through high school by The Butterfly Tree

For 2013 one challenge is for the schools we support to become more sustainable, another will be to initiate income-generating enterprises for orphans who are unable to seek employment. Our aim is to provide a mentoring scheme, which will involve local employers and businesses. If we can teach these educated orphans how to run a business not only to provide food for their families, but also to produce food for the tourist industry, they can overcome the poverty cycle. At the end of 2012 many of Zambia’s crops were destroyed be army worms. Mukuni and Kamwi villages lost most of their crops and will suffer a food shortage later this year. The Butterfly Tree has donated funds for 100 bags of seeds to help the worse effected families to replant during this peak growing season. All of these families will be supporting orphans; besides giving them an education we have to ensure that the orphans do not suffer from hunger.

Maize – the staple diet for Zambians

If you would like to sponsor an orphan or donate a bag of seeds please contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Christmas 2012 – supporting rural communities

Our work  now reaches out to three Chiefdoms in the Southern Province of Zambia. Many vulnerable communities have advanced with the addition of bore holes, schools and improved housing, health and sanitation facilities. We have opened four new schools and been able to sponsor over 60 new orphans from Mukuni, N’gandu and Kamwi rural schools. We have also helped thousands more by providing stationery, materials, seeds and investing in malaria and HIV and AIDS prevention. A number of children have received funds to pay for operations and medical treatment, including several for eye problems. An orphanage in Livingstone has received support from us for the first time.

New home for widow looking after orphans in Mukuni

This season we will be distributing a vast number of mosquito nets in both the Mukuni and Sekute Chiefdoms and 2013 has some exciting projects in store. A second special education centre at Katapazi, a boarders’ shelter and 1×2 classroom at Mukuni, a clinic at Mahalululu and a health post and a women’s shelter at Mambova. Our emphasis will be on sustainability, improving reading skills and introducing a mentoring scheme for high schools pupils and school leavers. In addition we will continue to focus on HIV and AIDS prevention amongst school pupils and vulnerable communities.

Children at N’dele enjoy their new school – opened January 2012

Sadly it is not all good news and as I always say about working in Africa ‘for every step forward you take two back‘. Zambia has been plagued with an infestation of army worms, which started in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and is now down in the Southern Province and Mukuni has been hard hit. This is prime growing time and just when the maize is sprouting the army worms have destroyed all the crops in the area. President Sada has announced it as a national disaster and if it is not controlled in time Zambia could face a severe famine next year. With maize and fuel already in short supply we must find new ways to provide food for these needy people in the challenging year ahead.

With your support we have made a tremendous contribution to alleviating poverty in many outreach villages. Thank you on behalf of The Butterfly Tree for helping us to make this happen. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

This year we have had a fantastic response to our 2013 calendars and they are now all sold. Thanks for everyone who made a purchase.

100% of funds raised from the sale of the calendar goes direct to people in need.

The calendar is designed to create awareness of our vital work in Zambia and to raise funds for our grass roots projects. The charity’s funds have helped thousands of children to improve their situation in life.  The calendar cost £4 plus postage to purchase. Each page has been sponsored, enabling 100% of all sales to be used  to buy impregnated mosquito nets, medical supplies for one of the three clinics we are operating in, or much needed stationery for one of the seventeen schools we currently support.

The calendar pictures highlight some of our projects at Mukuni and other villages and of course at the forefront are the orphan orphan sponsorship program. Everything we do is for the benefit of these vulnerable children and the rural communities they live in. Providing them with clean water, nutritional food, improved education and health facilities to help the fight against Africa malaria and HIV and AIDS in Zambia, is paramount.

I would sincerely like to thank the following for sponsoring the calendar: Executive Futures, The Fell Group, Three Counties Insurance, LCR Systems, INTL Global Currencies Ltd, Gardiff, Casio, ListersVolkswagon Group, Traditional Conservatories, Debt Clear Assoc, Cunninghams and Saga Charitable Trust. A special thanks to Miranda at Morphity for designing the calendar.

The high quality desk top calendar measures 21cm x 16cm and can be bought for £4, EUR5 or US$7 plus postage.

Postal Charges

UK: 1 calendar £1.10, 2-4 calendars £2.2, 5-9 calendars £4.40

Europe: 1 calendar £3, 2 calendars £3.70, 3 calendars £5.30

Worldwide Airmail: 1 calendar £4, 2 calendars £5.60, 3 calendars £6.80

This year we have had a fantastic response to our 2013 calendars and they are now all sold. Thanks for everyone who made a purchase.

Yesterday I was invited at an event at The Commonwealth Secretariat to commemorate and to listen to panel discussions and multi-sectoral consultations for World AIDS Day. Among the panel were speakers from UNAIDS, the Tropical School of Medicine, UNESCO and various members of the Secretariat. This was an invaluable exercise and collectively everyone is focused on reaching the Millennium Development Goal of Zero New Infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS related deaths, by 2015.

World AIDS Day: prevent the spread of HIV and protect vulnerable children

Education is the key for preventing the spread of HIV, particularly in developing countries such as Zambia. The Butterfly Tree funds a number of initiatives in remote villages. These include workshops to help overcome the stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV and AIDS, to encourage safe sex and to partake in voluntary testing. Knowing your status is paramount. Recently we provided funds for fifteen community based volunteers to attend training courses, in addition we have funded a workshop for defaulters, people who have been receiving treatment and then stopped after feeling well. These people cause a huge threat to the community. We continue to support mothers who are HIV positive, provide care for their infants and offer support to thousands of orphans effected by the pandemic, most especially children infected with HIV.

Members of the HIV and AIDS support group – Mukuni Village

Every child has a right to education and yet of greater importance every child should have access to basic healthcare. Health is fundamental and when you are working in one of the poorest countries on the planet adequate healthcare is not readily available. We are currently building a clinic at Mahalululu, where people walk 48 kilometres to get to Mukuni Health Centre. Our aim for 2013 is to provide further outreach health posts, to increase our funding for HIV and AIDS and to further promote peer education for HIV prevention within the schools. Zambia may not reach the Millennium Development Goal in 2015, but we are certainly doing our bit to help them.

From 10am on the 6th to the 8th December all donations to The Butterfly Tree can be doubled through the Big Give Christmas Challenge.

Buy a charity calendar for just £4 – contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Install Give as You Live to raise funds for HIV and AIDS Prevention while shopping on line, at no extra cost to you!

£1 million raised, where it all started – Mukuni Basic School

More Funds Needed This Christmas

The average British family spends between £530 and £682 on Christmas. Two thirds of Zambians live on less than one pound a day and the only way they celebrate Christmas is by attending church.

On the run up to Christmas you can help raise further funds for orphans and vulnerable children, in remote villages, who are ravished by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria and poverty.

Very few families are able to buy a chicken, eggs or milk; for most their meal will consist of ground maize and vegetables. We are running a number of initiatives over the next few weeks to raise vital funds, which can provide food, mosquito nets, orphan sponsorship or a blanket for people less fortunate than we are.

Donate a bag of maize for just £10 ($16) and make someone’s Christmas special

The Big Give Christmas Challenge

Again we are taking part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge in December, this gives us the opportunity to double donations, through matched funding. Last year we raised £9000 which was doubled to £18,000.

To qualify for matched funding we need to raise £6000 between 6th – 9th December, so we need your help.

To participate and double you donation, make a donation between 6th – 9th of December, through the Big Give to The Butterfly Tree Orphan Support project - Click to donate via Big Give

For our American donors a similar opportunity is available through Global Giving who have a 501 (c) 3 status. Our orphan support project on their site has already raised £10,000 ($15,000).

Orphan Sponsorship: Eva receives sponsorship through The Butterfly Tree

Give As You Shop This Christmas

Help us to boost our funds during the Christmas season through on line shopping. Everyclick has recently launched ‘Give as you Live‘, a simple method of raising funds while shopping at your favourite on line stores. All you have to do is download an application, which simply takes seconds, then every time you shop it will activate and give you the option to raise funds for The Butterfly Tree at absolutely no cost to you. Tescos donate up to to 5%, Ocado up to 4%, Boots 3% and many more stores have this worthwhile offer. With your help we could soon be on our way to raising a second million!

Chuunga Community School needs a proper classroom and a trained teacher

2013 Charity Calendar

Once again our popular charity calendar is available to purchase for just £4 ($7) plus postage. This high quality desk-top calendar shows images of the happy children we support and our many achievements. Each page is sponsored, which covers all the printing costs. They are designed by Miranda, our trustee who owns Morphity, using our own images. We incur no cost in producing the calendars. So when you are making your Christmas list and struggling to know what to choose please consider the following: A mosquito net for just £5 that could save a child’s life; a bag of maize, which could feed a family for two weeks for just £10; a blanket for those cold winter nights costs £15 or a calendar to adorn your desk. A special thanks to all the calendar sponsors: INTL Global Currencies, Cunninghams, Executive Futures, Stratford Audi, Casio UK, Saga, DCA, Accountax, LCR, Traditional Conservatories, The Fell Group and Gardiff. Details of how to buy the calendar will be available shortly.

For further details of how you can help to boost our funds during the Christmas period or to pre order your 2013 charity calendar contact: jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Children at Sibbulo Community School

A new school for these children of Sibbulo, a remote community some 100 kilometres from Livingstone and 30 kilometres from the main road, is almost complete. The project funded by JOAC, which includes a 1×3 classroom block, two teachers’ houses, latrines and a bore hole, proved to be challenging for our experienced builder and drillers. Building work is usually done in the dry season because of accessibility. However this community depended on swamp water for drinking, washing and everything else and the swamps were dry. Therefore building work was delayed as there was literally no water in the area. The drillers made several attempts before water was found some 60 meters below ground.

New bore hole for Sibbulo – children walked 11kilometers to fetched water

Another community, greatly benefiting from the installation of a bore hole, is Chuunga. Previously the people had to draw water from bacteria-infected streams causing serious health risks, particularly in infants. Thanks to Grant and Marilee Gibson this school now has its own bore hole. Again the school is simply a mud hut construction; 150 children are taught by an untrained teacher in two daily sessions. It has been agreed that we will help to develop this school. The Gibsons have also raised a considerable amount of funds for mosquito nets, which we distributed in the Sekute Chiefdom. This area, adjacent to the Zambezi River, is a breeding ground for mosquito causing an increase in malaria cases when the water is stagnant.

Pupils at Chuunga Community School have a new bore hole

During my travels I came across a young boy called Jordan with a serious eye problem and immediately referred him to Mukuni Health Centre. Aged just 16 months he had a growth under his eyelid that had become infected. After posting this story on Facebook, John McGhee, one of our donors, kindly offered to pay for Jordan’s stay in hospital. The growth has now been removed, Jordan has been discharged and his parents await the pathology report, which can take up to six months! Five other children received funds for various medical conditions, thanks to support from Brady Italia.

Jordan with his father before having an operation on his eyelid

For the first time we have taken on a project in town at Lubasi Orphanage, which is being funded by the Gottlieb family. Each of the 45 children was given trainers, clothing and stationery and extra funds were used to provide much needed food and supplies. A new home for a widow looking after orphans was provided by LCR Rotary Club and many orphans received assistance with their school and exam fees. Aside from the Royal visit the most joyous part of the trip was to catch up with Vincent and Elvis, the Kamwi twins who were two years old this month. We have provided all their needs since they lost their mother in childbirth.

Vincent and Elvis, the Kamwi Twins, are two years old

It was wonderful to see the development in the outreach villages but as always more needs to be done. I would like to say special thanks to all my amazing volunteers in Zambia, without their assistance nothing could have been achieved. More funds need to be raised to enable The Butterfly Tree to continue its vital work.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

The Princess Royal Visit – Jane with HRH and Stain Musumgaila

I presented the twenty Zambian volunteers to The Princess along with Emma Soames, a trustee of Saga’s Charitable Trust, who is one of our major donors and Stain Musungaila, from Sun International. After the introductions I escorted The Princess Royal into a mud hut where I was able to tell her about the charity’s work in Zambia. I was so impressed with her knowledge and her interest, The Princess Royal is renowned for her work with Save the Children and many other charitable causes. After the briefing we proceeded to the Special Education Unit, where The Princess Royal was introduced to sixteen children who are now receiving an education for the first time. This is the only one of its kind in a Zambian village, thanks to funding from The Besom. ‘Good morning, Ma’am’ greeted The Princess Royal after she left the unit and entered a grade nine classroom during a Maths lesson.

Before being seated under a tented area, The Princess Royal was to receive gifts from Esnat, Angela and Cynthia, the three young girls who inspired the founding of the charity. Next the rich voices of the Mukuni High School choir followed by the traditional dancers and the beating of the drums entertained The Princess, after which a former recipient of The Butterfly Tree’s orphan sponsorship programme, Mudenda Hazyendo, told a moving story about how the charity had supported him. He had passed to go to university to study law; funds were not available so he had accepted the opportunity to go to teacher’s training college, thanks to funding from one of our donor’s, the BFSS. The Province’s Permanent Secretary also heard this story and Mundenda is to be offered a place a Lusaka University.

Cynthia, Esnat and Angela presenting gifts to The Princess Royal

The performances ended with a powerful poem about orphans, written by Jane Kaye-Bailey and recited by Natasha Mufaya:

Spread Your Wings

 I am a butterfly who has emerged from a tree

My wings are developing so I can be free

I am learning and yearning to break the poverty cycle

In order to help those in need like me

As time passes by The Butterfly Tree

Will nurture many more orphans like me

My life is enriched with the education I receive

Soon I can explore what the world can offer me

Natasha Mufeya reciting a poem to The Princess Royal

Once the performances were over, The Princess RoyaI unveiled a plaque before I escorted her down the sandy track to the Mukuni Health Centre. Here seated on the verandah were several young children who had successfully undergone operations and treatment, funded by the charity. I explained the programme and how we had paid for the restoration of the clinic and provided a huge amount of medical supplies and equipment as well as malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. Finally we proceeded to The Butterfly Tree maternity clinic and women’s shelter, both invaluable additions to a clinic that serves some 7000 people.

Children, who have received medical support from the charity, meeting HRH

The time passed far too quickly and as I thanked HRH for visiting the charity her parting words still echo in my ears ‘Working with orphans is difficult but you seem to have got it right‘ – a compliment indeed!

Royal Visit for Charity: Mukuni Basic School

After a welcome from Chief Mukuni, HRH will arrive at the school where she will be greeted by some 1500 school children. The programme will include seeing a classroom in action, our special education unit and the orphan sponsorship programme. The choir and traditional dancers will perform and orphans will recite a poem and explain how our sponsorship has helped gain a place at high school and subsequently teacher’s training college. The Princess will unveil a plaque before proceeding to Mukuni Health Centre to learn about our health projects, which include a maternity clinic and women’s shelter, malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes and treatment for sick children.

Cyclothon UK: Mike Kaye, James Blackburn, Nigel Birch & Richard Harrison

This will complete an incredible month for The Butterfly Tree. We had great success at Cylcothon UK when Mike Kaye, Nigel Birch, James Blackburn and Richard Harrison spent 12 gruelling hours cycling round the Brands Hatch Circuit. Prana Zambia held an event for Yoga Aid, a global initiative to raise funds for grass roots projects. Our Canadian representatives have a new concept to raise funds to purchase mosquito nets, as a result we are now able to distribute nets in the Sekute Chiefdom. By the end of the year, with Saga’s funding, every household in the Mukuni Chiefdom with have three mosquito nets.

Jacob, a volunteer for the charity, distributing mosquito nets

This week will also see the announcement of the UK Travel Mole Web Awards 2012. We have been short listed for the Best Responsible Tourism site and Miranda de Freston of Morphity, our trustee and web designer will attend the event in London. We will be posting a report and photos of the Royal visit later this month.

TravelMole.com and TravelMole.TV publishes 15 eNewsletters and broadcasts hundreds of videos to over 450,000 travel & tourism industry professional registered members and subscribers, as well as 30 million consumers in 132 countries. This includes the highly acclaimed VISION on Sustainable Tourism publication.

The awards presentation to the winning websites will be held on September 26th at the Doubletree by Hilton London.

Best Responsible Tourism Site

This was our application:

The volunteer opportunities described on the website have attracted people from all walks of life coming from North America, Asia, Australia and Europe. Every month doctors, nurses, teachers and students provide additional ‘hands on’ assistance at the schools and clinics supported by The Butterfly Tree.

The entire website has been designed, developed and donated by Miranda de Freston of Morphity Ltd, who is a trustee of the charity. Alongside Miranda, Jane Kaye-Bailey, the founder, manages the ongoing content for the website to ensure regular updates for readers and subscribers on the extensive charity’s activities.

The website highlights the extensive work that has been done in the local communities we work in, promotes philanthropic travel, volunteering and fundraising opportunities.

Through our website we actively promote philanthropic travel and offer volunteering opportunities on a range of projects. This promotion and extensive optimisation of the website has attracted hundreds of groups, corporate and individuals from around the world.

The website has been instrumental in drawing worldwide donors, generally exposing The Butterfly Tree charity and is one of the main reasons people initially become inspired to get involved.

Funding for orphans: twin brothers supported by The Butterfly tree

This month sees other fundraisers working hard to provide funds for the orphans in Zambia. Once again our team, ‘The Flying Butts’, namely Mike Kaye, Nigel Birch and James Blackburn with the addition of Richard Harrison, will be participating in Cyclothon UK, a twelve-hour endurance test cycling challenge around the Brands Hatch Circuit. The organisers, VULtd,  headed by Victor Umbugu put a great deal of effort into making this a hugely successful day for both the participants and the charity beneficiaries. The event takes place on 13th September from 7am until 7pm, spectators are welcome.

Mike Kaye participating in Cyclothon UK 2011

Yoga Aid is a global challenge to raise funds for needy causes and will be held on 9th September when they aim to raise over $1,000,000. Events will be taking place in over 30 countries in five continents. Prana Zambia is hosting an event at the Victoria Falls and is donating the money to The Butterfly Tree. On another global matter Malby Maps, a new company that specialise in creating handmade and unique pieces of map artwork, greeting cards and stationary, soft furnishings, homeware, paperweights and doorstops, has generously offered to donate a percentage of their card sales to the charity.

Funds are used to house a widow with four orphans – just £400 with house a family

We are so grateful to all our donors, fundraisers and sponsors who have enabled us to reach out to orphans in three Chiefdoms in the Southern Province of Zambia. If you would like to sponsor an orphan or support one of our projects please contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Responsible Tourism: the mighty Victoria Falls

Every year we attract philanthropic travellers and volunteers, who want to make Mukuni Village a part of their itinerary and get involved with the charity’s work. We work closely with local hotels such as Sun International, lodges and international tour operators who direct their tourists to the village and our website. Stanley Safari Lodge and Saga Travel give the charity $5 for every one of their tourists that visits The Butterfly Tree projects. Numerous groups, business incentive trips amongst them Brady Europe and Canon Australia and frequent individuals have enjoyed this experience, donating medical and educational supplies, clothing and monetary gifts. Some have returned to their homelands and started fundraising; their donations have provided bore holes and classrooms and many have wanted to sponsor an orphan.

In addition to visitors who just want to spend a few hours in the village we have been inundated with volunteers from Europe, US, Canada and Asia, staying from a week to several months. Students, nurses, teachers and community workers have provided much needed skills to improve the health and education of these rural people. Most recently Sooji Kim helped with the orphan sponsorship program and four students from Skip Cardiff have set up a literacy project at the school to improve the reading skills. Every year Sydney University provide us with interns to work at Mukuni Health Centre while other volunteers have built community houses and restored classrooms.

Meet the children in Mukuni Village

For both volunteers and travel philanthropers it can be a life-changing experience. Ann Sutton, joined the charity after her trip to Mukuni Village and is now our treasurer. Last week her husband, David, cycled from Lands End to John O’ Groats raising funds for our projects. Since March 2012 Grant and Marilee Gibson have been raising funds in Canada for a bore hole and mosquito nets. Once again Mike Kaye, a volunteer for the charity, will participate with his team ‘The Flying Butts’ at CyclothonUK, a cycling endurance test around Brands Hatch Circuit. Others such as Magnus Scaddan, who has never been to Zambia, have been inspired by The Butterfly Tree’s work. Magnus decided against a beach holiday and became a responsible tourist. He climbed Mt. Blanc, miraculously missing the fatal avalanche by just five hours and raised a substantial amount of money for the charity.

Magnus Scaddan at Mt.Maudit – July 2012

If you are planning a trip to Zambia, want to get involved with responsible tourism or volunteer for The Butterfly Tree please contact us for more information. Click on this fundraising link is you would like to raise funds for our cause.

New school Matengu Village, Musokotwane Chiefdom

Follow link to view the full report and accounts: The Butterfly Tree Annual Report 2011-2012.

One of the highlights of the year was being selected, out of hundreds of charities working in Africa, as the charity having the best proven record of transparency. It was a privilege to be invited to Zurich to receive a cheque for US$27,000 from ENRC Marketing. In January three new schools were opened, for some children this was their first experience to attend school, as previously the distance had been too far for them to walk. Further funding has given us the opportunity to build more teacher’s houses and classrooms and to install bore holes for communities who previously depended on bacteria-infested streams for drinking water. Hundreds more mosquito nets have been distributed for malaria prevention and many more orphans are being sponsored. With over 700,000 orphans nationwide it is imperative to educate and improve the health facilities for these vulnerable children.

Kamwi Twins – Vincent and Elvis at 18 months

The high point for me has been following the progress of the twin boys whose mother tragically died in childbirth along with her baby daughter. The boys are now eighteen months old, happy, healthy and running around Kamwi Village, being cared for by their grandmother. Sadly there are still far too many Zambian children who are suffering, there has been an increase in new cases of malaria and the HIV and AIDS pandemic ravages the community, affecting or infecting every family. Our new peer education program for HIV and AIDS prevention, targeting school children, is under way and this is where we hope the change can be made. We have expanded our malaria prevention program; malaria remains the biggest killer of man. We target children under five, pregnant women and those most at risk.

For the first time we have been able to send twenty school leavers for vocational courses, ranging from teaching, computing and hotel management. The special education class has received recognition from the Provincial Department of Education and is being used as a model for other areas. Very few disabled children in Zambia have access to education. This is the only rural special education unit in the entire nation. The orphan sponsorship program has increased, boosted by the Mukuni Village Fund in Australia, a group of people who sponsor fifty orphans.

The Butterfly Tree Orphan Sponsorship recipients – Mukuni Village

In March we were honored to receive a visit from the newly appointed British High Commissioner to Zambia; who wanted to see The Butterfly Tree in operation. We have had an increasing number of visitors to see our projects in Mukuni from individuals, groups and corporate. These visits have generated a substantial amount of income through travel philanthropy and for many it has been the highlight of their entire holiday. Once again a number of volunteers from the UK, Europe, US, Canada and Australia worked at the school, within the community and at the Mukuni Health Centre. Their input has been invaluable. We have global fundraisers, who have raised a considerable amount of money for the charity through various initiatives and sporting activities. One of the main events this year was participating in Cyclothon UK, where our team the ‘Flying Butts’ did a twelve hour cycle challenge around Brands Hatch.

‘The Flying Butts’ – The Butterfly Tree team after competing in CyclothonUK 2011

With so much bad publicity in the charity sector, concerning the amount of money that is deducted for administration and personal fees, we continue to work as volunteers both in the UK and Zambia, enabling all funds raised to go directly into grassroots projects. As always I am grateful to my fellow trustees, David Kaye and Miranda de Freston. Miranda’s excellent optimization skills have generated a great deal of support through our website. Also to Ann, who has taken over the role of Treasurer and Mary in administration, Frank Maiolo (our US representative), our volunteers and the many fundraisers who have generously given their time to help and support The Butterfly Tree. This new year we have taken on additions to our team are – Mutsa Marau, as HIV and AIDS Prevention Coordinator, Oscar Miyanda in public relations and Wendy Callaway to assist with the orphan sponsorship program. In Canada we are joined by Grant and Marilee Gibson who will be fundraising and promoting our work.

None of our success could have been achieved without our amazing team in Zambia – Mupotola Siloka, Presley Mulenga, Martin Mushabati, Rosemary Siloka, Sweso Museke and Stain Musengaila, the ten female representatives who oversee the orphan sponsorship program and all the teachers who run the sustainable projects for the schools. They are dedicated, hard-working and professional people who are committed to making the change. Special thanks to Chief Mukuni and several local hotels and lodges, namely Sun International and Stanley Safari Lodge and tour operators who support our work.

Jane Kaye-Bailey with the girls who inspired the founding of the charity

Each of our donors around the world deserves enormous thanks; unfortunately it is not possible to name every one of them individually. However I must express gratitude to our major sponsor, the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission, who has given us the opportunity to build schools and clinics in very remote areas. Other major generous sponsors include Saga Charitable Trust, Just a Drop, the British and Foreign School Society and The Besom. Through grant aid their support has funded bore holes, malaria prevention, vocational courses and health facilities. Corporate sponsors Cunninghams, Gardiff, Brady Italia, ENRC Marketing and Canon Australia have given tremendous backing and a special thanks to the BigGive, who doubled our donations through their Christmas Challenge. There are numerous schools, clubs, churches and individuals kindly donating ongoing funds to assist the thousands of orphaned children in Zambia. This coming year with your continued support we aim to reach out to children in the Sikute and Nyawa Chiefdoms.

Jane Kaye-Bailey

Chairman

Follow link to view the full Annual Report and Accounts: The Butterfly Tree Annual Report 2011-2012.

Water in Zambia: young children carrying water home to Machenje Village

All of The Butterfly Tree projects are extremely important, though none more vital than water. If we are to advance the health and education facilities we must ensure a supply of safe drinking water. Clinics cannot function without water and children cannot attend school. We are currently building a new school in the Sekute Chiefdom some 100 kilometres from Livingstone; we had to delay the start of the construction as there was no nearby source of water to mix the cement, a bore hole has now been installed. During the rainy season the streams and rivers are brimming with water. Throughout the dry season many of them become empty or stagnant, making the distance in search of water much longer than usual. There are still hundreds of villages in Zambia dependent on river or stream water, many of these are contaminated, some are infested with crocodiles, not only putting children’s health at risk but also their lives.

New bore hole for Chuunga Community School

To date we have added twelve bore holes with Indian hand pumps, ten of these are in schools and two of them have play pumps. Just a Drop, one of our major donors, provided funds for six of these while others have been donated through grants and individuals. Our latest bore hole is thanks to a Canadian couple, Grant and Marilee Gibson, who visited Mukuni Village in March and have since generously raised funds amongst their family and friends to provide a bore hole at Chuunga Community School. We have now expanded our work to two other Chiefdoms in the Kazungula District, reaching out to vulnerable communities that had no access to safe, drinking water. Next time you turn on a tap or complain about the continual rain spare a thought for the numerous African children who have no source of fresh water. To help us to install more bore holes in remote villages you can make a donation or contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

For the past six years we have been involved with a number of corporates who have supported The Butterfly Tree. Cunninghams fund a feeding programme for 350 orphaned and vulnerable children, while Gardiff donated funds to build a pre-school at Mukuni in addition to supporting three teaching staff. One such initiative, which is hugely successful is that of Saga, who support a community based project in every one of their travel destinations, they also challenge their employees to participate in annual fundraising events as well as engaging their travellers.

Borders’ shelter donated by Saga employees

Last year we were selected out of hundreds of charities working in Africa, by ENRC Marketing, as the one with the best proven record of transparency. They have a huge CSR program with beneficiaries all over the world. After a business incentive trip to Mukuni Village both Brady Italia and Canon Australia have provided continued support to the charity. Other corporates have sponsored some of our fundraising events such as our team participating in CyclothonUK. You can enter your own cycling team in this challenge for 2012, which takes part at Brands Hatch on 13th September, while raising funds for The Butterfly Tree.

Feeding program at Mukuni Village sponsored by Cunninghams

There are several ways to have a Social Corporate Responsibility programme and partner with The Butterfly Tree, it could be with a single donation or an on going project. We involve our donors in decision making so that they can select a project they like and then receive regular feedback. A donation does not necessarily have to come directly from the corporate’s profits, it can be done through engaging their clients, customers and employees. Forming a lasting partnership can be beneficial for all parties concerned. Mukuni Village Incorporated (Australia), Black and White Accounting and Dative Studios each generously sponsor orphans. This lifts their company profile and provides much needed support to vulnerable children such as those in Zambia.

We are seeking corporate sponsorship to build more classrooms, teacher’s houses, bore holes, community houses and for the orphan sponsorship program. Your support could make a huge difference to a local community who need only the essentials in life – WATER FOOD HEALTH and EDUCATION. For more information contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

Orphans in Zambia at N’gandu Basic School

Poverty as always is one of the major under-lying causes, but people from every walk of life have been affected – from government to industry, agriculture and tourism, no area has escaped this virus that has caused so much devastation. According to the latest statistics from UNAIDS, at the end of 2010 there were 34 million people living with HIV and this same year 1.8 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses. Although in the past five years, both the number of new cases and deaths have declined globally, Zambia like most Southern African countries, is still suffering. Our aim is to intensify our HIV and AIDS prevention projects and increase the numbers on our orphan sponsorship programmes. To date we have sponsored over 500 individual orphans and improved the conditions for thousands of vulnerable children.

Young orphan in Mukuni Village Zambia

The Butterfly Tree supports a number of HIV and AIDS prevention programmes and this year we will mostly work within the schools, targeting the pupils, as we strongly believe that this is where the change can be made. As always we will continue with our orphan sponsorship programme; only this week two siblings, who had previously lost their father, have now lost their mother. If we can ensure that these vulnerable children remain in school and receive a sound education, they have hope. The alternative means having to rely on their guardians, adding further pressure to the family, which pushes them below the poverty line.

Last year a peer education for HIV and AIDS prevention was initiated thanks to Mutsa Marau, a young volunteer from London and now a member of The Butterfly Tree team. To help reduce the number of orphans in Zambia Mutsa has trained a group of Mukuni school children aged between 14 and 20 to reach out to other schools and their communities educating them about the dangers of HIV and AIDS, how to prevent it, how to live with it and how to remove the stigma that surrounds it. Girls are four times more likely to catch it than boys and will be given extra support on how to avoid getting pregnant as well as learning about the risk of contracting HIV.

Peer educators in HIV and AIDS prevention – Mukuni Village

If you would like to sponsor an orphan please complete the on line form.

World Malaria Day: Distribution of mosquito nets – Mukuni Chiefdom

Sadly I do not see very little of this funding reaching rural communities where we work. During my recent trip to Zambia I came across more new cases of malaria than in previous years. The government are supposed to provide mosquito nets to all children under five and pregnant women. The Mukuni Chiefdom has a population of 20,000, since January 2011 the community has received only 100 nets from the Department of Health. Thanks to a generous annual donation from Saga Charitable Trust we run a malaria prevention program in the Chiefdom. In March we distributed 400 mosquito nets to outreach villages as well as purchasing malaria testing kits , which are equally important. Early testing is vital especially in this region where P. falciparum is prevalent and  may result in death within hours or a few days of infection. It is also crucial that the people are educated about the dangers of malaria as early symptoms can appear to be flu-like making it imperative to seek immediate medical advice if there is a fever. If caught in time it can be easily treated.

Twin boys from Chibale contract malaria

Today I will be attending an event to mark World Malaria Day at the Commonwealth Secretariat. A number of key speakers will address and consult on global malaria. Topics will include malaria control, women and children’s vulnerability to malaria and most alarmingly the growing resistance to malaria medications. Until there is a cure prevention is essential, providing mosquito nets and malaria testing kits will continue to be one of our main priorities. You can help us!  Donate a mosquito net for as little as £5, which could save the precious life of a child.

Volunteering at Mukuni: James from the UK and Petteri from Finland

This is how it works – we are very flexible as you will be independent, though you will be working alongside a teacher, medical officer or a member of the team. There is no time scale so you may stay as long as you wish. If you are interested in working at both the clinic and the school we suggest you help at the clinic in the mornings and school in the afternoons. Please note that the schools are closed for the Christmas break during much of December, a month at Easter and for the month of August. There is also the opportunity to assist with community-based projects such as constructing houses, painting classrooms, holding workshops or working with women’s groups.

Wendy, an accountant, gave advice to women on income-generating enterprises

There are no facilities or accommodation available in Mukuni therefore we recommend that you stay in Livingstone at either of the backpackers places: Fawlty Towers or Jolly Boys  or Chanter Lodge if you want somewhere reasonably priced. For those seeking a more up market type of accommodation our partners Sun International have two hotels next to the Victoria Falls and Stanley Safari Lodge half way between the Falls and Mukuni. These arrangements along with flights will be your responsibility. To get to the village you can either take the local bus, which changes at the Victoria Falls and takes about an hour – it’s around £3 or £4 return or you can do a deal with a local taxi to take you for around £15 return. Zambia is very safe compared to most countries and the local people are extremely humble, friendly and obliging.

Mutsa from London spent four months teaching peer education for HIV Prevention

All volunteers have loved this life-changing experience vowing to return and many have joined our cause to help improve the lives of these vulnerable people. Besides working with the charity the area has an abundance of activities including safaris, white water rafting, elephant-back riding and micro-liting over the Victoria Falls. It is also close to the Botswana border where some of the best game in Africa can be seen at Chobe National Park. If you would like to volunteer for The Butterfly Tree please send an email to jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

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Old classroom at Silelo

New School at Matengu

I am pleased to report that it is not all ‘doom and gloom’ much progress is being made. The highlight of my trip was visiting the four new schools that we have constructed thanks to a hugely generous grant from the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission - three opened in January and one will open next term. All of these schools are complete with teachers’ houses and latrines with the addition of a bore hole at Malima. For the Mandandi community this is a real advancement, previously 46 children had never been to school and over 30 attended only once a week due to the long distance they had to walk to the nearest school. Each new school has received a substantial amount of stationary and equipment as a result of a grant from the British and Foreign School Society. We aim to make these schools sustainable by providing seeds to produce feeding programs as well as uniform making projects to create income generation.

Another highlight of the trip was when the new British High Commissioner, James Thornton, paid a visit to Mukuni Village. The Commission had selected The Butterfly Tree projects out of all the NGO’s operating in the Livingstone area.

New school at Silelo

New school at Mandandi

Further improvements include a shelter for boarders, funded by Saga Charitable Trust, which means the older pupils can remain in Mukuni during the week. The special education project is so successful that the Provincial Department of Education has got involved. Fountaindale School has once again provided a teacher exchange program. During their recent visit the UK teachers hosted workshops for the Province, using Mukuni Special Education as a model for this exercise. It is a joy to see local children with both mental and physical disabilities receiving a sound education. The orphan sponsorship has recently had a boost, many sponsors have either visited Mukuni or found us on the internet with over twenty more children being able to join the program. Virtually 100% of our sponsored orphans recently passed to go to the high school and twenty orphans, who completed grade 12, have been able to participate in vocational courses, part of the grant from the British and Foreign School Society. A further teacher’s house at Mukuni High School has been completed as a part of a considerable donation from ENRC Marketing.

Special Education Children

Sponsored Orphans – Ngandu

Mukuni Health Centre has had a ‘facelift’ with the inclusion of a women’s shelter, kindly funded by The Besom who also funded a teacher’s house at Ngandu Basic School. Major health issues persist and once again we have funded treatment for several children. I was saddened to learn that there has been an increase in new cases of malaria during this year’s rainy season. We distributed 400 of Saga’s mosquito nets to outreach villages targeting children under five and pregnant women. While attempting to reach an area in the Sikute Chiefdom, where we are to build a new school at Sibbulo, the journey proved to be too arduous. After several hours we failed to reach the village as the track was overgrown and many areas were water-logged. It was a very frustrating journey and when we got our second slashed tyre, we could go no further. By 7.30pm the mosquito were at large – despite having insect repellent, the insects attacked through our clothing. The three of us were covered in bites and it was hours later when the rescue vehicle arrived, eventually we touched base at 12.30am. This journey confirmed just how inaccessible some of these villages are and how lucky we are to have access to anti-malaria medication.

Distribution of mosquito nets

World Women’s Day

As always I hosted an event for International Women’s Day - over 100 women, including the Bedyango, Chieftainess of Mukuni, were in attendance. The theme was ‘Inspiring Futures, Connecting Girls’ and the agenda included topics on how to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, women’s health issues and sustainable income-generating activities. A challenge was offered for groups of women to submit projects and the most original would be given start-up costs and advice. I was assisted by Wendy Calloway, an accountant who is both a donor and volunteer for The Butterfly Tree and kindly offered to give all the groups expert business advice. We have had a number of volunteers who have worked at both the school and clinic, most valuable are the seven-year medical students from Sydney University and Margaret and Casey from Oregon who returned for a fourth time to develop their goat’s milk project. We are very grateful to all our donors, fund raisers and volunteers who have helped us to reach out to many more rural communities. Funds are in place for the construction of a further school, a clinic and a Music Centre.

If you would like to further support any of our projects we have a new donate facility with British Telecom.

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World Water Day: A dry stream – Mosokotwane Chiefdom

For those developing countries that rely on local food production water is a precious commodity. This month sees the end of the rainy season in Zambia. The African bush is green and lush, the crops are flourishing and the streams and rivers are over-flowing, but this month will see the last of the rains until October. It is crucial for the local people to grow sufficient maize, which is dried and bagged to last through the dry season. However here water cannot easily be stored and unless a community has a bore hole water shortage becomes apparent. Many areas in Zambia are without access to safe, clean water and have to rely on streams containing bacteria and crocodile-infested rivers. This water has to be used for drinking, washing, crop irrigation and livestock. When the streams run dry between August and October families walk many miles have to find a water source.

To ease the situation in the Kazungula District The Butterfly Tree has added a bore hole to every school it is supporting. This gives the children access to safe, clean water and the school to have a sustainable feeding program by growing maize and vegetables. To date we have funded seven bore holes for schools and three for local communities, a further bore hole will shortly constructed at Mukuni Village. Many more are need in these remote villages, especially where hunger widespread. Diarrhoea in all ages is common and in infants it can be fatal.

New bore hole & Indian Hand Pump for Malima School – Mukuni Chiefdom

Support World Water Day by conserving our water and supporting people who suffer from water shortages and those who have no access to safe, clean water.

New school for Silelo pupils

The Butterfly Tree prides itself in being able to capitalise on a donation and use it in the best possible way that will benefit the rural communities we support in Zambia.  For the past six years we have been able to use donor funds to initiate projects such as building classrooms and clinics, bore holes, malaria and HIV and AIDS prevention programs, community housing and orphan sponsorship. No administration costs or personal fees have been deducted. Our loyal and committed teams both in Zambia and the UK work on a volunteer basis, dedicating their time and energy to improving the lives of those less fortunate. Administration fees in the UK are covered by the Chairman and we do not rent office space in either country.

Beneficiaries of Charity Giving – three young boys from Mukuni Village

This month we have changed our donation facility, as the one previously used has now added costs. The new facility is Mydonate, which is administered by British Telecom and provides us with a free, secure service and an easy-to-use method. We hope that this will be a great benefit to both The Butterfly Tree and our donors. For anyone wanting to create their own fundraising page Mydonate can also be used. Sporting challenges, events, school fundraising initiatives can benefit this method.

We are also registered with Just Giving, we pay monthly fee for this facility so anyone creating their own page can link to The Butterfly Tree.  For American Donors who require a 501 (c) 3 facility we are listed on the US GlobalGiving site. There are many other ways to help raise money for our cause, these include Giving Lots - charity auction site, Everyclick - a search engine that donates to charity every time you search on the web and we are also listed on Ebay for Charity. If you would like more information please contact: jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk

To make a donation please use the Mydonate service now listed on our website.

HIV and AIDS Prevention Co-ordinator – Mutsa Murau

Now these dedicated young people are ready to ‘spread the word’ and are reaching out to other rural schools. They are educating their peers on the dangers of HIV, how to prevent it, the importance of voluntary testing and how to live with it if you are unfortunate to have been born with the virus. Other issues include teenage pregnancy and other sexually transmitted diseases and surrounding issues. With our support their aim is to reach out to all the schools we are involved with and beyond. Several of these educators are from The Butterfly Tree orphan sponsorship program and it is wonderful to see the progress they have made as individuals and a group.

Natasha – Peer Educator and orphan sponsored by The Butterfly Tree

Another volunteer, Brendan Poynton, is currently raising funds to build a Music Centre at Mukuni. This will give these vulnerable HIV and AIDS orphans an opportunity to hold concerts and social activities to raise funds and awareness to help the fight against this devastating disease. Through several fundraising events Brendan has almost reached his target and has

now organised a charity auction, through MUSIC EARTH RISE, to complete his task. There are some amazing lots including a guitar signed by Eric Clapton and a print signed by Ronnie Wood. If you would like to bid for any of the items please use the following click on Music Earth Rise Auction.

School Feeding Programs: Albert earning a sustainable income

When we hear of a young person in the west taking a life it is most likely to be fuelled by drug or alcohol abuse or perhaps bullying at school, but not from hunger. For these rural communites in Zambia hunger goes hand in hand with poverty and our aim is to address the situation at all the schools we support. Sustainable feeding programs are a long-term solution. For the past five years Cunninghams have provided funds for 350 vulnerable children to receive a daily nutritional meal at Mukuni. Many of these children have to walk several miles to school to commence lessons at 7am followed by an afternoon of activities. This feeding programme has helped to improve the health, concentration and stamina of numerous school pupils.

Kamwi Basic School feeding programme

Without sponsorship we are unable to offer such programmes in other schools, though we do provide seeds for several schools to grow produce to supplement their diet. October to March is the rainy season in Zambia therefore it is vital to plant as much maize as possible to provide food for the dry season. The daily porridge from the World Food Program is intermittent and insufficient  for three school terms. Education is the key to overcoming problems of hunger. As for Albert, though he is not an orphan he is vulnerable, and has been added to our orphan sponsorship programme and will be given funds to develop his sewing business to create sustainability for himself and his family.

Young girl at Mukuni Pre-school Zambia

At the beginninng of December we took part in the BigGive Christmas Challenge and would like to thank everyone of our donors who patiently donated online and to the ones, including Cunninghams and Gardiff, who had previously pledged £3000. The competition was steep and funds were depleted within an hour of each day. Amazingly on the third day we reached our target of £6000, with Music Earth Rise making a significant contribution. As a result the two amounts combined total £9000 and have been doubled thanks to the BigGive philanthropy fund and their major donors.

Silelo pupils will attend their new school in 2012

2011 has been an incredible year taking on many more challenges and reaching out to new areas in the Mukuni and Musokotwane Chiefdom. In 2012 we will be building another clinic at Mahalulu in and a new school for Sibbulo community in the Sikute Chiefdom close to the Botswana border, funded by grant aid from the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission. We are helping thousands of orphaned and vulnerable children to have a better chance in life by improving their water, health and education facilities. I would like to thank everyone who has supported us – donors, volunteers, corporate, schools, clubs and individuals who have trusted in our beliefs, which has enabled us to make a difference in one of the poorest areas on the planet.

From all of The Butterfly Tree team both in the UK and Zambia - we wish you a very Happy Christmas and a healthy and peaceful New Year!

Supper brewing for a grandmother with five orphans

If you want to find a worthwhile present, which not only offers pleasure to both the giver and the recipient, but can benefit a third party who is less fortunate, then you may like to consider one of the following options: Sponsoring an orphan in Zambia will provide an education for a child, donating a mosquito net could save a child’s life or build a house to accommodate an entire family. There are many other ways to help the orphans – donate a bicycle for a child who has to walk a long distance to school, buy a bag of maize for just £10 or donate a blanket for the cold winter nights for only £15.

Sponsor an orphan – Bright Siabenlengu, Mukuni Village

For most Zambians the highlight of their Christmas Day will be going to church, very few will have a celebratory meal or exchange presents. Two thirds of the population lives on less than one pound per day – their stress is not brought on from deciding what present to buy their family members, but whether they will have enough n’shima (ground maize), vegetables and ground nuts to feed the whole family. One young boy, just fifteen years of age, from Mukuni, recently tried to take his life because he could no longer cope with being constantly hungry. Please give this a thought when you are filling your trolley – do you really need that extra bottle of wine?

The calendar is designed to create awareness of our vital work in Zambia and to raise funds for the grassroots projects. The charity’s funds have helped thousands of children to improve their situation in life.  Each £5 that is raised from the sale of this calendar can buy an impregnated mosquito net, medical supplies for one of the three clinics we are operating in, or much needed stationery for one of the fifteen schools we currently support.

The calendar pictures highlight some of our projects at Mukuni and other villages and of course at the forefront are the orphan orphan sponsorship program. Almost everything we do is for the benefit of these vulnerable children. Providing them with clean water, nutritional food, improved education and health facilities to help the fight against Africa malaria and HIV and AIDS in Zambia is paramount.

I would sincerely like to thank the following for sponsoring the calendar: Executive Futures, The Fell Group, Three Counties Insurance, LCR Systems, INTL Global Currencies Ltd., Gardiff, Casio, ListersVolkswagon Group, Tommee Tippee, DCA, Cunninghams and Saga Charitable Trust. A special thanks to Miranda at Morphity for designing the calendar.

These captivating pictures show just a few of the pages for 2012. The high quality desk top calendar measures 21cm x 16cm and can be bought for £5 or US$10 including postage.

Second class postal charges in the UK: 1 calendar; 80p 2-3 calendars £1.50;  3-4 calendars £1.95 4-5 £2.35

Postal charges for Europe: 1 calendar £1.60; 2 calendars £2.40

Rest of the World: 1 calendar £2.40; 2 calendars £3.70

100% of all sales will go directly to the cause. To place an order complete the form below:

The project covers a variety of ways where we provide vital funds for the numerous children orphaned through the HIV and AIDS in Zambia. Most crucial is to supply a safe, clean drinking water. All schools need their own drinking water, which can also be used to provide water for gardens, enabling them to have sustainable feeding programs, essential for growth and stamina of young children. The Butterfly Tree provides HIV and AIDS and malaria prevention programs, treatment for sick children and much needed medical supplies. Our aim is to improve the health facilities for the orphans.

The Big Give Christmas Challenge – orphan support for Chaton Sitali

Education is the key to making the change. Through the orphan support program we have given hundreds of orphans an education. Many had dropped out of school due to lack of funds and to date we have sponsored over 400 individual orphans. In addition thousands more have been helped in fifteen schools throughout the Mukuni and Musokotwane Chiefdoms. We have build classrooms for mainstream and special education, teacher’s house, latrines and supplied vast amounts of stationery and equipment. We are very grateful to British and Foreign School Society for further grant aid to supply the four new schools we have built this year. Some of the funds will be used to provide further education for twenty orphaned and vulnerable children.

Five orphaned girls living with their grandmother in N’gandu Village

This is an amazing opportunity for us to reach out to many more orphans in Zambia. Please click on this link to donate – your support will give another orphan a chance in life.

7th December 2011 - we have now reached our target for the BigGive Christmas Challenge. Any further donations can be made through our website as the matched funding has reached its maximum. A huge thank you to everyone who participated, the following has been achieved:

Total of Pledges: £3000 which will be doubled to £6000

Total of Donations: £6000 has been doubled to £12,000

World AIDS Day – young Mukuni girl free of HIV

For the past five years The Butterfly Tree funds several HIV projects in the Mukuni Chiefdom of Zambia. These include orphan sponsorship, educational workshops and voluntary testing, treatment for the sick and an under-fives’ feeding programme to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Formula is provided to replace breast milk in HIV positive mothers. Since its conception in 2007 every infant accepted on our program has been tested negative. Due to high costs of powdered milk we have initiated a goats’ milk project to supplement the programme, with the aim of making it sustainable.

Mutsa Marau with a Mukuni baby

This year we have intoduced a new project thanks to Mutsa Marau, a young volunteer from London, who at our own cost, has been working in Mukuni Village for the past three months. Her HIV prevention programme to train peer educators amongst the school pupils has been a huge success. Having spent her time training these young educators, assisted by Margaret Mulenga, they are now targeting outreach villages to ‘spread the word’. Today to mark the occassion 15 members, between the ages of 14 and 20 years, will be performing at the Chief ‘s Palace as part of Mukuni Villages’ activities to mark World AIDS Day. The groups performance will include poetry reading along with the presentation of art pieces explaining how every one of them can help the prevalance of HIV in their community get to zero.

Peer educators in HIV prevention including sponsored orphans

From the 5th – 9th December all donations to The Butterfly Tree have a chance to be doubled if made through our partners, the Big Give, during their Christmas Challenge week. To participate and help to give these young AIDS orphans a chance please donate to our programme through the Big Give website.

Butterfly Tree Features in Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club

We are most grateful to Karen Lytle from Arizona, who generously sponsored our advert in the publication. The feature was written by an award-winning journalist and the book has been published by St. James House of London. The Yearbook will be presented globally to Royalty, Heads of State and the Club’s members among many other people. It is a great honour to be included in this esteemed book and we are hopeful that it will bring forth new donors and philanthropic travellers to visit our projects close to the Victoria Falls region of Zambia.

Extract from the 2012 Yearbook

Despite its outstanding natural beauty and the warmth of its citizens, Zambia is home to many stories of suffering and tragedy. Almost three quarters of a million children have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in this landlocked sub- Saharan country of just 12 million inhabitants, while one in six adults carries the HIV virus. Life expectancy is a mere 35 years – and with two thirds of the population living on less than one dollar a day, few have the means to acquire expensive medical supplies in a country that is already desperately short of drugs and life-saving equipment and relies heavily on international aid.

Saving lives: Having been confronted with these heart-rending problems during a visit to Zambia in 2006, Jane Kaye-Bailey vowed to establish a charity back in Britain to tackle the issues head-on. The Butterfly Tree was born soon afterwards, and through tireless volunteer work, this respected charity has made a real difference on the ground. The Butterfly Tree’s activities have transformed the lives of numerous children, as Jane explains: ‘Three quarters of all deaths caused by malaria occur in children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa. By providing mosquito nets and malaria testing kits, many lives can be saved.

Follow link:  The Butterfly Tree in the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club 2012 Yearbook

Support Aids orphans – young girl survives lightning strike

I recently met a young orphan who lives with her aunt. During a terrific thunder storm she was struck by lightning while standing inside her mud hut. The strike hit her back creating holes her uniform and she collapsed from shock, someone managed to get her to safety before the house went up in flames. Miraculously she had only superficial burns but they had lost all their meagre possessions and clothing. Life is tough being an orphan but when faced with these kinds of challenges it becomes insupportable. The Butterfly Tree builds community houses for orphans and their guardians, in many cases these guardians are elderly grandparents who have no source of income.

Sponsored orphans – Mukuni Village, Zambia

If you would like to sponsor an orphan or donate to towards this program it will help these children to overcome their loss. In December we are participating in The Big Give Christmas Challenge, which means that any donation received between the 5th – 9th December is eligible for matched funding. Donations must be made directly to the Big Give website and will be transferred to The Butterfly Tree charity account.

WOMAN WALKS 37KM TO NEAREST HEALTH CLINIC IN MUKUNI VILLAGE

TEACHER’S HOUSE IN MALIMA, ZAMBIA

Thanks to substantial grant aid from the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission we are in the final stages of completing three new rural schools. The villages of Silelo and Matengu in the Musokotwane Chiefdom had to rely on unskilled teachers operating in mud hut structers. It was amazing to see the transformation, each school has three classrooms, two teachers’ houses and latrines. The community participation had been impressive and once approved these schools expect to open in January 2012. A third school at Malima, in the Mukuni Chiefom, has been given the same funding with the addition of a bore hole.

New school for Silelo, Zambia

Silelo – old community school, Zambia

The highlight of my entire trip was to see the Kamwi twins, who lost their mother and sister during childbirth. Vincent and Elvis celebrated their first birthday this month.  Last October, when I first set eyes on them, I feared they would not survive; they each weighed just over one kilo. At barely two weeks old they were sent to a remote village, after being discharged from hospital because they could offer them only water. I could not refuse to support to these helpless infants. For twelve months the charity has provided formula, clothing and blankets and all their requirements, while their grandmother has lovingly nurtured them. They have been tested free of HIV and both are happy and healthy and are testament to the vital role we play in these vulnerable communities.

Vincent showing us his standing skills

Elvis with his grandmother

October sees the start of the rains and many mud huts cannot stand up to the deluge. This is particularly hard for old people supporting orphans. In the past few months we have build an additional nine homes. Two of them have been donated by one of the volunteers, James Ashley, who helped construct the houses. Five of them were funded by ENRC marketing who have also funded a teacher’s house, HIV and AIDS prevention projects and the under five’s feeding program, which has also received support from Brady Italia. One home was donated by LSR Rotary Club, one by Aurora and the other through the Cyclothon Challenge.

New house for widow with orphans

Under-fives’ feeding programme

I had the pleasure of working with a number of volunteers, Casey Short and Margaret Bax, from Oregon, returned for a third year to continue the goat’s milk project. Mutsa Marau, a young lady from London, is spending four months at Mukuni teaching peer education in HIV and AIDS prevention. Petteri Alppi a former UCL student from Finland has documented the work of The Butterfly Tree in addition to writing a much needed Maths and English Revision guide. Claire Richardson and Hannah Lainton spent time teaching business skills to women’s groups. I have been so impressed with their hard work and dedication and thank them for helping us to make a difference.

Fundraisers: Nigel, Mike, Jake and James at the end of a 12 hour challenge

The challenge started at 7.30am and finished twelve hours later at 7.30pm. The undulating hills proved to be too much for some, especially the event organisor, Victor Umbugu, a former England rugby prop. Despite the gruelling task our amazing team persevered and earned a well-deserved sixth place out of thirty teams. Their efforts have raised over £2200 for our projects in Zambia.

Jake tackles the undulating hills at CyclothonUK

Mike at the start of his twenty laps

During my recent trip to Zambia I was fortunate to be working with several dedicated volunteers. Mutsa Marau, who is working with pupils in the Mukuni Chiefdom, has initiated a peer education project in HIV/AIDS prevention. Petteri Allpi, a former UCL student from Finland, set himself tasks to improve the Maths and English standards in the schools and documenting The Butterfly Tree projects. A third volunteering trip to Mukuni Village for Margaret Bax and Casey Short, sees the progression of the goat’s milk project to support the under-fives’ feeding programme.

HIV AIDS Prevention with Mutsa

Volunteers in Mukuni Village: Casey, Presley, Petteri, Margaret, James and Jacob

Hannah Lainton and Claire Richardson spent a month teaching business skills to women’s groups in Mukuni and also taking lessons for children at the school. James Ashley raised funds to donate and assist in the construction of a house for a widow with orphans in addition to working with young children. The mutual benefit of having volunteers has a lasting impact on the community and creates a life-changing experience for the partaker. If you are interested in volunteering in Zambia or fundraising for our projects please contact us.

All these schools have much improved educational facilities. These constructions have been erected throughout the Chiefdom to improve the facilities and well being of some 20,000 vulnerable people. Ten of the twelve schools have received our support, several have been upgraded and in addition to this we have expanded the three clinics.”

Follow link for the full report - Charity Annual Report 2010-2011

Education for Zambia – New school for pupils at Matengu to open shortly

In addition to our on going sponsors the Barrington Educational Initiative, a Swiss based private charitable endeavour, has offered to support our work. We have also recently partnered with and Travelers Gift Vacations, a tour operator that provides luxury and purpose travel. A philanthropic traveler has a chance to get involved with charitable work in one of the developing countries they are visiting. The longer I work with the charity the more I realise there is a great need for collaboration amongst small charities operating in Zambia. If we endeavour to work with other organisations together we can make a bigger impact, create transparency and help to alleviate corruption. One of our new partners is Global Partners for Health, a US based charity also working in Zambia, who aim to provide vital medical supplies for our clinics.

Health education – young women from Kamwi Village gives birth to seventh child

 Tomorrow our own cycling team, The Flying Butts, will be competing in a cycle challenge at Brands Hatch. The CyclothonUK event has some thirty teams involved in the challenge to raise funds for charities. One of our volunteers, Oscar Miyanda of Basement Entertainment, is providing the music to spur the teams on. So far we have raised almost £2000 all of which will go towards our orphan programmes in Zambia. We wish Mike Kaye, Nigel Birch, Jake Wilson-Gunn and James Blackburn every success and thank them for giving up their valuable time to take part. If you would like to sponsor the team this can be done either on our website or through Just Giving, no deductions will be made.

Cyclothon UK – raising vital funds for these Zambian children

These fundraising events help to boost vital funds to support our work in Zambia. All our work revolves around the many orphans who have lost their parents as a result of  HIV/AIDS.  710,000 children are left orphaned and desperately need our help to provide them with an education and improved health and water facilities. Our orphan sponsorship programme gives these children the opportunity to complete their education giving them better future prospects. To date we have sponsored over 400 individual orphans and helped several thousand more at the many schools we support in the Mukuni Chiefdom of Zambia.

Evelyn Makaya , Mukuni High School on our orphan sponsorship programme

We are very grateful to our main sponsors: CRB Solutions, Geddes Associates, Adacemy Leasing and Serenity Finance. If you would like to sponsor The Butterfly Tree team this can be done by donating through Just Giving or on our secure charity donation page. No fees or administration costs will be deducted, all funds raised will go directly into our grassroots projects. If you would prefer to sponsor an orphan please use this link and complete the form. Your support can make a lasting change to a child’s life.

Supplies donated to Machenje pre-school in Zambia

New football to replace ‘bag & string’

Despite a quiet start to the new financial year we have a had a great boost to the funds during July and August from both individuals and corporate who have visited Mukuni Village. During their cultural tour they took the opportunity to visit The Butterfly Tree projects. Donations of blankets, mosquito nets, sports equipment, stationery and clothing have helped a number of vulnerable people in addition the clinic and the school received money. Two companies Brady Italia and Canon Australia have generously offered on going support. Individual donations came from the UK, the US, Europe and Australia some of them in the form of orphan sponosrship.

The three schools we are currently building, two in the Musokotwane Chiefdom and one in Mukuni are well under way and should be completed by the end of the year. This has been made possible thanks to grant aid form the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission. We are now reaching out to fifteen schools in the Kazungula District. In addition we are supporting three clinics and many villages.

Most of our existing donors have liberally continued sponsoring orphans. The first orphans to be on our prgram have now completed grade twelve and our aim is to source funds for futher education. The Mukuni Village Fund in South Australia is now sponosring fifty orphans through our charity. However many more sponsors are needed. Due to the gloabl recession and lack of employment fra too many children, even those with parents, are failing to pay their school and exan fees.

Peter sponsored orphan completes school

HIV/AIDS education for Mukuni pupils

This month I was invited to Zurich to receive a substantial donation from ENRC Marketing AG. Unknown to us their employees held a fundraising campaign and the benficiary was to be an NGO working in one of the many countries where they operate. The Butterfly Tree was selected for haivng the best proven records of transparency and for the fact that we are all volunteers both in the UK and Zambia. All the staff gave generously with matched funding provided by ENRC’s Head Office in London. The funds rasied totalled an amazing $27,000 and will be used to build a teacher’s house at Mukuni Village, five community house for orphans and to support our HIV/AIDS prevention for children, which will include peer education, workshops and feeding programs.

ENRC Marketing’s donation

Saga, who’s charitable trust, is one of our major donors, are challenging their employees to raise funds to build a bore hole and a shelter for boarders at Mukuni. We have constructed an additional building at our maternity clinic, funded by The Besom, this will provide accommodation for women prior to labour who live a long distance from the clinic, ensuring a safer delivery of their babies. Thanks to Just a Drop four new latrines have been added to the Mukuni schools and a bore hole at Libala Basic School.

Women’s shelter – Mukuni Village

Next month, after winning a team place we are to participate in Cyclothon UK, a cycle challenge initiated by Victor Umbugo of VU Ltd and former England rugby prop. The event is to be held at Brands Hatch on the 15th September from 7am. Our team ‘The Flying Butts’ needs your support. Donations would be greatly appreciated and can be sent to The Butterfly Tree, 3 Gannaway Court, Norton Lindsey, Warwick CV35 8JR or made using our secure Just Giving page. If you are in the area any time during the day from 4pm onwards, when the excitement reaches its peak, please go and support the team and see many of the International rugby players taking aprt. We are grateful to CRB Solutions, Academy Leasing and Geddes and Associates who are are three main sponsors.

This summer we have a number of volunteers who are working at Mukuni. Mutsa Marau is doing a peer education project to tackle the HIV/AIDS issues, Peterri Alpi from UCL is improving the maths and English standards and Hannah Lainton and Claire Richards will share their business skills with womens groups

Thank you to all the individual, corporate, schools, clubs, volunteers and philanthropers who have ginven so generously to support our grassroots projects, which have improved the lives of thousands of children and vulnerable communities in Zambia.

The campaign had been organised by Marilena and Tatiana who worked tirelessly to coordinate the objective until they reached their target of 20,000 Swiss francs. Eventually three charities were selected and the employees had to vote on a winner. Amazingly The Butterfly Tree was chosen as the charity having the best records of proven transparency and for the fact that we are all volunteers both in the UK and Zambia. In just one month the employees at their Zurich office, helped with match funding from head office in London, raised a staggering $27,000 (over £16,000).

Funds for Children’s Health & Education: Jane with ENRC Marketing employees

I was invited to Zurich where I gave a presentation on our work in Zambia before receiving this generous cheque. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet all the participants and to see the collection of moustaches and beards. The perfect day ended with a summer party on board a boat which sailed across Lake Zurich. I felt very privileged to be with such an caring group of people and inspired after learning that The Butterfly Tree was their preferred charity.

Fundraising campaign raise $27,000 for The Butterfly Tree

The funding will be used to build a teacher’s house at Mukuni Village, five community houses for orphans and the remainder will be used to boost our HIV/AIDS prevention projects for children, which will include peer education, worshops and feeding programmes.

Mutsa Marau from London has spent the past year raising funds to visit Mukuni and introduce a peer education system at Mukuni Basic and High Schools. HIV/AIDS remains the major problem within the Mukuni community leaving almost fifty per cent of the children orphaned. One in six adults is HIV positive and the longevity is merely thirty six years of age. Mutsa is determined to make her HIV and AIDS Prevention project work; educating pupils between the ages of twelve and twenty about the dangers of HIV, holding workshops and teaching during her four month visit to the village.

Education improvements at Mukuni

Joining Mutsa will be Petteri Alppi from Finland who is a student at University College, London and a member of their Global Development Initiatives. Although the teaching standards in Zambia are good many pupils fail their exams due to a lack of materials and teaching staff. Petteri has compiled educational data to help improve English and Mathematics skills at the schools. He will also assist the charity by documenting and producing videos of our projects, volunteering and the Zambian cultural way of life.

For the third consecutive year Margaret Bax and Casey Short from Oregon will be returning to Mukuni to continue their work with sustainable projects. A successful chicken farming enterprise has given a number of women an opportunity to have an income-generating activity. Last year Margaret and Casey started a goat-rearing project to assist The Butterfly Tree’s under fives’ feeding program. One of our most successful projects to date this requires a large injection of funds and due to the high cost of formula only a limited number of infants can participate. The project provides formula, to replace breast milk in women who are HIV positive, to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child. Since 2007 all infants partaking on this program have been tested free of HIV. The production of goat’s milk will provide a nutritional supplement for this feeding program.

Sustainability – under fives’ feediging program, Mukuni Village

Our aim is to make the Mukuni Chiefdom projects models for other areas of need.

Some of the comments made by their team include: ‘It was an amazing experience that changed our outlook on life’ – ‘We were touched by the importance the community placed on educating their youth’ – ‘It was a humbling expericence with a great team of people’.

Corporate Sponsorship: Cunninghams sponsors a feeding program – Mukuni Schools

You don’t have to visit Zambia to get involved. On September 15th The Butterfly Tree has been invited to participate in Cyclothon UK, a fundraising event which is taking place at Brands Hatch. The event, which is organised by Victor Umbugo , former England rugby prop, though his company VU Ltd (Sports & Hospitality Event Organisers) will gain a great deal of publicity. This gives us a further opportunity to raise funds and gain publicity for both ourselves and our sponsors. Hence we are seeking corporate sponsorship and asking for contributions. We would include your company nmae on all advertising material, our website updates and regular posts on Facebook and Twitter. A big thank you to CRB Solutions and Academy Leasing for their genrous sponsorship and getting us off the starting block!

Gardiff sponsors The Butterfly Tree Pre-school – Mukuni Village

We have recently been accepted to participate in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, whereby pledges made before October, though do not have to be paid unitl December can be doubled. This gives us a great opportuntiy to increase funding for the grassroots projects in Zambia. All our work is to benefit orphaned and vulnerable children, we are all volunteers therefore any funds raised through these intiatives will go directly to the cause. A big thank you to CRB Solutions and Academy Leasing for getting us off the starting block!

If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved or to become a corporate sponsor kindly contact jane@thbutterflytree.org.uk

Siamasimbi: This family had walked 21 miles to the clinic

This year the gentle and humble people of Siamasimbi saw the completion of a 1×3 classroom block, teachers’ house and latrines in addition to the bore hole we constructed in 2009. Our priority for next year will be to build a clinic in the area at Mahalula to accommodate neighbouring villages such as Siamasimbi. Although certain members of the community have been trained to practise traditional birth any complications could result in death. Several women each year die during labour attempting to walk  to Mukuni Health Centre. The Butterfly Tree has recently completed a shelter kindly donated by The Besom, so that women who live a considerable distance from a clinic can go to Mukuni prior to the onset of labour. This is an addition to our Maternity Clinic, which opened in 2008, the facilities here provide a safe haven for women and infants. The Birthing Kit Foundation of Australia donates birthing kits to further improve the delivery procedure.

The Butterfly Tree Maternity Clinic – Mukuni Village

June through August is winter in Zambia. The days are gloriously sunny with temperatures reaching 22-25 degrees, however the nights are very cold and temperatures can drop to 4 degrees. Many children and elderly people sleep on the floor of their mud huts with no blankets and very few have warm clothing. Siamasimbi’s rocky terrain is at high altitude and can be exceedingly cold at night and many young children have to walk several miles to school in the early hours of the morning. Far too many children cannot afford shoes and walk bare-footed, often suffering from hunger along the way. Siamasimbi is just one of the many remote communities that desperately need further support to improve their circumstances.

Young girls at Siamasimbi walk bare-footed to school

You can help these vulnerable children by donating a uniform for £10 ($16) or shoes £15 ($24) or a blanket £15 ($24).

Malima Community School House

Schools such as Mukuni Basic and High rely upon trained government teachers and with a catchment in excess of twelve hundred pupils a considerable number are required. Sadly the government cannot provide adequate housing for these teachers and it is left to the school to meet the shortfall. Since building Mukuni High School, which opened in 2007, we have encountered all kinds of problems. Although The Butterfly Tree has build some houses many more are needed in both Mukuni and Ngandu Villages. Several teachers who are residing in Livingstone, some distance from Mukuni, do not attend classes every day due to the cost of transport. Others have requested a transfer.

The Butterfly Tree Teacher’s House for Siamasimbi Basic School

When we upgraded Ngandu School in 2009 the community built two mud hut constructions to help ease the situation. This was fine until an elephant sniffed out grain in one of the teacher’s kitchens and uplifted the roof, as aresult the teacher refused to return to her home. Ngandu, one of the oldest basic schools in Zambia, built back in the nineteen forties has over 500 pupils and feeds into Mukuni High School. Like Mukuni there are a considerable number of orphans and many of them are on our orphan sponsorship programme.

Teachers’s kitchen destroyed by an elephant – Ngandu Basic School

Today starts an appeal to invite anyone to donate just £5 to help these teachers who in turn can help the orphans who desperately need an education.