Latest News from Chimwemwe

Big thanks!

2011-11-29T20:52:00.001Z

A big thanks to Giovani di Gesu and Gerard McCabe for their extremely generous donations of £100 each. The money will make a huge difference to the kids and we can't thank you enough.

Many thanks to Philofaxy!

2011-11-27T15:58:00.002Z

Many thanks to the good folks at Philofaxy, who have asked people who are advertising on their site to give a donation to Chimwemwe in lieu of payment for the advert. This enormous generosity has raised well over £250 in the last few months, with especial thanks going to Giovani di Gesu and Gerard McCabe.
Many thanks for your support!

Mac in the UK!

2011-10-18T09:29:00.002+01:00

Mac is in the UK, fundraising, meeting donors and friends and hopefully not freezing to death! He has just arrived in Scotland to stay with Amanda.

Grant from Kitchen Table Charities Trust

2011-09-30T11:45:00.002+01:00

We are delighted to report that the Kitchen Table Charities Trust's Grants Committee has approved a grant of £6,500 towards the cost of building a rehabilitation and training centre for orphans and other vulnerable children at Manasseh Township, Blantyre.

In a letter to Mac Nkhutabasa, Brian Donaldson (the Chairman of the KTCT Grants Committee) said," John Humphrys founded the Kitchen Table Charities Trust to help small charities like yours that succeed in transforming people's lives with very little money. It gives us at KTCT pride and satisfaction to be able to support the work of the Chimwemwe Children's Centre, and we wish you and your colleagues every possible success with this project and all your future activities."

The grant will enable Chimwemwe Children's Centre to commence building before the Malawian wet season.

Rotary boat trip raises £380

2011-07-15T17:29:00.000+01:00

Many, many thanks to Dennis and the Howe of Fife Rotary Club for another very generous donation!

Dennis Beattie organised a boat trip from his house, up the Tay to Perth and back, followed by drinks and a buffet meal. He would not accept any contributions towards the day, but there was a bucket put out for donations. Dennis very kindly asked for the donations to be given to Chimwemwe and Amanda Fleet accepted the money on Tuesday from the club.

The support that the Rotary of the Howe of Fife give is enormous and we can never thank you enough.

Just back!

2011-06-22T16:29:00.000+01:00

I'm just back from Malawi and have had a fabulous (albeit tiring) time out there.

So, what's new?

Well, the hope is that we will be able to take over a building previously used by another charity group that worked with children (but which seems to have folded) to be able to house the children who are still on the streets. With any luck, they will be able to move into this building by the start of July.

We are also trying to put together budgets to get funding to build our own centre and are hopeful that we will be able to make a start on that before the end of the Malawian winter (UK summer).

More detailed updates soon!

Army Cadets Raise £250

2011-02-12T14:55:00.000Z

The Royal Signals (Kinross) Detachment of the Black Watch Army Cadet Force has raised the magnificent sum of £250 for Chimwemwe. Pictured below are some of the detachment presenting a cheque to Amanda on Thursday 10th February, 2011.

We are all enormously grateful for the continued support that the cadets are giving. A big thankyou from all of us at Chimwemwe!

Mac cycles to Success

2010-08-09T14:19:00.000+01:00

August 2010:Mac Nkhutabasa has completed a sponsored cycle ride from Blantyre to Lake Malawi to raise funds for Chimwemwe. The gruelling ride took place over the last weekend in July, 2010 and has raised K200 000 (approximately £900).

Afterwards, a tired Mac was pleased with the achievement.

“The money raised will help the project enormously. We are looking to be able to buy some land and this event has gone a long way to helping us achieve that goal.”

The land will be useful on many levels. Firstly, the goal is to be able to build a centre for the project, which will have office space, space for the children and also kitchens to help with providing a good meal each day to the children. In addition, the land will be used to teach the children how to grow vegetables - an essential life-skill that orphans would otherwise miss out on. The children are very excited about this, although more excited about eating the food that will be grown!

We are hoping to be able to raise the rest of the money needed to buy the land very soon.

A Sewing Machine brings Hope

2010-07-09T14:19:00.000+01:00

July 2010:It is 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Saidi Selemani, emerges from his small dark house in Bangwe, one of the poorest townships in the city of Blantyre. He is smiling widely. Two children aged between nine and eleven are playing outside his house. He has come home to welcome them back from school and then collect sewing materials for his business at the nearby market.

His shop is full with customers, on the wall there are new clothes he made. His welcome demonstrates pride and joy in his family achievement.

Saidi lost his wife four years ago and he has struggled to raise the children as a single parent. Only a year ago, Saidi’s two children, Betty and Flossy were begging on the streets of Blantyre because there was no food at home. During its street outreach, a Chimwemwe volunteer met Betty and Flossy and befriended them. After spending time with the children, a visit was made to their family. After exploring different ways on how the girls would be helped to live at home and go to school, Saidi asked if Chimwemwe would help him by getting him a sewing machine.

The donation from the Rotarians in the Howe of Fife, allowed a sewing machine to be bought and given to the family. Saidi is very thrilled that finally he is able to feed his family, and also that his two daughters are now back into school and attending classes regularly. Chimwemwe is also very pleased because it is benefiting from the sewing machine as Saidi is helping us in making other children’s school uniforms.

Now, Saidi, 40 years old is living a transformed life through Chimwemwe’s support. The daughters are now back into school and Saidi provides for the family through his business of sewing clothes.

“I am proud that my children are now back in school. I know they have a bright future. Thank you to Chimwemwe for helping me to meet my family’s needs.”

Concert Raises over £850!

2010-04-09T14:14:00.000+01:00

April 2010: The Rotary Club of the Howe of Fife organised a concert in aid of the Chimwemwe Children's Centre which raised the grand total of £852. The concert featured one of the Rotarians, Linda Ballingall, along with her two fellow singers, John Grieve and Craig Smith, who comprise the group "A Sentimental Journey". Linda, John and Craig delighted the audience with hits from the shows and from the big band era, including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Matt Monro, Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and many more.

The finale was a show-stopping rendition of 'The Rhythm of Life', originally sung by Sammy Davis Junior in the film, 'Sweet Charity'.

President Dennis Beattie, thanked all the singers for an enjoyable evening.

Donation from The Black Watch Battalion Army Cadets

2010-02-09T14:13:00.000Z

February 2010: The Black Watch Battalion Army Cadets, based in Fife, have raised £100 for Chimwemwe Children's Centre. The cadets packed bags at a local supermarket in Fife over the Christmas and New Year holiday, to raise the funds. The cheque was presented to Amanda Fleet on behalf of Chimwemwe Children's Centre on February 23rd. The money will go towards providing school uniforms and school fees for the children. Although primary education in Malawi is free, secondary education is not, and all school children must wear uniform. Although uniforms are relatively inexpensive to buy, they are beyond the means of the street orphans.

Dr Fleet was thrilled with the donation.

“The children will be delighted by this donation. They are so keen to go to school. Education is their way out of a cycle of poverty that has not been of their making and they will be overjoyed to know that people who live on the other side of the world are thinking of them.”

Donation from the Rotary Club of The Howe of Fife

2010-01-09T14:12:00.000Z

January 2010: Members of the Rotary Club of the Howe of Fife have presented £500 to Dr Amanda Fleet for Chimwemwe Children’s Centre. Dr Fleet was first made aware of the project with the street children in January 2009 and helped to set up Chimwemwe Children's Centre in the same year. She has already donated a bicycle to the centre, which enables Chimwemwe project co-ordinator, Macdonald Nkhutabasa, to make quicker contact with the street children than he would be able to do on foot.

“I am delighted with this extremely generous donation from the Rotary Club of the Howe of Fife,” Amanda says, “Which will go towards school fees, shelter and food for some of the young people.”

In turn, President Dennis Beattie praised the work of the project, and hoped that the donation would be of benefit.

Start of the new school year approaches

2009-12-09T14:03:00.000Z

December 2009: The new school year is about to start and so Chimwemwe is working hard to get shelter and uniforms to the children so that they can start the new term on time. Any assistance with this is greatly welcomed.

A bicycle solves Transport Problems

2009-11-10T14:11:00.000Z

November 2009: Chimwemwe transport problems are over, thanks to a donation made by Amanda Fleet from St Andrews, Scotland.

Since January 2009, Macdonald Nkhutabasa, the only full time worker for the programme, has been walking long distances meeting children and their families. There are many children who come onto the streets of Blantyre to beg for food, money and clothes. Chimwemwe supports these children to access education by providing them with learning materials. Most of the children living on the streets come from communities surrounding Blantyre city, the commercial capital of Malawi.

Working with children on the streets is very important to their lives, but it is more ideal to work with children before they end up on the streets. Chimwemwe focuses on dealing with causes rather than symptoms of the problems faced by children.

Currently, Chimwemwe is working in Ndirande, Mbayani, Bangwe, Chilobwe, Zingwangwa and Soche. Community’s leaders from these communities, through the support from Chimwemwe, have formed committees to support orphans and other vulnerable children. Macdonald conducts follow up visits to these places to see how they are functioning, monitoring and evaluating impact.

Reaching the communities was both tiring, expensive and time-consuming until the organization got a bicycle from Amanda, the project’s ambassador in the United Kingdom.

“Life was hard, I had to cover over 50 kilometers each day to supervise how the communities were fairing. This was very difficult and time consuming until we got this precious gift. Our life will now be a lot easier”. Macdonald says.

Chimwemwe is expecting to enroll over 30 children back in school at the start of new term in December.

Football makes a difference

2009-11-09T14:07:00.000Z

November 2009: Children in Malawi love football. It is a national sport. Someone does not need to be rich in order to play football. Children will do whatever they can just to be able to play this game. To have a proper ball is not easy for the children who cannot even afford to buy lunch worth K50 (less than 50p in the UK). Many children collect plastic bags to make a ball just to have fun. Many street children can name English football players by heart; they know Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, David Beckham and many more.

Chimwemwe got its first proper footballs in 2009. Within a week, the children had set up their own rules on how the football should be used. It was very fascinating to hear one of the boys, Noel saying:

“This football should only be played in the afternoon after school. No children who do not go to school should be allowed to play”.

The new footballs are not just for games; Chimwemwe uses them to build relationships among the children themselves and also with other people they interact with. Macdonald takes a ball when reaching out to the children and invites them to play if they want.

Chimwemwe is using this opportunity to teach children discipline. Children are learning football rules, the power of team work, and also caring for one another, especially if one in injured while playing the game. Each and every time before the game, children are asked to say some rules of the game and how they can apply the rules in their everyday lives.

Apart from encouraging children to return back to school, the football is also helping to keep the children physically fit.

Chimwemwe is using football to reach over 5 communities. The long-term plan is to have football teams in all the communities the organization is working with. It is expected that by the middle of next year, Chimwemwe will join the Blantyre youth football league. This will help the children to develop their self-esteem through interacting with other children.

Chimwemwe.net is up and running!

2009-10-09T13:56:00.000+01:00

October 2009: Thanks to the kind and generous gift of this site from PureIT, Chimwemwe Children's centre now has a website. Amanda has been working hard to get all the information up here. We hope that you will enjoy browsing through all the pages.