Story 3: Makangala Pre-School

“Access to education is at the heart of our charity and is the key to ensuring children have a brighter future.” 

In April 2019, we officially opened the Makangala Pre-School. The school has been a great success and now provides vital early education to 80 children. This would not have been possible without your donations and without the support of everyone in Zambia who provided time and materials.  

When we started working with the Buntolo women’s groups in Monze, they impressed upon us the profound impact education has on a child’s future.  

Many of the area’s orphaned children couldn’t access primary school until as late as 8 or 9 years old. To address this, some of the caregivers were running make-shift pre-schools for as many as 70 children under the shade of a tree.  

We were asked by the community to work together to build a pre-school, so that’s what we set out to do. After much planning, discussions with the local department of education board and a huge amount of effort from all involved, the Makangala Pre-School officially opened in April 2019.  

The children are taught by qualified early years teachers, who have accommodation provided on the Pre-School’s grounds.  

We have exciting plans to build on the success of the Pre-School, including landscaping the grounds and purchasing play equipment.  

As the Pre-School has become a focus for the community, we also hope to develop a kitchen garden, where the community can grow food for the children.

10 Years, 10 Weeks, £10K!

To mark our 10 -year anniversary, members of our trustee board and other supporters have embarked on an ambitious challenge to walk/ cycle/ swim or even kayak the length of Zambia and raise £10,000 to continue to expand our life changing work. This week the team have clocked up an impressive 206kms to virtually enter Zambia’s Southern Province and arrive at the town of Simamba. 

If you would like to support their efforts and help us reach our target you can donate here. 

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Story 4: Demetria the Star Crafter

“Made under African skies, BFZ stars are handcrafted from traditional citenge fabric by our community group members, each one is unique and beautiful.”  

BFZ offers small start-up grants, allowing community members to buy the materials to craft the stars, and then buys the finished stars from the women at a fair price. The stars are easy to transport and now decorate many a Christmas tree in the UK, Switzerland, Canada and beyond! 

The community groups BFZ supports are full of tough, enterprising women. The kind of women who face one challenge after another and keep on finding solutions for a better future. A few years ago, we faced a problem. Citenge handicrafts were being sold for vital additional income, but the method wasn’t working for everyone. Women had to travel to our centre to use the sewing machines, which is a major hurdle if you live in a rural community miles away and care for several young children!   

The solution? Hand-stitched stars which could be made at home by anyone with the patience to perfect the skills required to craft them.  

Some of the women have re-invested the profits they have earned to buy solar lamps to allow them to work (and the children to study) after dark, and even to launch new small businesses. You could say that these stars are helping to make the stars of the future.   

We offer the stars for a suggested donation of just £1, and any profit we make goes back into supporting BFZ’s other projects, like the Makangala Preschool and our sponsorship programmes.  

Demetria is an enthusiastic star crafter and explains the benefits for her:  

“There are challenges being a woman in Zambia, especially the rural women. It is hard to find things to do like business and work and to care for the children. I really appreciate the skills imparted to me in learning to sew the stars. The money raised from the stars helps in paying for school fees for those children not on sponsorship and buying other essential things that are needed at home.”  

If you could host some stars at your workplace or in a community setting, please contact us and we can provide you with a presentation box and collection tin.  

 10 Years, 10 Weeks, £10K!

To mark our 10 -year anniversary, members of our trustee board and other supporters have embarked on an ambitious challenge to walk/ cycle/ swim or even kayak the length of Zambia and raise £10,000 to continue to expand our life changing work. This week the team have travelled a collective distance of 132km to virtually reach the tiny town of Siashona in Zambia’s Southern Province. 

 If you would like to support their efforts you can donate here.  

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Story 5: The Good Goat

“A story of success and sustainability, The Good Goat project has provided female goats to over 100 households and is still going strong.” 

In July 2013, BFZ raised £1,611 in 30 days to initiate The Good Goat project. This seed funding launched a valuable community project which continues to thrive today. As more goats are born, they are shared amongst the community. The milk produced by the goats provides income to feed, clothe, and educate the children as well as a valuable source of nutrition.   

This was our first foray into the well-established ‘pass-it-on’ methodology. The initial investment provided 10 families with a herd of 5 female goats each and 2 billy goats to share, as well as training in animal husbandry.   

When the goats have babies, the first few kids are given to other families in the community.  When those goats reproduce, they’re given out to families in neighbouring villages. So, this cycle of success keeps spreading, cascading out into an ever-growing number of communities.  

During crises such as the poor harvests in 2019 and the current Covid pandemic the project provides valuable support to many communities. 

The Good Goat is a project we’re very proud of. 

10 Years, 10 Weeks, £10K!

To mark our 10 -year anniversary, members of our trustee board and other supporters have embarked on an ambitious challenge to walk/ cycle/ swim or even kayak the length of Zambia and raise £10,000 to continue to expand our life changing work. This week is an exciting week in our challenger’s journey as they have clocked up enough miles to virtually arrive in beautiful Monze, our project base.  

If you would like to support their efforts and help us reach our target you can donate here. 

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