On 25th February 2015 Alice Nugent and Caroline Sauerback set off from Marlow laden with clothing, bedding, pens and school items donated by well-wishers, together with lots more goods bought with the money raised at the Charity Event and donated by various supporters; all together more than 80 kgs in their suitcases!
Special thanks go to Caroline who paid her own way, and who worked extremely hard in Malawi to improve the conditions of the children’s lives. Caroline is in the middle picture with a group of children.
The first job was to improve the accommodation. Heavy rain had caused a wall to collapse, and the roof was leaking. Alice and Caroline spent the first two days cleaning, disinfecting, and spraying insecticide. Then off to the local shops where we bought mattresses, household goods and food.
In the evenings they played games like dominoes and zentangle. They talked about the future and the children’s dreams.
They spent time teaching the children about hygiene and how to manage their lives better.
They told them about the people back in Marlow and the efforts they had made to provide the help Alice and Caroline had been able to bring. The reward was the difference they saw in the children’s lives: how they responded by making their own conditions cleaner and tidier.
The commitment then was to raise funds to be able to send the children to boarding school where in addition to education they will also find security and decent food. The cost would be about $500 for each child for a year.
In July 2015 a Crowdfunding event raised £942. In addition to this, some very generous friends made significant donations.
Click here to read Caroline's report of the visit.