Support our School Literacy Project

Changing Lives Malawi is a charity based in Balfron, Central Scotland, run by volunteers who live locally too. We support hundreds of orphans and other vulnerable children who are living in extreme poverty in rural northern Malawi. As well as feeding children, we are passionate about their education. Schools don't have lots of resources like our schools do. Reading books are in short supply. How can children learn to read if they don't have books to practice with?

We want to help children and young people become more confident readers and help raise attainment levels. Children have to sit exams at the end of primary school. If they don't pass those exams they can't proceed to secondary education. Secondary School needs to be paid for in Malawi and, even if they have passed their primary school leavers exams, if they don't have money to pay for secondary school then their education stops at the end of primary school. This is why we match those most in need with sponsors to help support their education at Bright Futures Secondary School. (please email if you'd like to sponsor a young person's secondary education [email redacted] )

Through donations of preloved books from our supporters, we are able to make a big difference to literacy for a relatively small amount of money. The books are free to us and it is wonderful that they are able to be reused in this way. We buy strong boxes and each box costs £17.50 to send on the container to Malawi. The end destination of the container still requires a journey of several hours in a truck to go and collect all the boxes we have sent, so there are the costs associated with that journey too.

Bright Futures Nursery has up to 75 pre school children (age 4-6). Can you imagine children getting to age 4 and never having held a book? They didn't know how to turn the pages of the first books they looked at. These vulnerable children have missed out on four whole years of preliteracy. We read to our babies, we get toddlers to point at pictures and enjoy repeating rhyming text. Toddlers will run their fingers along the words pretending that they are reading. All of that is so important. We are ensuring that each of those children is gifted at least two books to take home to read with their siblings and caregivers. Eventually, we want all homes in that area to have books. The headteacher at Chambo Primary School has already reported that our School Literacy Project is making a difference to literacy amongst the learners who have been at Bright Futures Nursery and are now at Chambo Primary compared to other children in those classes.

We have been fortunate to have lots of donations of books from individuals as well as local nurseries and after school clubs. We have had huge donations from Strathblane Primary School, Balfron Primary School and Drymen Primary School. Many of these have been their reading schemes that have been updated so they will make a great addition to literacy in primary schools. It's good to know that the children's books from these schools will be well loved by many more children and help nurture their love of reading.

We need your help to send these books please...any donation you make will make a big difference. If lots of people are able to make a small donation then we can make a HUGE impact on literacy levels in the communities we help to support in rural northern Malawi. So could our villages (and anyone further afield) come together to ensure these boxes of books get to the children who need and want them? Thank you so much for reading and supporting our School Literacy Project, Sarah www.changinglivesmalawi.com

Everyone crowed round the first boxes of books that were sent. Some children were gifted preloved Strathblane Primary School uniform.