| As summer arrives, September brings us the calm, soothing views of the lake and plenty of sunshine. We’re excited to welcome new faces to our team! Clement has joined us as Assistant Lodge Manager, and Stephen is the friendly face you’ll see behind the bar. We are deeply saddened by the passing of Martha Chinyanga, a dedicated volunteer at our youth club. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time. May she rest in peace. With the lake’s water levels dropping, our team has been hard at work with renovations. The beach house, garden house, new deck, and cottage have all been freshly refurbished and are now ready for bookings. But that’s not all! We’ve added a new compost toilet and urinal near the bar, so guests can enjoy their drinks without having to go far. |
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| Butterfly Space Support the general upkeep and progression of all our Butterfly community development projects. Disability Centres Help purchase materials for vocational training sessions at Pundu & Mpamba disability centres. |
| MSPC Offset your carbon by purchasing a tree pack a school. Youth Club Assist with finishing touches for the building renovation. |
E.A.R.T.H Workshops
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| The first round of EARTH Workshops have been implemented in the first 5 villages around Nkhata Bay. With over 150 participants over the full three month period the programme has been a great success and the second round has already started with 3 more villages. In easy to follow and hands-on workshops Thom and Maxwell are sharing important information on sustainable resource management, compost & fertiliser production, land & water management, crop diversity, nutrition and agroforestry. All workshops are held in Tonga, our local language in the bay, and supported through handouts that contain all important information for later reference. The EARTH Workshops are ready to be shared with any community in Malawi with clear instructions for the people who deliver and receive it. The program has been shared to communities in Ruarwe, Zomba and Ntchisi already. Our tree nursery is flourishing and we have 15.000 trees growing on different parts of the lodge and another 5.000 trees in different communities, where we have delivered the workshops. Please let us know, if you would like to support our tree planting projects for this coming rainy season. Follow us on Social Media and visit our Chuffed Page for more information. |
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MSPC
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| The end of the school year is always busy for MSPC as many of the schools hold open days in their communities and this year we tried to go a step further. We re vamped some of our demonstrations, including the improved ‘Wonder bag’, solar drier, solar cookers. Ian at the information room has also created videos of how these are made, making these easily shareable amongst our other projects and beyond. We also learnt from Crown Malawi to do some extra soil demonstrations. Frank Fulama also used our contacts database from the previous years to set up community Whatsapp groups to encourage high participation and get the interested people in the village to attend. It generally worked well, with most schools holding open days, a special shout out must go to Nkhwali and Luwazi who really showed how it should be done and we hope to use their experience to help us going forward. The summer break also gives us the opportunity to hold teacher training and this year we altered our approach here also; Instead of centralising the training, we decided to hold the training at one of the better schools within each cluster, so two, one at Nkhwali and one at Luwazi primaries. This meant that the venues themselves were good demonstrations to the new participants and also that they benefited from the practical sessions held during the training. With nearly full attendance this meant that 40 teachers were trained in basic permaculture techniques that they can use as a starting point to join in the permaculture sessions at their school. |
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Information & Media Center
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| Our efforts to teach computer basics in local schools are gaining momentum. We’ve recently added Limphasa School to our program, where we hold weekly workshops. The turnout has been amazing, with students joining eagerly after their regular classes in the afternoons. It’s a great way to keep them engaged while learning important skills. We’ve also been making progress in building partnerships to support information sharing and collaboration. One exciting connection is with Humasol, an organisation that develops sustainable technologies and connects with global projects. Humasol is already working on the Green Malata project in Malawi, where the students were there this summer building a wind turbine. We hope that next summer a team of students will visit us here at Butterfly and do the same, potentially building two smaller turbines at primary school in the MSPC network and the aim is also to work with local artisans and colleges to make sure they can be maintained and built locally. We’re also in promising discussions with Moving Windmill. They’ve shown interest in our information resources and offered to share across their six community hubs in Kasungu. |
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Volunteers & Interns
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| We’ve had some fantastic volunteers and interns join us recently, and we wanted to share a little about their contributions. Thea, from England, has been with us for a month, helping out with various projects, including Stepping Stones International Primary School and the Baby Baskets initiative. She assisted teachers, ran small reading groups, and even helped paint the school to get it ready for future students. Juliane, originally from Germany, has spent the last two months volunteering at Stepping Stones as well, where she supported teachers by offering feedback and running reading groups for students needing extra help. She also got involved in the Baby Baskets project and took part in painting the new school hostel. Lotte, from Norway, is here for a three-month internship as part of her master’s degree in innovation and societal development. She’s been busy creating interview videos for our projects, updating our website, and helping manage Instagram accounts, all while teaching Staphy to take ownership of these tasks. Ambonisye, from Lilongwe, has spent the last two months with us as an intern, working closely with the Earth Workshops project. She has played a key role in engaging local communities by teaching about compost manure, agroforestry, and resource management. She has also managed the social media for Earth Workshops, sharing updates and inspiring others with stories about the project. Each volunteer has brought something special to our community, and we’re grateful for their hard work and dedication!. |
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Stepping Stones
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| Dear Stepping Stones Family and Friends, We are sad to announce the passing of our teacher, Memorise Phiri. He had been dealing with a long-term health condition and will be deeply missed by the teachers and students. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Our Standard 8 students took their national exams in May. Fourteen students boarded in the classrooms for two months leading up to the exams. At home, teenagers often take on significant household responsibilities, which can negatively impact their education. With the support of Downe House, we were able to cover food costs for those who could not contribute. We received the exam results, and we are thrilled to announce that two students have been selected for District Boarding Schools, and another four have been selected for CDSS. Thirteen students passed, with one not passing. We are proud of their achievements and will continue to work on improving our teaching and learning. Our boarding hostel is almost finished, thanks to Datum’s funding. This will provide a comfortable space for our Standard 8 and Vocational Training students. The library is now in use, and we have started teaching computer lessons. We are still working on getting electricity and hope to have solar power installed soon. We are now at full capacity and have bought a coaster bus to accommodate the increased number of students. Our Baby Baskets project has been a success, and we have delivered baskets to the maternity wards at the hospital. We are grateful to our volunteers and donors who have made this possible. We have provided several school trips and enrichment activities this term, including sports trips and a dance swap with River Beach Primary School in the UK. Our students have also participated in an annual art competition focused on Gender Equity and Free Periods for All. The new vocational training programs in Hair and Beauty and Carpentry will start in October. |
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Pundu Disability Center
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| As the school year begins, the centre is once again bustling with the lively sounds of nursery children. We’re thrilled to announce that Pundu has officially been registered with Nkhata Bay Council as a ‘community’ nursery school! This milestone has allowed us to install a borehole at the centre, transforming it into a true community hub open to all. The children now enjoy a daily hot, nutritious bowl of fortified porridge, prepared using a fuel-efficient stove. Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the upcoming planting season. The grounds around Pundu Disability Centre and the community clinic will soon become an agroecology demonstration plot. Here, we will establish a fruit forest, showcase deep-bed farming, and introduce other sustainable practices. In other news, we bid a warm farewell to three of our members who are heading to Bandawe Special School for the Deaf in Chintheche, thanks to the Butterfly Space sponsorship program. We’re also excited to have secured sponsorship for a new student with hearing impairments, who will be joining them. Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce that plans for our new community library have been finalized, and construction is set to begin this week! The library will be accessible to both centre members and the wider community, including local students and study groups who frequent the centre in the evenings. Our goal is to create a space for educational and creative opportunities while promoting social inclusion. The library will be stocked with books for all ages and equipped with two laptops loaded with educational software. It will also serve as an information hub for resources on nutrition, health, agriculture, permaculture, and seed sharing, benefiting the entire community. |
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| “Hidden in our hearts is a longing to live deeply and with purpose and joy, to know and to be known, to be concerned with another; and to make a difference. In this dance of giving and receiving, we create our community, our World and ourselves” |
Wish List
| Wondering what to bring with you or what you can send to help out? We are constantly working on project & lodge improvements and are looking for a variety of items that could assist in our community development. Check out our hefty Wish List for project specific equipment and materials. If you can’t source specific things but have space in your luggage, we could always use baby clothes, reading glasses, batteries, towels, bedding, first aid kits and solar charging headlamps/portable batteries. All funds raised will be put directly towards community development efforts. Follow the social media links below to stay up to date. We thank you for your contributions and extend our gratitude for your generousity and ongoing support! |
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| Thank you to all who continue support Butterfly Space in various ways. We wouldn’t be where we are today without your support! 😀 |
