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March Newsletter
School Musical, Classroom renovations and much more!
BAHASI Organisation
April 10, 2025
Table of Contents
BAHASI’s Plan of Action
Our main focuses at BAHASI for April are:
Fundraising to buy a bus for BAHASI.
One of our goals BAHASI has is for us to be a self sustaining charity so that we can thrive regardless of Malawi’s economic situation. This means making steps to buying our own bus instead of relying on local mini buses. During April we aim to apply for some grants for the bus.
Having a bus will significantly improve the lives of our children and increase our positive impact on the community, read more about this issue in our struggles section
Classrooms Renovation
One of our aims during April is to complete the renovations of our classrooms! We want to provide a safe place where the children we support in the community can come and learn.
Hopefully throughout April, phases 2 and 3 of the project (to paint the exterior and floors) will be well on their way to being funded and completed. If you want to help out and support this project check our how to section.
Updates
Classroom Renovation
Our classroom renovation project is underway! We had a day of clearing out meaning the classrooms are prepped and ready for the redecorations.
Then we filled in the holes in the walls and fixed the roof to ensure that once the renovation is finished the classrooms stay in great condition.
And at the end of March painting commenced! This project is going great so far and we just need some support to get phases 2 and 3 completed (painting of the floors and exteriors)
Women’s Empowerment Tailoring Programme
Our tailoring programme is almost up and running! This month we have found perfect candidates for our programme that we know will benefit the most from this training and put in the work to succeed. We have also bought all the materials needed to start the programme including thread, needles, scissors, chalk, fabric and buttons. Thanks to your generous donations we had the money to obtain these essential materials. Without your kindness and support, those in our community taking part in the training, wouldn’t have this amazing opportunity. If you are interested in continuing to empower the vulnerable women in our community check out our how to section.
Fundraising
We have raised approximately £1000 for BAHASI this month purely from community and international support! The money raised will go towards transport, the tailoring programme and food for our staff, ensuring that we can support our community during this economic crisis and thanks to your kindness. We are hopeful that this good fortune will follow us into April.
Shout-outs!
A big thanks to our Donors and Visitors this month:
Gift of the Givers
Prophet Festus
Georgia Beresford
Hope Church members
Abraham Tol
Dirk Tol
Amit Kakkad
Fiona Rochford
Stuart Presley
Big shout out to our well wishers who donated anonymously through our donation pages!
This month we have celebrated the Birthdays of :
Jacob Hong-Sing - Deputy Director of BAHASI!
Mercy Ngusengwa- Treasurer of BAHASI!
Visitors
Prophet Festus came to visit BAHASI this month and brought a donation of kamba, sugar, soap and salt which is so appreciated and needed here at BAHASI. We loved having him to visit and some of the children performed poems and songs which everybody thoroughly enjoyed! Prophet Festus gave an inspiring speech and promised to come again in future which we are looking forward to.
Gift of the Givers came with a donation of maize, soy pieces and oil which we are so thankful for. With the rising prices of food and resources in Malawi we need these donations more than ever to support our children and ensure they have enough food to eat. Gift of the Givers have been faithfully supporting us and now more than ever we are so grateful for their donations.
Amit Kakkad came and visited us twice this month and we had an amazing time playing games, singing songs and eating biscuits. He donated 200kg of maize to our feeding programme and this has ensured that our OVCs (orphaned and vulnerable children) can eat this month! We are endlessly grateful for his generosity and hope to see him again soon. If you would like to contribute to our feeding programme please check out our section.
Highlights
Jacaranda School Musical
A few of BAHASI’s children were involved in the Jacaranda school musical - The Lion King! A shout out to Annie, Pemphero, Margaret, Triza and Moreen who were part of the choir and to Shaffe who was an antelope. We are so proud of all of BAHASI’s children who were part of this amazing show. The music, costumes and acting were all incredible, definitely a show worthy of Broadway!
Hill View International School Play
Hill View International school have been constant supporters of BAHASI and we had the pleasure of being invited to their production of the ‘10 best and worst things about high school’. Providing our older kids with a fun evening of snacks laughs and community!
Swimming Programme
This month during our swimming programme we had so much fun! Not only did we swim but also played some volleyball! BAHASI’s children love all sorts of sports and learning a new one is a very exciting activity for them. BAHASI used to have a football and netball team but these were sadly discontinued due to a lack of funds. If you want to help us provide opportunities for our children and donate to BAHASI please check out our support section.
Cooking Programme
This month we made samosa’s for everybody at BAHASI. We started by taking a trip to the market to buy all the ingredients needed which included flour, potatoes, carrots, green peppers, onions and spices. Then we set to work mixing the dough and peeling potatoes while of course having a sing-a-long to Mamma Mia songs. Then we let the dough rise and potatoes boil while the rest of the vegetables were chopped up and the spices added! The next step in the process was rolling out chapatis and forming them into triangle shapes and then stuffing with our delicious filling and frying! To check out our results head over to our Instagram and watch our stories which show the step-by-step process
Struggles
Our on-going struggle at BAHASI is having a reliable income to keep the charity running smoothly. Because of our lack of funds we struggle to sustain the programmes which are essential to the wellbeing of those in BAHASI’s care and those we support in the community.
Buying a bus - Currently our biggest issue is that we do not have a consistent and safe way for our children to get to school each day. Due to the fuel crisis in Malawi we no longer have sufficient funds to get the children to school. Per day, the hire of a mini bus, to the school, costs us between 40,000MKW-60,000MKW (depending on fuel pricing), which is around 1,000,000MKW ($575) per month. This expenditure is not feasible for BAHASI and we are really struggling to get the kids into school every day, especially with exams approaching as some of the older children need to go to school on Saturdays. Education is so important to us here at BAHASI and our OVC’s not being able to access the very thing we guarantee is heart-breaking.
Feeding Programme - With the rising prices of food in Malawi donors are becoming less able to donate to our feeding programme. This is meaning we are having to provide our kids with less filling and less high quality meals. We have tried reaching out to local stores and businesses but we are receiving very little support. Some of our younger children are even getting sick from lack of nutrition.
Staff Allowances - This devaluation is also impacting our staff incredibly. With most of our staff having families of their own to feed, and an almost 250% raise in prices on some produce, the allowance, that is shared between 13 staff members, is no where enough to even buy a bag of maize. Just this month we have lost two Caregivers for our OVC’s because they can no longer work and feed their family. If you want to help please check out our how to section.
How you can support us
Transport- A long term solution to our transport problem is to buy BAHASI our own bus so that we no longer need to rely on small minibuses to take our kids to and from activities. As mentioned in the BAHASI’s Plan of Action, a big goal of ours in 2025 is to really push fundraising for this bus. So, a great way to support us with this project would be to contact us if you: know of any capital grants that would fund transportation projects; are interested in supporting BAHASI in holding some kind of fundraiser event; are able to help us source a bus; want to donate towards a bus for BAHASI.
However; to ensure that our children continue to get an education we need short term support. If you are able to help please visit our donation page or contact us to set up a donation. Our OVC’s have a bright future so please consider helping us out monthly to get our kids to reach their full potential.
Staff Allowances- To become a regular donor for our staff wages please contact us or visit our donation page. To pay the monthly wage for one teacher it costs us 98000MKW (£45).
Activities- The swimming programme costs around 40,000 MK per month with is around £20, if you would like to fund this programme, please donate here.
Feeding Programme- To support our feeding programme please get in contact with our staff if you’d like to donate produce (rice, beans, vegetables, meat, etc), or if you’d like to sponsor a child’s food for a week you can donate £2 here
Community Empowerment- If you are interested in checking out our other programmes that support the wider community and give our OVC’s new and exciting experiences please visit our linktree.