By Rahim Abdul
Mary’s Meals Malawi says it remains committed to keeping its promise to children already benefiting from its school feeding programme while working to reach 3.5 million more who still attend school without a daily meal.
The organisation has recently launched an alumni campaign in Malawi, targeting former beneficiaries and other supporters to help extend school feeding to children who continue to face hunger and poverty.
Mary’s Meals has been providing daily meals to children in their places of education in Malawi for more than 22 years, helping to remove hunger as one of the barriers that prevent children from attending school and concentrating in class.
Mona Lisa Bandawe
The organisation currently provides meals to more than 1.4 million children every school day across 24 districts, but the number of children still waiting for school meals remains significantly higher.
According to Mary’s Meals Malawi, more than 3.4 million school-age children in the country do not have access to a daily school meal, a situation worsened by food insecurity, droughts, floods, erratic rainfall and the rising cost of living.
The Alumni Campaign is seeking to turn former beneficiaries into a new source of hope for children experiencing the same challenges they once faced.
In an interview with 247 Malawi News,Head of Growth at Mary’s Meals Malawi,Mona Lisa Bandawe said the campaign provides an opportunity for people who have experienced the impact of the programme to help another child benefit from a daily meal at school.
“Mary’s Meals is a simple idea that works. A daily meal in a place of education brings children into the classroom and gives them the chance to learn,” said Bandawe.
She said the campaign is also an invitation to everyone who believes in the organisation’s mission to help it continue feeding children who are still waiting for support.
Bandawe said school feeding does more than provide food, as the daily meal encourages children to attend school, remain in class and concentrate on their education.
She said therefore, appealed to the organization’s alumni and wider supporters to contribute towards feeding the next generation of children and help ensure that poverty and hunger do not stand between them and education.
Mary’s Meals Malawi started its school feeding programme in Malawi in 2002 and has since grown into an international movement providing meals to more than three million children across 16 countries.
The organization feeds 1.4 million children every school day across 24 districts, with MK43,708.92 required to provide one child with school meals for one academic year.
