Help feed a starving child this Christmas with appeal launched today | UK | News

Help feed a starving child this Christmas with appeal launched today | UK | News

Mary’s Meals outlines the work they provide in Malawi

Poverty-stricken schoolchildren’s lives are being totally transformed by a UK charity – one cup of warm porridge at a time.

Mary’s Meals is a beacon of hope that nourishes the futures of pupils across the world’s poorest nations.

The organisation has sowed the seeds of possibility across 18 countries, transforming classrooms into havens of sustenance, education and dreams.

Brothers Edgar Kunda, 13, and Benjamin, 10, are among the children at Katapila Primary School, in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley, who have swapped a craving for food with a hunger for learning thanks to Mary’s Meals.

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They are among more than 2.4 million kids who have been helped to get a start in life.

It is an amazing cause that we are now asking you, our amazing, generous readers to back our Christmas Appeal.

And there are plenty of reasons to back the charity’s extraordinary wholesome food effort.

Dedicated volunteers serve the pupils a free helping of porridge at school every day – boosting attendance and reducing drop-out rates.

Children who eat Mary's Meals porridge at school in Zambia

Children who eat Mary’s Meals porridge at school in Zambia (Image: Chris Watt Photography)

The boys’ parents Emmanuel Kunda, 42, and Victoria Mbewe, 37, shared their relief that their sons are assured at least one hearty meal of maize and soya porridge a day, which has been fortified with vitamins and minerals.

Former volunteer teacher Emmanuel and his farmer wife, who both have HIV, told of the family’s challenges while sitting in the shade provided by a mango tree outside their home, sweltering under Africa’s sun.

Father of five Emmanuel said: “I developed a sickness and started feeling unwell. I even stopped walking. I can’t move, especially long distances. This means I stay in the yard. It’s been this way for two years. I just sit.

“My sickness has had a huge impact on my family. I can’t move, I can’t do anything. If the children’s father is sick, then who is fighting for them? Hunger is also striking us. A lot of things have happened to my family.”

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Their youngest son Evans, three, was born unable to walk or talk.

Emmanuel shared how his wife, who takes anti-retroviral drugs, struggles because “there is nothing I can do”.

The former Katapila Primary school teacher added: “I just stare at her moving up and down looking for food. Instead of me doing it, she’s out doing it.”

Evans gurgles from his mother’s lap while she shares the struggles of feeding her family.

Doctors told the parents his condition would have improved drastically with physiotherapy but the family is unable to take him because of Victoria’s other responsibilities.

Emmanuel Kunda and his wife Victoria Mbewe both have HIV

Emmanuel Kunda and his wife Victoria Mbewe both have HIV (Image: Chris Watt Photography)

Victoria, speaking via the school’s headteacher Ireen Mulunda, said: “I feel so neglected and bad about my life. I have to work extra hard to make sure that my oldest son in grade 11 remains in rented accommodation.

“But that means money that could be used here, is used there. I play a very big role in the family.

“I find myself selling local beer, called Kachasu, which I brew illegally to make money. I can’t find any alternative to raising funds.”

Emmanuel said: “My wife needs to look for small piece works for the survival of the children. This is very hard in our village.”

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Katapila Primary School headteacher Ireen Mulunda

Katapila Primary School headteacher Ireen Mulunda (Image: Chris Watt Photography)

The couple’s daughter, 21, got married several years ago before completing her education in a bid to reduce the number of mouths her family has to feed.

Her parents described how they battled to pay for her education, which became free in the country in 2021.

In schools where Mary’s Meals are served, research shows that hunger is reduced, enrolment increases, attendance improves, drop-out rates fall and absences dwindle.

Parents are less anxious and children are also happier.

Edgar, who hopes to be a tour guide, said: “I feel I have more intelligence in class because I’m being fed food.”

Benjamin, who wants to be a soldier, said: “I concentrate better in class now.”

Emmanuel, who completed his education, said he has never considered taking his children out of school to get jobs and help provide food for the family.

He said: “I can’t tell them to stop school because that is their future. How will they survive if they leave school?

“I know they will have a bright future. They are intelligent. Before Mary’s Meals, they used to not go to school every day but now, because there’s food, they go there daily. Their academic and social capacity has improved.”

Emmanuel Kunda and his family seated outside their home in rural Zambia

Emmanuel and his family seated outside their home in rural Zambia (Image: Chris Watt Photography)

Victoria, who dropped out in grade four and cannot read or write, said: “I don’t have pressure to think about what to feed them if they get porridge at school. It’s a relief.”

Emmanuel added: “If there’s little food at home, the children don’t complain much because they’ve already eaten at school.”

The family is also feeling the effects of climate change which has led to an inconsistent rainy season, floods and higher temperatures in the region.

Victoria said: “We experienced floods meaning all our food crops were washed away. We never had a harvest once which means we didn’t have food. That brought a great negative impact on our family.”

The life-changing Mary’s Meals are made possible by many little acts of kindness from supporters and volunteers around the globe.

Each cup is prepared and served by volunteers who live near schools supported by Mary’s Meals.

Katapila Primary principal Ms Mulunda said: “Mary’s Meals has brought joy to the school, as well as the community. Locals have embraced the initiative. In 2016, when the project started at the school, it had a pass rate of 81 per cent. Since the initiative, our pass rate has changed to 100 per cent.

« This has had a great impact on the students and the teachers who notice our learners have the right food at the right time. The challenges of teaching schoolchildren on an empty stomach has been lessened. Our learners are now eager to learn.”

Subsistence farmers in Zambia being impacted by climate change

Subsistence farmers in Zambia are being impacted by climate change (Image: Chris Watts Photography)

As little as 10p can provide one nutritious meal for a hungry child.

Donations made to Mary’s Meals from now until 22 January 2024, including those from the Express Christmas appeal, will be doubled by a group of generous supporters – up to £1million.

It costs just £19.15 to feed a child with Mary’s Meals every day for a school year. And this winter, a donation of £19.15 will feed two children.

To donate and find out more, visit www.marysmeals.org.uk/express

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and CEO of Mary’s Meals

Mary’s Meals is a simple thing that works. Something that allows all of us to help change the lives of the world’s very poorest children. 

It was the words of a child that ignited the whole Mary’s Meals movement. They were spoken to me in 2002 by a 14-year-old called Edward in Malawi where I was carrying out emergency work during a hunger crisis. 

Edward was sitting beside his dying mother when I met him. I asked him – in an attempt to bring hope into a desperate situation – what his dreams were in life. “I would like to have enough food to eat. And I would like to be able to go to school one day,” he answered, as if this was an audacious ambition to hold. 

Today there are 67 million children like Edward, missing school because they are hungry. They might be working or begging instead. And, in missing school, their one potential ladder out of poverty – education – is stolen from them. They, and their children after them, become trapped in a horrible cycle of poverty. 

A few months after meeting Edward, in an attempt to break that cycle, we began serving daily school meals in one small school in Malawi. Cooking and serving the meals – consisting of locally produced food – was carried out by local volunteers (and still is today). Children who had never been to school began coming, whilst those who used to attend too hungry to concentrate, began to make academic progress. It worked!

Today more than 2.4 million children eat Mary’s Meals. In 18 of the world’s poorest nations – including South Sudan, Kenya and Haiti – children queue up at break to receive their meal. 

And many thousands of young adults who once ate our nutritious meals are in paid employment, or further education, have started businesses or are farming their land more productively. They tell us that without the promise of Mary’s Meals they would never have stepped inside a school. We call these young people Generation Hope. 

This work is only possible because of people’s generous support. The fact that it costs only 10p per meal (£19.15 for an entire school year) makes it more outrageous that millions of children are still hungry and desperately waiting for Mary’s Meals. We may have been doing this work for 20 years, but it feels like we have only just begun. Please join us so that we can serve the next hungry child waiting.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and CEO of Mary’s Meals

Cet article est apparu en premier en ANGLAIS sur https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1838681/Christmas-Mary-s-Meals-Charity-Appeal-Hunger-Poverty


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