Malawi
Malawi is where Mary’s Meals first school feeding began in 2002. We provide daily meals in school to over 450,000 children attending Under 6 Centres or Primary schools.
School Feeding in Under 6 Centres
Many of the children who attend these centres are orphans. The centres are a safe place for them to spend their day. The children stay until around 3pm and receive 2 meals: Likuni Phala in the morning and a maize and vegetable stew before they leave. Two meals are provided because their young age makes them more vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition. The volunteers teach them songs, rhymes, and introduce them to counting and the alphabet. The aim of this early introduction to education is to encourage later enrolment in primary school. The children are also regularly visited by a Mary’s Meals Nurse who provides treatment for parasite infection.
School Feeding in Primary Schools
Mary’s Meals always works closely with local communities when establishing a school feeding project. Everyone – chiefs, teachers, parents, church leaders - are involved in the process. Usually land is donated in order to build a kitchen adjacent to the school. Teachers and parents organise a pool of volunteers who will take their turn cooking and serving the meals. Mary’s Meals provides the kitchen, cooking equipment, training, ongoing support and, of course, regular supplies of Likuni Phala. Each project is visited regularly by Mary’s Meals staff to support the volunteers and to ensure all is going as it should. They also collect data from the school to monitor the impact school feeding is having on the pupils.
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