Mary's Meals - A simple solution to world hunger that works

Mary’s Meals & SIR founder, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow came across a ward full of abandoned children with HIV by chance while delivering aid to a hospital in Romania.

The scene he discovered horrified him. “There are two things I will always remember about that ward - the total silence and the stench. Afterwards someone explained to me that if you leave a child long enough it will give up even crying.” Magnus left determined to help these and other abandoned children. Although school feeding is the main focus of our work we occasionally provide residential care for children when funds allow and when this complements our Mary’s Meals programme.

Romania
We run three children’s homes (Iona House, Bannatyne House and Rosi’s House) in the city of Targu Mures.Some of the children have to contend with physical handicaps as well as HIV. These children had been abandoned in a hospital ward after being diagnosed HIV+.

As the hospital was desperately under-resourced the children were then effectively written off and left to die. Children were completely neglected to the point that some as old as seven had never learned to walk because they had not been lifted out of their cots for long enough.

Thanks to our generous supporters we were able to raise the funds to provide 3 family style homes that have given the children the experience of a loving home. Contrary to the dismal predictions given to their natural families that resulted in the institutionalisation of the children in the first place, the children have blossomed when no longer deprived of love and care. The children have now become young adults and we face new challenges as we continue to offer them the support they need.

Ukraine
In Ukraine we are supporting the development of an outreach resource for street children that will incorporate a night shelter. more info>

Colombia
Thanks to the generous support received from UK entrepreneur, Duncan Bannatyne, we were able to build, Casa Bannatyne in Colombia. This home is a refuge for children who would otherwise have to live on the dangerous streets of Medellin.

Peru
Funds from Mary’s Meals built Casa Hogar Ayuda y Esperanza (Children’s Home of Help and Hope) that provides care for vulnerable babies and children from Villa Salvador in Peru. It is home to 19 children – mostly babies and young children.

Liberia
The Oscar Romero school in Tubmanburg, Liberia opened in June 2008. It was built entirely by carpenters and builders, who trained in our nearby St Benedict’s Technical School in recent years, on land donated by the local community. It is a residential school for deaf children and so, as well as a classroom facilities, it also comprises of dormitory accommodation for boys and girls.

It was built in response to a huge need, brought to our attention by Liesbeth Glas our Country Director, for a facility for deaf children in this area. Many children here become deaf due to untreated illnesses and infections and so there is a very high incidence of deafness here.

In addition some of these children have been abandoned by their parents and most have not had the opportunity to benefit from any specialist education for deaf children. The teachers have received specialist training and the school can cater for up to 60 children