<
https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/news/announcing-significant-expansion-in-tigray-ethiopia>
"We are delighted to announce a significant expansion of our school feeding
programme in Tigray, Ethiopia, following a generous response to our most recent
crisis appeal. We have increased the number of vital meals we are serving every
school day in Tigray and are now reaching more than 110,000 children in over
200 schools.
Last year, when schools first reopened after the war, our feeding programme
served around 24,000 learners. Although the number of children receiving school
meals in the region is significantly higher than before, the need for such
interventions remains acute. More than 2 million Tigrayans are currently at
risk of starvation (1) and millions more are suffering food insecurity because
of an ongoing drought and the aftermath of the civil war.
Alongside widespread hunger, another crisis is gripping Tigray as an estimated
700,000 children whose education was disrupted by war remain out of school (2).
Our unique school feeding model, which is embedded in communities and relies on
local volunteers, not only provides children with essential sustenance but it
also encourages access to education. In Tigray, Mary’s Meals is operating as a
support system for communities as they work towards rebuilding their lives
following two years of deadly civil war.
In Tigray’s Hintalo Wajirat District, Ara Primary School is one rural school
where we have introduced our feeding programme in recent months. Before school
feeding began there, teachers, parents, and students struggled daily to find
enough food to eat.
Fitsum, the mother of 11-year-old student Aradech, said: “We are living with
hunger. We only have this piece of bread or some soup. We don’t satisfy
ourselves. We are surviving just with this. The problem now is the shortage of
rain consecutively for three years. This repeated seasonal problem is causing
great hunger – even death. It is not just [happening to] me, it is not only
[happening in] my village, it’s all over Tigray.”
The community around Ara Primary, including Fitsum, has worked diligently to
implement its new school feeding programme to address the urgent need for
life-saving food among children and families. They constructed a rudimentary
outside kitchen to allow the programme to start as quickly as possible, created
a shaded area where the children can eat, and organised a roster of volunteers
to cook and serve the nutritious porridge-like meal.
Aradech says: “I feel joyful now that we have school feeding. Before it
started, I always had a headache at school from hunger. Now I feel happy, and
we have the energy for learning, even for jumping rope. It has made such a
difference at school.”"
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/blink-of-an-eye/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
