The Fantastic Five
In an incredibly challenging year, one family in Zimbabwe reveals how the introduction of school meals will ease the strain on their daily lives
A joyous cry of relief bounced off the walls in Tanatswa’s modest home when her mother heard the news that Mary’s Meals would be serving food at her children’s school in Zimbabwe.
Feeding five eager young minds is always a stretch for this family, and it has proven even more so this year. Their village in Mashonaland East Province has suffered a significant blow as a result of tropical storm Ana, which ripped through several African countries in January. Vast areas of land were flooded and crops that would normally feed entire communities have been destroyed, meaning a particularly lean harvest for many families, including 12-year-old Tanatswa’s.
The global increases in the price of vital commodities such as cooking oil, fertilisers and fuel have only exacerbated the situation and families are now experiencing hardship on an unprecedented level.
“When I told my mother about the coming of the feeding programme, she was so pleased that we were going to have a meal at school that she actually screamed!” says grade seven pupil, Tanatswa. “This made me really curious about this programme and I couldn’t wait for it to start.”
Before the introduction of Mary’s Meals, Tanatswa and her four siblings were often hungry, and spent long days at school without any sustenance whatsoever. From youngest to eldest they lovingly supported one another on the long 45-minute walk home, in the faint hope of getting something to eat when they got there.
Now, in partnership with Mavambo Orphan Care, Mary’s Meals is serving daily food at their school, helping to ease the hunger they feel and to remove some of the heavy burden from their worried mother. Tanatswa says: “Walking from home to school will be easier with the arrival of these meals at school. I hope some of our challenges will be alleviated.”
Mavambo Orphan Care has been working with Mary’s Meals since 2020, primarily in Harare and the Mashonaland east Province of Zimbabwe. Since then, the school feeding programme has expanded rapidly, with meals now being served to more than 85,000 children in the area.
Mary’s Meals and Mavambo are working flat out to ensure that every single child in need continues to receive the lifeline that is a regular school meal. You can help us fight the effects of the global hunger crisis and reach the next hungry child by donating whatever you can. Every gift, no matter how small, makes a huge difference.
Learn more about the global hunger crisis
Living in Hope
We hear from Father Joson, from our partner BREAD. He runs our programme in India, where Mary’s Meals is currently feeding 64,000 children every school day.
Read more about Living in Hope
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After a visit to Kenya in Mary’s Meals’ 20th year, the founder lays bare the extreme hardships facing children in this increasingly unliveable environment, and makes plain the simple and achievable objective to eliminating child hunger in this world of plenty.
Read more about How Do We Stop The Global Hunger Crisis?