<em>(Photo: Little Josephine has UK charity Mary's Meals to thank for her lunch at school every day) </em>
In the dry and unforgiving landscape of Turkana in northern Kenya, families are hungry, the precious livestock they depend on is dying, and water can scarcely be found.
Communities have not witnessed consistent rainfall for far too long and many people are suffering as the country experiences its worst drought in 40 years.
Amid this despair, there remains a beacon of hope and that hope comes in the form of a colourful bowl of tasty beans and maize, served to children in nurseries and primary schools in Turkana.
This promise of a daily meal provided by Mary’s Meals means that these little ones don’t have to work to survive. Instead, they are attracted into the classroom where they can learn with full stomachs.
We have been serving our nutritious meals to children in nursery schools in Turkana since 2005. After years of prayer, and with great joy, we recently expanded our work into 170 primary schools in the area, reaching those children’s older siblings. The need for our meals is so great in this region where so many children are acutely malnourished.
And thanks be to God that, in these desperate times, a charity founded in a shed in the Scottish Highlands is helping 2,429,182 of the world’s most vulnerable children, many of whom are impacted by conflict and natural disasters. We continue to rely on and delight in God’s blessings, as we strive to keep our promise to the millions of children we serve every day.
And yet, it is getting increasingly difficult for us to reach those children due to the soaring price of commodities, such as grain, fuel and fertiliser, which has seen our cost to feed a child with Mary’s Meals for a school year increase from £15.90 to £19.15.
We recognise that this year will be the most challenging in our 20-year history, with the escalating cost of living causing much pain for both those who support our work and the children who rely on Mary’s Meals. Quite simply, our income is not growing at the same rate as the cost of feeding children.
Despite this challenge, we continue to do this work in the name of Our Lady, with our loving supporters dedicating their prayers to our mission since the very beginning – and joining together with families all around the world in solidarity.
Today, I invite your readers to make a gift to our work – if they are able to – and to join me in prayer for all those who stand determined in hope that their children will find a better tomorrow because, today, they hold the certainty that their children will eat Mary’s Meals. Children such as little Longoria.
While many seven-year-old boys may dream of being footballers or policemen when they grow up, Longoria has his heart set on becoming a politician so he can ensure his community has enough food to eat.
“I come to school because I want to learn and become a local councillor,” he says. “I will make sure all the people in this area are getting food.”
Like most families in the open plains of Turkana, Longoria’s parents are pastoralists, who scrape together a living from herding sheep and goats. But with years of poor rainfall causing crops to fail and animals to die, his family and many others are being pushed to a crisis point.
Longoria says: “We used to have many sheep and goats, but there are only a small number of animals left after the drought.”
Yet, with the serving of brightly coloured bowls of maize and beans, there is much hope to be found in Turkana. We see this in the volunteers who light fires at the crack of dawn to cook Mary’s Meals for their children; in the dedicated teachers who lead their classes with enthusiasm despite having little resources, and in the parents who long for their children to make a better life through education.
Francis Etengan wants his children to gain an education so that they can grow up to lift the family out of the poverty it has endured for generations.
He says: “If we didn’t have Mary’s Meals the children wouldn’t be able to learn and to go onto primary school. I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school but my daughter Josephine can and she can make a change. It’s so important.”
Josephine, at four years old, is too shy to say much but her smile as she heads off to class says it all – as does her T-shirt which reads, "Never underestimate the power of women and girls".
It fills me with hope to think that, despite all the odds, children like Josephine, can dream of a better future through the promise of a daily meal in school.
Please keep Mary’s Meals in your prayers as we face this difficult year. And please know that any amount you can give today will be received with deep gratitude.
<em>To find out more, please visit </em><a href="https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/get-involved/ways-to-give/leave-a-gift-in-your-will"><em>marysmeals.org.uk</em></a>
.jpg)
.jpg)
