In a deepening hunger crisis affecting more than 735 million people of whom 60 million are children not in school, the magnitude of this global issue can be overwhelming.
Mothers and children – estimated to make up 60% of the world’s hungry population – bear the outsized impact from climate shifts, failed harvests and conflicts. Yet Mary’s Meals remains hopeful.
An international charity that feeds children in schools, Mary’s Meals is optimistic that its 21-year mission to continue feeding more than 2.4 million students every school day is possible in the face of crisis and conflict.
Mary’s Meals was inspired by the words of a child who only wanted to have enough food to eat and be able to go to school. Those words prompted leader Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow to establish Mary’s Meals in 2002 with a vision to end child hunger.
Named for Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary’s Meals offers a simple solution to world hunger: feed children where they learn to gain access to education that can help break the cycle of poverty.
“Mary’s Meals as a provider of hope – in the life of one child and in the world more broadly – is more important than ever,” said Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and CEO of Mary’s Meals. “And so are each of our actions in support of this mission – no matter how small they might feel to us. They are not small. They are truly enormous in the life of that child.”
Serving the most vulnerable
Mary’s Meals works to ensure the world’s most vulnerable children have access to food and education. The work is more urgent and difficult to do as costs, climate shocks and conflict conspire to make the work increasingly challenging while hunger grows. But the things that make it most difficult also make it essential, and so Mary’s Meals remains committed to feeding 2,429,182 children every school day in 18 countries.
Throughout its history, Mary’s Meals has rooted itself in some of the world’s most hostile and challenging environments, where food insecurity dictates everyday life and the need is acute. In several countries, children are working in fields, begging on street corners or scavenging just to survive instead of sitting in a classroom.
“We always want to reach the places where life is most difficult for children, where people are suffering the most,” said MacFarlane-Barrow, who has spoken at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference.
Many of the countries that Mary’s Meals serves face enormous challenges. This year, cyclones struck Madagascar and Malawi, and eastern Africa faced drought. In Syria, a devastating earthquake destroyed infrastructure.
By working with in-country partners to deliver the feeding programs, Mary’s Meals ensures these lifesaving meals continue. In August, Mary’s Meals resumed its school-feeding program in war-torn Tigray, Ethiopia. Last year, an additional 60,000 primary school children in drought-stricken Turkana, Kenya, began receiving meals.
Simple model works effectively
Mary’s Meals offers a simple and community-based model. It collaborates with local farmers to provide the food, then coordinates with families and schools to implement a program that is driven by local volunteers who cook and serve the food and staff who monitor supplies and school progress.
Work of this scale requires many hands. Supported worldwide through prayer, time, talent and donations, this simple program is also cost effective. Just $25.20 feeds a child for an entire year.
Key findings from a five-year impact study of the Mary’s Meals program in Malawi, Zambia and Liberia revealed that school enrollment increased 25% and absenteeism decreased significantly. Children gained access to education and reported being happier, and families said their overall health and well-being improved.
This model provides dignity in its simplicity by inviting everyone to be part of the solution to hunger and missed education. For the children like Veronica Chiphwanya of Malawi, who grew up eating food provided in a Mary’s Meals-sponsored school and earning their education as a result, the results have been transformative.
“I used to go to school without food. Receiving Mary’s Meals changed my performance in class. So, I was active and able to listen to what the teacher said,” she shared.
Today, Veronica has graduated college and is in pursuit of a career that will lift her out of poverty.
In an ever-changing world with ongoing challenges, there is always hope. For the 2,429,182 children receiving Mary’s Meals, hope comes in a meal at school where their bodies and minds are nourished.
“Our goal is a future where children and communities equipped with an education are set free from poverty and dependence on aid,” MacFarlane-Barrow said.