Video reports from Ethiopia

In Tigray, Ethiopia, community elder Gebrehiwot is determined to share his story. 

After civil war wreaked havoc in his community, his anger is clear to see as he questions how children can possibly learn properly when their school was so badly damaged in the conflict. 

The school he speaks of is Gendet Primary School. Before the war, it was a model school in the area but now hundreds of its pupils have left. Some to beg, others to work, many too hungry to make the journey to class. Gebrehiwot says the development and progress made by the community over the last 27 years has been stolen from them by the war. 

Sadly, the desperate hunger here has already caused numerous deaths. 

In this series of interview clips, Gebrehiwot explains the urgent need for Mary’s Meals’ school feeding programme and the positive impact it could have on the students, and his community as a whole.