A mother’s hope – that her children will live without hunger
Mary knows the struggle of putting food on the table. Hunger often leaves her children going to school without eating, or unable to attend at all. With Mary’s Meals coming to Thunga Primary School, she hopes they can look forward to a brighter future.
My name is Mary. I come from Thunga Village [in Malawi]. I live with my children – Brenda, Bright, Victor, Lekeni, and Deborah. They help me with many things in life and I am very proud of them.
Sometimes we go to bed without eating because we do not have enough food, especially in the morning and afternoon. Sometimes we eat, and other times we don’t – it depends on whether we have money to buy food or not.
“Poverty has brought hunger into our home”
Finding food is difficult for us because we cannot afford to buy enough fertiliser. We have a piece of land, but when we farm, we can only apply a small amount of fertiliser to part of it. This affects our harvest, and because of this, our family experiences hunger. Poverty has brought hunger into our home.
Because of hunger, my children sometimes fail to go to school because they did not eat the previous day. Sometimes we also do not have soap, so they stay home when they cannot wash their clothes and uniforms. At times, they have to do odd jobs to earn money to buy plastic shoes for school because they do not have any shoes to wear.
When my children come home from school and find there is no food, it makes them sad. When they ask me what we will eat, I have to tell them that today we do not have flour to prepare food. Sometimes we find beans, but we eat them without nsima (a thick cornmeal porridge), and it is not enough. They worry because of the hunger in our home. They struggle to interact with their friends because they have not eaten, they feel weak, and they cannot play like other children.
“Sometimes my children go [to school] without eating”
Hunger is a big problem and sometimes my children go [to school] without eating. When my children go to school hungry, they think about finding odd jobs instead of concentrating in class because they need money to buy food for the day. When the teacher is teaching, they cannot hear or understand properly because they are thinking about hunger.
Not going to school can affect children because they might eventually drop out. It can also affect their behaviour. They can start thinking about other things to do, such as stealing, just to find money. When they have food, they are happy, but when they do not eat, they become weak, worried and unhappy.
I worry about [my children] because I am not able to provide a good living. I wish I could find a better job that would help me feed them in the morning and make sure they can continue going to school.
“They will be free from hunger”
I am so happy because of the coming of Mary’s Meals, who are bringing porridge to Thunga Primary School so that my children can eat while they are at school. Now they will be able to go to school knowing they will receive porridge and have something to eat. They will not miss classes, and they will be happy and free from hunger. I am very grateful because now my children will be able to stay in school.
Thanks to generous supporters and local community volunteers who believe in the power of daily school meals, Mary’s Meals was able to launch a programme at Thunga Primary earlier this year. Before school feeding began, we interviewed pupils, staff, and parents about their current situation and their hopes about how nutritious daily meals would improve their lives.
It costs just €22 (EUR) / $25.20 USD / £19.15 (GBP) to provide a child with nutritious school meals for a whole school year. Make a donation this Christmas and fuel a child’s learning in school.