RISE, a new film by Mary’s Meals: How a stubborn priest went from burying 300 starving children in Liberia to feeding 95,000 every day at school

Providing consistent daily meals for schoolchildren since 2006, global charity Mary’s Meals is known in Liberia as “the one who never stopped” – never interrupting its school feeding delivery in 20 years. A new documentary tells the unlikely story of Mary’s Meals in Liberia, beyond war, Ebola and trauma.

 

22 October 2026. Twenty years ago, two civil wars had devastated Liberia. More than a quarter of a million people were killed and a further 1.3 million were displaced.1 Utilities, roads, businesses, schools and homes were destroyed. During the 14-year-long conflict, it is estimated that there were 20,000 children recruited as soldiers.2

Father Garry Jenkins, a British missionary working in Liberia since the 1970s, was determined to reopen St Dominic Catholic School to provide a safe place for hundreds of young people, including those returning from displaced camps and former child soldiers. He knew that school meals were essential to encourage them into the classroom and contacted several aid agencies for support. He was told it would take months.

He recalls: “I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got no time for process. There are kids who have had their guns taken off them and children from IDP camps (Internally Displaced People camps) whose homes have been ruined. I just need food.’”

Having already buried 300 children who died of hunger, he was unwilling to be held back by red tape: “I phoned [Mary’s Meals’ founder] Magnus, and he said, ‘Father, go to Monrovia, buy some rice and I’ll reimburse you.’ So that’s how it started.”

Mary’s Meals’ school feeding programme in Liberia officially began in 2006. Today, Mary’s Meals is the largest school feeding provider in the country, reaching more than 95,000 children with a plate of rice and beans every school day, often cooked with vegetables from the school gardens. Its community-led programme operates in over 600 places of education across five (out of 15) counties.

While Liberia has made progress over the past 20 years, the effects of the war are still being felt, with 51 per cent of its estimated 4.5 million people living in poverty. Education remains fragile, with one of the highest levels of children out of school globally, as well as a lack of qualified teachers. There is also a huge ongoing effort to improve agriculture, since Liberia has long been a ‘food-deficit’ country having to rely heavily on imported food.3

Paula Nawrocki, Country Director of Mary’s Meals Liberia, explains: “It is not just about helping children in terms of the nutrition and the health benefits by receiving the meals. Up to about 75% of household income for middle- and lower-income families is spent on food. By us providing that one meal at school, we're reducing that financial burden on the family.”

Case study: Sylvester

When the war ended, like many Liberians, Sylvester’s family had no home to return to. They moved to an IDP camp and attended its temporary school where Mary’s Meals was already providing meals. Now, Mary’s Meals continues to be part of Sylvester’s life, through his son Jallah who receives daily meals served by community volunteers at his primary school. 

“We really went through hell, and we went through that life for years. There were days when shooting started, it was like about like two or three days with no stop, so we had to run from one place to another. At times it would go on for a week. Rebels could come upon you at any time. At times in the mess, people got killed.

“I am who I am today because of Mary's Meals and all of those who are supporting Mary’s Meals. Through the help of Mary’s Meals, I was encouraged to go to school, and I went to college and I graduated. I can proudly say I am working at Bomi Community College as an assistant to the Dean of Admissions and Records and I’m excelling on a daily basis.”

Since 2006, Mary’s Meals has served more than 260,000,000 daily life-changing meals to schoolchildren in Liberia. Last year, Mary’s Meals served more than 400 million school meals globally in partnership with local communities. The charity’s low-cost approach means that it costs just €22 / $25.20 / £19.15 to provide a child with Mary’s Meals for a school year.

RISE documentary, by Mary’s Meals https://youtu.be/2VlGGBepZbM?si=WnZcDMjxZqHfNzir

Photos and video resources – Copyright: Mary’s Meals

https://tinyurl.com/wdcv28r4 

Interviews:

Interviews with Paula Nawrocki, Country Director, Mary’s Meals Liberia, are available. 

Alex Keay, one of the first to work with Father Garry and Mary’s Meals Liberia, now Director of Partnerships at Mary’s Meals International, is also available.

For Media Inquiries

Please contact Paloma García Ovejero, Head of Media, Mary’s Meals International media@marysmeals.org +44 7470896680

Notes to Editors: 

About Mary’s Meals

• Mary’s Meals is a simple idea that works. The charity provides hungry children with one daily meal in a place of education in areas where hunger and poverty often stand in the way of education.
• Mary’s Meals works with communities to serve vital school meals to more than 3 million children in 16 countries: Liberia, Benin, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• The average cost to feed a child with Mary’s Meals for a whole school year is just €22 / $25.20 / £19.15 
• Our mission is to enable people to offer their money, goods, skills, time or prayers, and through this involvement, provide the most effective help to those suffering the effects of extreme poverty around the world.
• Mary’s Meals is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus, who brought up her own child in poverty. 
• Mary’s Meals increases school enrolment and improves school attendance.
• Local communities own and run Mary’s Meals in the countries where the programmes operate and, wherever possible, meals are made with locally procured food to support the local economy. In Liberia, Mary’s Meals works with communities to delivery school meals across five counties: Bong, Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, and Montserrado. 50% of the food used in the programme is sourced locally.

• Mary’s Meals served more than 400 million school meals in 2025, and reached the milestone of feeding 3 million children, as the official Impact Report shows: Our Impact Story 2025.pdf

   

Please visit marysmeals.org to find out more.