“Around 64 million of the world’s hungriest children do not attend school. In order to survive, they have to work or beg. Even if they do make into the classroom, hunger affects their ability to learn.” - Mary’s Meals
Mary’s Meals are a local charity that focuses on providing one good meal to some of the world’s poorest children every school day. Mary’s Meals works in 18 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. It costs £15.90 to feed a child for a whole school year.
Mary’s Meals is a global movement supported by people from many walks of life and different backgrounds. Their mission is to enable people to offer their money, goods, skills, time, or prayer, and through this involvement, provide the most effective help to those suffering the effects of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest communities.
Mary’s Meals grew out of response to the Bosnian conflict in the early 1990s. Since then they have been involved in emergency relief work in countries including Myanmar, Haiti, India, Kenya and Thailand.
Crisis in Malawi:
In Malawi, Mary’s meals played an essential role during the food insecurity crisis in 2016 and early 2017. More than 6.5 million people were affected, half the rural population, across huge areas of the country, particularly in southern and central Malawi. The provision of humanitarian assistance by various agencies, including Mary’s Meals, prevented the crisis form escalating into an emergency.
The positive impact of their work:
- Child hunger at school and pre-school is reduced
- More children access school and pre-school education
- Child health and wellbeing at school and pre-school improves
- More children engage in school and pre-school education
- More children progress within school and pre-school education
