What role does Canadian split peas play in the life of a child from Nairobi's slums?
Not much, you might think? Well, think again. These basic pulses, grown on the Canadian prairies and then shipped across the world to East Africa, are currently the ticket out of a life of poverty for some of Kenya's poorest children.
How you might ask? The answer is: school feeding. A free mid-day meal is often the major deciding factor in a parent’s decision to send their child to school. That's because this is often the only meal that a child will get to eat in a day. With the assurance of a daily meal, a near-starving child will attend school and hopefully learn enough (when they are not thinking about their hungry belly, that is) to pass primary school. If they are lucky, they might even make it to secondary school (although the retention rates are much lower at this stage). The hope is that even this basic education that they will have gained, will serve them well later on in life.
I've read dozens of studies, reports, and success stories that highlight the real effectiveness of school feeding as a safety net strategy. I know it works and that it is benefitting some of the most vulnerable, hungry children in Africa. That’s precisely why I decided to work with the World Food Programme’s school feeding program unit here in Kenya this summer. But no matter how much I’ve read about the program and the critical role it is playing, there’s nothing quite as powerful as hearing about it from people who know the true power of a single meal.
Alex, a colleague of mine here at WFP, works in the office next to mine. This morning he shared with me the main reason why he works for WFP and promotes school feeding. He told me about his childhood, growing up in a very poor village in rural Kenya, and about how he sometimes wouldn’t eat for several days because there would be no food in his house. At that time, school feeding programs didn’t yet exist. But despite his constant battle against hunger, Alex went to school anyway, being the bright and motivated learner that he was…. One day, when he was in the fifth grade, he was awarded the first prize in his school for being the top student that year. When the headmaster called his name and asked him to come up in front of everyone to collect his prize (which was a 30-page exercise book), he took one step forward and then collapsed to the ground in a faint. It turns out that Alex hadn’t eaten in several days and his feeble little body was giving up…he was literally starving to death. After he collapsed, he was quickly rushed home and fed some maize porridge. While it took some time for him to recover, Alex eventually got better. And he eventually finished primary school and then secondary school, and then went to college, and then got a job with the government, and then came to work for the UN. But despite the success that he’s had in his career, he’ll never forget the irony of that day in grade five – as a young boy who was so bright and had such promise – yet not even being able to walk in front of his classmates to collect his prize because the ever-constant battle against hunger had almost taken him under. And so, that’s why he now works with WFP and does what he does. So that young children don’t have to face that same risk of being hunger's next silent victim.
Not much, you might think? Well, think again. These basic pulses, grown on the Canadian prairies and then shipped across the world to East Africa, are currently the ticket out of a life of poverty for some of Kenya's poorest children.
How you might ask? The answer is: school feeding. A free mid-day meal is often the major deciding factor in a parent’s decision to send their child to school. That's because this is often the only meal that a child will get to eat in a day. With the assurance of a daily meal, a near-starving child will attend school and hopefully learn enough (when they are not thinking about their hungry belly, that is) to pass primary school. If they are lucky, they might even make it to secondary school (although the retention rates are much lower at this stage). The hope is that even this basic education that they will have gained, will serve them well later on in life.
I've read dozens of studies, reports, and success stories that highlight the real effectiveness of school feeding as a safety net strategy. I know it works and that it is benefitting some of the most vulnerable, hungry children in Africa. That’s precisely why I decided to work with the World Food Programme’s school feeding program unit here in Kenya this summer. But no matter how much I’ve read about the program and the critical role it is playing, there’s nothing quite as powerful as hearing about it from people who know the true power of a single meal.
Alex, a colleague of mine here at WFP, works in the office next to mine. This morning he shared with me the main reason why he works for WFP and promotes school feeding. He told me about his childhood, growing up in a very poor village in rural Kenya, and about how he sometimes wouldn’t eat for several days because there would be no food in his house. At that time, school feeding programs didn’t yet exist. But despite his constant battle against hunger, Alex went to school anyway, being the bright and motivated learner that he was…. One day, when he was in the fifth grade, he was awarded the first prize in his school for being the top student that year. When the headmaster called his name and asked him to come up in front of everyone to collect his prize (which was a 30-page exercise book), he took one step forward and then collapsed to the ground in a faint. It turns out that Alex hadn’t eaten in several days and his feeble little body was giving up…he was literally starving to death. After he collapsed, he was quickly rushed home and fed some maize porridge. While it took some time for him to recover, Alex eventually got better. And he eventually finished primary school and then secondary school, and then went to college, and then got a job with the government, and then came to work for the UN. But despite the success that he’s had in his career, he’ll never forget the irony of that day in grade five – as a young boy who was so bright and had such promise – yet not even being able to walk in front of his classmates to collect his prize because the ever-constant battle against hunger had almost taken him under. And so, that’s why he now works with WFP and does what he does. So that young children don’t have to face that same risk of being hunger's next silent victim.
A primary school in Kangemi slum. 
Preparing the school lunch.
Canadian split peas.
Student beneficiaries at Kangemi Primary School. 
No comments:
Post a Comment