Int’l Charity Mary’s Meals Feeds Over 1 Million Learners In Malawi

International school feeding charity Mary’s Meals programme is now reaching out to more than 2 million children in 19 countries globally with life-changing meals every school day.

30% of Malawi’s primary school population — about 1,043,455 children enjoy being served nutritious meals by this non-profit organization that initially aimed at feeding around 200 children in two Malawian schools in 2002.

In Africa, more than 335,143 children in Zambia are served meals in schools each day; 125,414 in Kenya and 144,208 in Liberia.

Other countries that Mary’s Meals reaches out to hungry school children across four continents include Haiti, India, Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Thailand, Myanmar, Uganda, South Sudan, Niger, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Benin, Ecuador and Romania.

In a statement, Mary’s Meals Account Director, Juliet Tshele said the meals are served in the schools by local volunteers who are determined to help the next generation to build a brighter future.

Tshele said “This is a major milestone as Mary’s Meals now has 2 million reasons to celebrate, as it has reached more than two million children across a multitude of countries.”

The celebration of the landmark achievement of feeding 2 million children every school day will be officially announced and celebrated in the remote desert region of Turkana, Kenya, where communities serve the much-needed daily meals to children attending Early Childhood Development centers.

The virtual celebratory event, which will have Mary Meal’s founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow in attendance, will be broadcast at 8pm CAT and open to all through: marysmeals.org/2-million.

This landmark comes just six years after reaching the major milestone of feeding one million children each day.

The charity had humble beginnings to say the least: a one-off good deed from a shed in the Highlands of Scotland eventually led to a small school feeding programme in Malawi, aiming to bring vital meals to around 200 children in two schools while they learned.

In addition, Mary’s Meals not only feeds huge numbers of children attending government-run schools in Africa, but also brings daily meals to children finding hope in non-formal education centers in India; the sons and daughters of vulnerable migrant workers in Thailand; young people engaging in education while awaiting trial in prisons in Niger and Madagascar.

It also feeds children affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria – through feeding programmes in Aleppo and neighbouring Lebanon; and many thousands of young learners in Haiti, which has been plagued by years of political unrest and damage from natural disasters.