Feeding for education

Being concentrated over an empty stomach is an impossible task for everyone, and kids are not any better at this. We travelled a long way to find the rural area where we have been helping during this week; the main tasks of the project we joined are the support of orphan and vulnerable children through a feeding program while developing a sustainable production of food that could cover the needs of the feeding centre.

The village is very poor, small simple houses made of clay and mud are scattered over a big area in between the corn fields -or the empty fields. Then you find the school and the feeding centre. Currently, teachers over the whole Kenya are on strike and kids are left during the day either to play or to work, what means that we get more time to spend with them during the day. All of them totally love going to school and are very happy to be able to go with a full stomach. 

The first round of kids that came to the centre ranged from as little as 1.5 -teeny tiny kid- to about 15 years old. They were all shy, wearing none or worn out clothes, broken shoes or simply bare feet. It was very sweet to welcome them with "Jambo, koro idhinade" (hello, how are you?) and receiving a shy "adhi maber" (I am fine!). We knew they were all very excited about having visitors, and how they have been expecting us for very long.

At about 1pm the hand washing starts and a long queue is formed; we teach them how to wash all the dirt and happy they go to get their food: some ugali (sort of a corn polenta), cabbage, chapati (wheat flour savoury pancakes), eggs, sukuma (type of kale) and maybe some meat or fish. Even the smallest one finishes his/her portion, which are all of the same size. These kids do not have a dinner guaranteed, and most just pray for the next morning to come and have their breakfast also at the feeding centre. There is never a single thing left on their plates…

Since the first day we felt part of the feeding centre and helped in anything we could during the day. Let it be preparing the food -some examples are in the pictures at the kitchen and also getting the rice clean for boiling it- cleaning the animals area or giving a hand watering the crops.

One thing we have had to learn is that even though the level of poverty is overwhelming, the smallest thing counts and does make a big difference in children's lives.

Let me again finish with a lovely family picture we took with all the kids and the staff of the centre.