This project will provide 115 children aged 1 - 18 years old with healthy food for a month, so they can return to school and concentrate. It is a short-term solution to intense hunger felt by children in Zimbabwe, but one which complements our medium and long-term solutions - gardens and livestock.
The country of Zimbabwe has been hit hard by bad governance, drought, and failed crops. Now, the World Health Organization and the World Food Program are announcing a continuance to the long-standing drought. This will affect millions of people, including orphaned children in our programs. Without water, they cannot grow crops. Without crops, they will go hungry. With hunger, they drop out of school.
The provision of porridge is necessary, especially during times of acute hunger, as Zimbabweans are experiencing right now, due to drought. We will purchase the fortified porridge as locally as possible and will deliver it to the children most affected by hunger, feeding them through this terrible time. They will be able to recover their strength and will return to their every-day lives, attending school once again.
A minimum of 115 children who are going hungry due to poor rains in sections of Zimbabwe will be able to return to school and to their daily routines due to the provision of fortified porridge. With renewed strength, they will be able to make it until the next rainy season, when their gardens should produce fruit. It is important to provide this porridge so that the children will not be forced to eat immature plants from their gardens, ensuring that they have food during harvest season.