Feeding minds and tummies of 230 children

In our last report we told you about the great initiative at the Murakaza School, which was making sure that every child got a bowl of fortified porridge for lunch.

Every bowl of porridge contains all the vitamins and minerals every one of our 230 pupils needs. It keeps malnutrition and other illnesses at bay, helping to improve the attendance of children who are grateful to be in school and want to learn. It gives them the energy to do the things that make them happy, like playing and learning. The joy on their faces as they queue up for their lunch makes us all grateful to you for helping to make it all possible.

Through this project, we can see the difference your kindness makes to hundreds of the poorest children you can imagine. We want you to know how important it is to all of them that you are thinking of them.

You wouldn’t think that something as simple as a daily mug of porridge could change lives. But it can.

It is only one very simple snack, but it means everything to children like Darlene, whose touching letter is pasted below, for you to understand why the porridge project is so important in her very own words:

“My name is Darlene and I’m 9 years old. My brother’s name is Alain and he’s 7 years old. I’m in my 2^nd year of primary school and he is in his first year.

We live in Butere and every morning we walk 5 km to come to the Murakaza school in SABE and then we walk home again after school. It’s 10 miles in all, but we don’t mind as we love our school because the teachers are kind and they teach us well, and they never hit us.

When we were told we were going to receive food, we were all super happy. Every lunch, we get a bowl of porridge. This really makes us want to come to school and work hard. It is very important for us because this help us to make the walk back home. Our tummies ache less in the afternoon and we could wait until the evening meal, which generally comes at 5pm.

It was also very helpful for our mother, because she also has to take care of our other two little brothers. Sometimes, she gets a bit of work, but not always. She is alone to take care of us.

I thank Imana (=god) because with the ubuyi (= porridge), we are getting extra food and that feels warm. Bless the people who help us, by giving money to the school because it means they are thinking of us. And I love my mum with all my heart because she does her best for all of us.

Darlene."

We know that Christmas is approaching and it is an expensive time of year, but we can make your kindness stretch a very long way here at the Murakaza School. It only costs £31 ($40) to feed a child with a nutritious mug of porridge every day for a year. That means you can help to keep a child, like Darlene, healthy and happy for only £2.58 ($3.33) a month! With your help, we can make sure the children at Murakaza keep getting this source of nutrients each day. Thank you so much for keeping them in your thoughts.