Breakfast for Kindergarten schoolgirls in Pakistan

The Breakfast Program continues with full zeal and zest at Zindagi Trust schools. As warm, windy Karachi mornings set in, students jump out of their beds and head to school. With school examinations on the horizon, students require nutritious and healthy meals to kick-start their mornings fresh and energized.

A hearty breakfast guarantees a great day and mood for our students. This term, with the lasting support of our donors, we have expanded the breakfast program at both our schools. At SMB Fatima Jinnah, we have scaled up the project from ECE to first grade. At KPS, however, the project has scaled up to include classes up to grade 4th. We are very pleased to report this expansion, and seeing the breakfast room filled with fulfilled stomachs and happy smiles brings us great joy. All of this has been made possible by the support of our GlobalGiving Family. The program is now available to students of additional grades, helping them in their physical and cognitive growth.

We are committed to growing and making breakfast an exciting and enriching experience for our students. It symbolizes our and your commitment to the well-being and growth of the next generation, ensuring that they are nourished not only physically but also emotionally and intellectually. We firmly believe in ensuring the well-being, education, and growth that is crucial for building a stronger and brighter future for these children 

The program today caters to 8,000 students collectively at both our schools. It has shown great gains in student attention, memory, confidence, physical and emotional well-being, and has promoted an overall happy atmosphere. The menu for these spring months, from April till July, has been green, citrusy, and healthy.

Monday: Boiled eggs with a glass of milk

Tuesday: Lentils and rice

Wednesday: Chicken curry with flatbread/ Vegetables (Potatoes and Spinach)

Thursday: Chickpea Salad

Friday: Seasonal fruit with milk

However, a growth in numbers does not represent a decline in quality. We have maintained the high standard of the program by taking regular updates and reviews from parents, teachers, and students about the Breakfast program. Parents often comment on the changes they witness in their children. One of the parents said, "The breakfast program is really good. The things my daughter didn't eat like eggs or milk, she now eats happily. She used to eat a lot of unhealthy snacks but has now stopped. When she comes home from school, she always tells me what she had for breakfast, and the standard of this breakfast is great."

Another mother wrote to the school saying, "I really like the Breakfast program. Children don’t eat in the morning, but this feels like home, and since they're with their friends, they end up having breakfast. They make sure to tell me about it too!"

We recognize that for young kids, breakfast serves as fuel to kickstart their adventures and learning journeys. The nutrients packed in these delectable morning dishes allow an opportunity to move towards their dreams and aspirations. Moreover, our breakfast room provides students an opportunity to bond with their friends in the morning. It not only helps their interpersonal skills but also fosters strong friendships, as students come together to share not only a meal but also discuss their days and lives. This time of togetherness instills support, trust, growth, empathy, and a sense of belonging that will guide children throughout their lives.

Zindagi Trust hopes to create a comfortable environment for all enrolled students where they can enjoy while studying. We believe being well-fed is the first step to good learning and fun. We look forward to your support in helping us make students healthier and happier, securing their youth and future.

The cold harsh airs blew in Karachi this winter leaving our skins dry and beds cold, but with our breakfast program we ensured every student had a warm meal and was well fed at the start of each school day.

The project continued in full zeal and zest at both schools SMB Fatima Jinnah School and Khatoon-e-Pakistan. Zindagi Trust believes in providing students with an enabling environment to make the most of all opportunities available to them. Projects like the breakfast program, allow girls to access a good hearty meal at the start of each day. Coming from homes where parents either leave too early to prepare a meal or simply cannot afford it, for many girls this morning meal is the source of their energy to maximize their potential academically and excel during the rest of the day.

Hence with the change in Karachi’s air and the seasonal vegetables and fruits comes a new breakfast menu. We appreciate that having breakfast improving memory, concentration, problem-solving ability, test scores, and mood. We hence ensure that each menu is carefully crafted to give students a healthy, balanced nutritious meal.

Around 600+ students benefit from our program each day at both schools. Our weekly menu for the months of November to March looked like this;

Monday: Boiled Egg with a glass of milk

Tuesday: Potatoes and Rice

Wednesday: Fried Egg

Thursday: Chicken Corn Soup

Friday: Cornflakes/Boil Potato with Ketchup

The menu attempts to provide all necessary nutrients to students from calcium, fibre to protein, Iron and other necessary vitamins and nutrients. While the variety ensures students do not bore of the same food each day. Special care is also taken to ensure hygiene of the students as well. Students are encouraged to wash hands before their meal and all utensils are regularly washed. The preparatory staff’s hygiene is also a top priority and all fruits and vegetables are thoroughly washed to ensure a hygienic and safe meals for all children.

The breakfast program has become our pride and the cause of many improvements. Students are more active, happier and willing to grasp concepts faster in class according to our teachers. Parents have also appreciated the initiative and find that students are more motivated coming to school and are more enthusiastic about eating with friends. Parents appreciate how the breakfast program helps in their children’s healthier lifestyle. A parent writing to school said; “I think this initiative is great. The meals are according to what kids like to eat. It is hygienic and the staff is really cooperative and nice as well.”

With summer fast approaching and changing our lifestyle and food choices a new menu is already underway being carefully crafted for our students. With the help of our donors we hope to continue making each morning a happy and warm one for our girls with a full stomach and shinning prospects. We at Zindagi Trust believe in transforming lives with the education we provide and are thankful for your continued support for it.

As the humdrum of another academic quarter alongside the Karachi heat leaves the students tired and weary, the breakfast program ensures students can rely on healthy and energizing meals to combat all fatigue. 

To attain the true essence of the holistic education Zindagi Trust envisions, providing students with an enabling environment is a crucial component to tap into. Hence Zindagi Trust has initiated programs such as providing breakfast to its students to maximize their learning potential all the while ensuring that the institute continues to provide them with opportunities that increase their accessibility to all facets of academic and daily life. 

Hence, with the beginning of fall, comes a new breakfast menu. Keeping in mind that developing brains and growing bodies need the necessary nutrients to function at a productive capacity, our breakfast menu is specifically catered to fulfilling the nutritional and seasonal needs of our students. 

Starting the day with protein, calcium and fiber is linked with increased cognitive capabilities that can help students learn better and boost interest in multiple activities throughout the day. Similarly, stable glucose levels attained from eating healthy sugar such as fruits can stabilise energy levels all the while improving the ability to focus, process information and counter reason or form logical links. 

The menu for the months August-October is as follows: 

Monday: Boiled Eggs with a glass of Milk

Tuesday: Bowl of Mixed Seasonal Fruits

Wednesday: Wheat Porridge

Thursday: Khichri/Cooked lentils and rice with Yoghurt

Friday: Banana Shake

Saturday: Boiled Potatoes 

Teachers remark that since the breakfast program has kicked off, students have shown a higher level of interest in what’s being taught in class, student response and participation have improved significantly and a few students have even shown improved abilities to understand and grasp concepts.

With winters coming forth, menu revisions are currently underway and through the support of our generous donors, Zindagi Trust will continue to ensure students are provided with the most important meal of the day. 

As the month of May approached, students were caught up in the humdrum of the academic year end exams - the older students prepared for their board examinations, and younger students for their assessments all the while attending their daily lessons. To keep students functioning at their full potential, Zindagi Trust ensured the delicious breakfast early morning before classes are delivered without any hindrances. It is important for our students to be rejuvenated through a nutritious breakfast, which is why providing them with a hearty meal in the morning is a priority for us. 

Over the last few months of spring and early summer, students were given a variety of appetising breakfast items. Mondays welcome boiled eggs with milk. On Tuesdays, students enjoy fruit smoothie and sliced potatoes. Wednesdays start with chicken mince with  green peas, potatoes alongside chapati. Thursdays students are served egg and mayonnaise chapati roll. Fridays commence with  potato and spinach gravy with chapati, while Saturdays welcome lentils with rice, followed by bananas. As usual, our competent kitchen staff ensures the meals are prepared in a clean and safe environment and children have fun while consuming it.  

There were over 6,300 meals during April and May for early childhood education students at SMB Fatima Jinnah School, whereas nearly half the number was provided at Khatoon-e-Pakistan School. Most of the month of May and the entirety of June were part of the summer break for students. During the month of June, a summer camp was organised where cooking classes were held and secondary school students learned easy to make healthy recipes for breakfast. Our school hallways have welcomed back students with the commencement of August, and with it, resumed the breakfast program in full swing.

A few parents even made the effort of writing an appreciation letter to the SMB Fatima school administration to convey how grateful they are to have such a program in place. One parent wrote, “My daughter studies in KG-2 at your school and she loves the environment and safety the school provides her with. Personally, the incredible feature of your school that stands out for me is the breakfast program. The breakfast given to the children is filled with nutrition that is integral for their health, growth and nourishment. I am beyond grateful to the school administration for letting my child be a part of the school and benefiting from its various facilities and programs.”

As part of Zindagi Trust’s admission policy, the administration of both schools- Khatoon-e-Pakistan and SMB Fatima Jinnah consults the parents regarding  any possible allergies, pre-existing conditions or food problems of their children so the menu can be prepared accordingly. Measures such as these ensure the breakfast program functions smoothly for all students and Zindagi Trust continues to spread smiles through hearty meals.

With the onset of a new year and all of our students aged 12 and above vaccinated for COVID-19, the new academic term started on a positive note. Like Zindagi Trust’s academic and non-academic programs, the breakfast project too commenced in full swing.

The breakfast program caters to over 700 students with nutritional and appetising meals every morning at two of our adopted government schools . The beneficiaries of this program are students from kindergarten to grade 1 in SMB Fatima Jinnah School, and kindergarten to grade 2 in Khatoon-e-Pakistan School (KPS).

The breakfast menu is crafted with careful consideration of student nutritional needs, and is updated according to different seasons. Fresh seasonal fruits are essential to the menu throughout the year, while items like soup and porridge are available during the colder months whereas summer welcomes refreshing milkshakes, yoghurt and daal chawal (lentils and rice) to combat Karachi’s heat.

The health of our students takes precedence in decision making hence factors like infections or price hikes can modify the menu. Recently, beef was temporarily removed from the menu when a viral infection broke out among cows. Similarly, artificial sugar is banned at the schools as it is reported to make children hyper-aggressive and is not very nutritious. 

At SMB Fatima Jinnah, the breakfast maids ensure that students with different religious backgrounds are provided with a separate menu on request, which encourages tolerance and inclusivity. Moreover, to prevent food wastage and to secure student health, leftovers are sent to the health room every day to be given to children of other grades reporting sick or reporting symptoms of fatigue.

The school teachers and staff play an active role in facilitating the young students. The ECE-I class teacher from SMB Fatima Jinnah motivates students to finish their meals by giving them stars and stickers as positive reinforcement. The breakfast maid ensures students enjoy the breakfast experience so she narrates different stories to them to gauge their interest. At KPS, teachers and maids sit down with the students who are not able to finish their meals and successfully motivate them to finish the remaining food. 

Parental involvement and feedback is crucial to the success of the breakfast program. They are consulted regarding their children’s food allergies and special attention is given to students who have a health condition that requires a different meal. At the time of admissions, parents are introduced to the breakfast program and are eager for their children to participate in it. They generally have positive feedback for the program; a few motivated parents even approach the school for the recipe of their child’s favourite meal at school.

Currently, Zindagi Trust is motivated to further improve the breakfast program. One of the first few urgent tasks of the organisation is to revamp the breakfast room at SMB Fatima Jinnah, including getting new furniture, and putting up wall frames.  

To measure the success of the program, our team is determined to work on a monitoring and evaluation report for the breakfast program that will cover three main things: the analysis of the nutritional status of children at school, further testing of any significant differences in the nutritional status of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the breakfast program, and a comparative analysis of the prevalence of stunting, wasting, obesity at our school versus district, province, and country. Producing this report will be a significant step in strengthening our breakfast program through intensive data collection and analysis. 

Zindagi Trust is able to continue the breakfast program through the generous support of our donors, and we hope to deliver on our plans and constantly strive towards improving the health and wellbeing of our children.