By Alison Hall | Founder
The children of Vision Hope Nursery School returned for a new term this week and thanks to your kindness and generosity all 400 of them will eat lunch every day. Their lunch is grown by the local farmers who are also the children’s parents. Seeds for Development provides them with the seeds to grow maize and beans, which they sell to the school. This means that as well as children eating, the parents are also generating a much-needed income in a community where there are no jobs and no livelihoods.
During the GlobalGiving campaign, our founder Alison visited the school to see just what happens at lunchtime and came away amazed by the intricacies of a fairly mundane daily activity.
Lunchtime starts early with our cook Jennifer heading off on the ½ mile trek for water, which she carries back on her head. Each jerry can weighs 23 kgs, and Jennifer has to make several journeys to ensure there is enough water. If you have ever tried to carry your full suitcase to the airport to go on holiday, you will know what it feels like to carry a jerry can on your head.
The children all queue up in their class groups and say prayers whilst they are waiting. Once they have washed their hands (thanks Jennifer) they receive a plate of “posho and beans”. Posho is made from maize and fills the children up whilst the beans give them proteins and vitamins. The most fascinating thing is watching how the children eat their food and stopping the big ones stealing the lunch off the little ones! Most of the children eat from their own plate, but quite a few of them all put their lunch in the same plate and then share it. This is because at home there are not enough plates for everyone and so they pool their resources.
After lunch, the children wash their hands and their plates and are all set for a busy afternoon.
Lunch is something we take for granted, but in the communities where we work it is a blessing and a luxury. So from the parents of Vision Hope and us at Seeds for Development thank you so much.
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