Feed School Children in Kenya

With schools in Kenya having partially reopened last week, we have taken the decision to resume our support of the lunch programme in our partner schools after a suspension of more than 7 months due to Covid.

Food is now on order for the remainder of the term (which is due to run until 23 December) for the 450+ class 4 & 8 pupils for whom learning has resumed and we expect that these children will again be receiving a hot lunchtime meal in school by the end of the month.

Because in some schools food will be cooked for as few as 20 pupils we have decided to exchange the maize that we usually provide for primary-aged pupils with rice which is normally only provided for pre-school pupils. This will be easier and quicker to cook in small volumes.

All cooks are required to wear full PPE under guidelines issued by the government and whilst we wait for the food to be delivered we will be working with our schools to source the necessary equipment, including protective gum boots, full overalls, gloves and face visors.

In line with our wider work to improve hygiene facilities across our partner schools, we will also be ensuring that there are easily accessible hand-wash facilities located adjacent to kitchens and dining halls.

Once the lunch programme is back up-and-running we will also be arranging for a distribution of foodstuffs to benefit those children still at home and not expected back in school before January (although, given the governments decision to reopen schools at less than one week's notice, this could change!). We have allocated approximately £2.50/$3.25 for each of the circa 2,000 children and expect the disbursement to include staples such as rice, flour and sugar.