By Charles Coldman | Director, African Promise
In September 2013 we launched our feeding programme in a single of our partner schools to the benefit of 300 pupils; from the start of next term in May, less than 2 years on, we will extend the programme to reach ALL of the 2,400 pupils across our schools.
For the first time in many years all pupils in this region of Kenya will receive a daily meal at school, ensuring they are not learning on empty stomachs.
We are very grateful for the part you have played in helping us reach this milestone.
The programme continues to have a major impact on the welfare of pupils and their learning. Head teachers are almost universally reporting near 100 per cent attendance rates whilst enrolments, particularly in the nursery/kindergarten years, have risen. More children are in school more often.
"Time wasted by children to run to their homes at lunchtime can now be used by pupils to settle down in their classrooms in readiness for afternoon lessons." Elias Mzugula, head teacher, Kiteghe Primary School.
However the programme is not without its challenges, such as shortages of water for cooking, damage to stored food by pests and failure by some parents to honour their commitment to providing firewood and nominal contributions towards the salary of cooks. However we are working with the schools to find solutions to these problems, and we are delighted that in some schools independent plans are in the pipeline to establish kitchen gardens growing greens and vegetable to supplement the basic meal we provide.
Looking ahead, the feeding programme is now fully funded at its new level until the end of 2015. However we have large fundraising targets to reach if we are to ensure we can sustain the programme into the future. Fortunately, we are delighted to report that one of our corporate sponsors in the UK has pledged to match any donation we receive towards the cost of the programme in 2016, up to a grand total of £25,000. These donations together would be sufficient to fund the programme for the whole of the year - equating to almost half a million meals.
So, any further donation you can make towards this programme before the end of 2015 will be doubled $-for-$, £-for-£ and we would be very grateful for your continued support.
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