Providing school lunches to kids in Mozambique

Greetings from Mozambique!

The Mozambique School Lunch Initiative recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary of serving school lunches to kids in Mozambique. It is thanks to supporters like you that we are able to show up every day at schools and keep providing meals. In our perspective, the power of school meals is in their consistency. Day after day, year after year. A daily meal at school is something that a child can count on. And this matters. In the communities where MSLI works, school meals are a critical safety net for children who live in poverty. For the children we serve, a hot meal keeps them in school and helps them stay focused, energized, and ready to learn.

Following the devastating floods earlier this year, the school meals we serve helped ensure kids came back to school and had something to eat while their families recovered. It’s easy to see the benefit in the short-term – preventing kids from suffering from hunger and dropping out of school during particularly extreme shocks. But MSLI is also playing the long game, because investing in children takes time and commitment. That’s why MSLI is proud that once we start providing meals at a school, we have never once stopped. We believe that every child should have good nutrition at school – today, tomorrow, and 10 years from now. And we’re here to make that happen.

One of the teachers at a school that benefits from the school lunch program explained, "Previously, the school faced many challenges – low student attendance, high number of dropouts. But after MSLI arrived, we started seeing this change. Now, students leave home in the morning without eating anything, arriving at school with the faith that they will have a hot meal. And this inspired me to collaborate with MSLI to help find creative ways for the community to support the program. The impacts of MSLI’s program are visible – from the school meals, to the school buses, we can see it working.”

With the generosity of people like you, we aim to reach even more kids in the coming year. Thank you for your support!