The kids kitchen: daily meals in the wake of Ebola

The summer holiday is still ongoing but, here, at the We Are the Future centre, we are already prepping for the new academic year which will start in September. 

This year, we hope to continue on our trajectory to assist vulnerable children from our community. Check out what you have helped us achieve so far by comparing the last two academic years.

2014/2015 school year:

In the academic year 2015/2016, out of 140 children enrolled at the beginning of the year, only 122 finished. Very sadly, three of our pupils died (two of cholera and one of typhoid fever), which was a great sorrow for all of us. Fifteen students dropped out of school because their parents could no longer afford to pay for school material and children had to help their family put food on the table. 104 students were promoted to new classes while 18 children had to repeat their class. All of these 18 students had recorded a very high number of absent days, sometimes more than 50 days out of the year, mostly due to preventable illnesses that are often caused by malnutrition. 

• No. of kids at the start of the school year -- 140
• No. of kids at the end of the school year -- 122
• No. of kid death -- 3
• No. of drop out kids -- 15 
• No. of kids promoted to new class -- 104
• No. of kids repeating new class -- 18

2015/2016 school year:

Last year, thanks to your generous support, we started the Kids Kitchen. We immediately noticed the positive difference the Kitchen made: kids were more focused, less tired, had better behaviour and showed overall better health conditions. Out of the 150 students registered, all went through the academic year successfully and were promoted to new classes. The number of days of absence were dramatically reduced. There were no case of school dropout. We strongly associate this achievement with the motivation and assurance that comes with the availability of food for all kids daily. They are sure to escape hunger at home if they choose to come to school.

• No. of kids at the start of the school year -- 150
• No. of kids at the end of the school year -- 150
• No. of kid death -- 0
• No. of drop out kids -- 0
• No. of kids promoted to new class -- 150
• No. of kids repeating new class -- 0

The impact of the feeding project was felt not only by the kids who are the direct beneficiaries: the teachers were motivated and felt a renewed sense of pride for working at the WAF school and parents were extremely enthusiastic. This has been demonstrated by letters of thanks and appreciation from the children’s families and also from the Hon. Member of parliament representing our district, who noted how the feeding programme has helped sustain the children’s dignity. 

We are very grateful to everyone who has donated towards the success of this year’s school feeding project. You directly contributed to change the situation of over 150 children to escape the consequences of hunger and malnutrition.

Please consider making another donation to help us continue this programme throughout the new academic year 2016/2017. We now have the kitchen and the garden but we still need to buy essentials, like staples, oil, salt, etc. and pay for our staff to take good care of our pupils.

Once again, thanks a million for your generosity and support. 

Best Regards,

John Donald Sandy
WAF Center Director