From a daily meal to so much more
Mary’s Meals is more than a meal for Orimo and his community in Madagascar
Published onIn Madagascar, education is vital to equip the next generation with knowledge and skills they will need to overcome the challenges the country faces. The fourth largest island in the world, Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries: around 76% of people earn below the International Poverty Line of $2.15 a day. Food production on the island is insufficient to feed everyone who lives there, and access to essential services such as healthcare, education and clean water is limited. As the world’s water levels continue to rise, its location makes it very susceptible to cyclones and other climate driven disasters.
Mary’s Meals has been working in Madagascar since 2018. More than 88,500 children there eat our nutritious school meals every school day. The promise of a good meal attracts children into the classroom and gives them energy to learn. But the impact of Mary’s Meals stretches far beyond meeting a hungry child’s immediate need for food. Our school meals give children the chance to gain an education, strengthen communities and bring hope for a better future.
A love of learning
For 10-year-old Orimo, Mary's Meals has been the catalyst for a love of school. In his modest classroom in Ranomafana Primary School, you’ll find him in the corner of the front row, fully focused on his lessons and jotting down notes with quiet determination. It takes a lot to distract him from his studies.
Orimo is a calm and softly spoken young boy but articulate when he talks about his life and dreams for the future. He's most relaxed when he is with his friends at lunchtime, sitting alongside them smiling, as they eat their daily serving of Mary’s Meals. Sometimes the meal is rice with beans or lentils, other days it’s rice with peanuts and greens. But, regardless of the daily menu, it’s the impact of these regular school meals that he has a lot to say about. He says:
“When I knew that there would be canteen, I was happy because I [could] eat at school. I am not hungry when I study, and I study hard to be intelligent.”
Watch below to hear from Orimo
Orimo has a busy schedule at school. He continues: “My favourite subjects at school are biology and earth sciences because I know the anatomy of the human body. I like geography because I know the environment. I like French because I know grammar like verbs and vocabularies. I like mathematics because I know addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.”
It’s an extensive list, and one that’s sure to help him in his future dream career as a mechanic, a job he chose after seeing another mechanic hard at work one day and deciding he wanted to do the same.
Strengthening communities
At Mary’s Meals, community is at the heart of everything we do. Our school feeding programme is owned and run by the communities who benefit from it. Teachers, parents and volunteers are the lifeblood that enable our work, as the programme is run by schools, Parent Teacher Associations and volunteer cooks from the local community.
In Madagascar, our school feeding programme is bringing communities together and acting as a catalyst for other community-led innovations. Inspired and empowered by what they have achieved to deliver school meals for their children, communities have united to improve access to clean water and grow food for schools, while some schools reuse cooking oil bottles to plant vegetables.
At Taratra Primary School, we talk with Gervais who facilitates a small agroecology programme, educating the children in their school garden about the importance of sustainability, the produce which is the used to help supplement the school meals. Gervais says:
“Since they started to work with Mary’s Meals the parents are more engaged, not only on education but with the other activities like planting trees.”
He continues: “We need firewood and we need water so it’s easier now to motivate and educate the community on the importance of sustainability and the environment.”
In the rural communities in Madagascar where we work, the promise of a daily school meal for their children also gives families peace of mind and freedom to work on projects to conserve the rainforest that is their home, meaning whole communities benefit from Mary’s Meals.
Anja Reserve is a remarkable example of conservation driven by local community stewardship. Nestled amidst lush vegetation in the central highlands of Madagascar. The reserve is entirely community-managed, with local villagers overseeing its operations, guiding visitors, and reinvesting profits into community projects such as education and healthcare. The security of knowing their children will eat Mary's Meals gives this community freedom to work on preserving Anja’s unique ecosystem and improving local services.
Hope for a better future
Our school feeding programme is bringing hope to communities across Madagascar and the world. By giving hungry children the energy to learn, they can become the men and women who will lift their communities out of poverty in later life. And by bringing communities together, they are responding with innovation, creativity and determination to build a better future for their children.
Jeannine, who manages a solar light library at Orimo’s school, says:
“My mum passed away early, and my father couldn’t afford my education, so I stopped at grade 11. I want my kids to go further than that so that they can have a better future.”
It costs just £19.15 to feed a child with Mary’s Meals for a whole school your, or just 10p a meal. With your help, we can transform the lives of more children, their families and their communities – please give today, if you can.
