Saving lives in war-torn Ethiopia as Mary’s Meals leads the way in Tigray
Mary’s Meals is providing vital meals to more than 110,000 children every day in crisis-hit Tigray, more than any other organisation
Mary's Meals is providing vital food aid in a war-torn region of Ethiopia, and is now providing more meals to children in Tigray than any other global organisation.
We have announced a significant expansion of its school feeding programme in Tigray, Ethiopia, following a generous response to a recent crisis appeal.
We have increased the number of vital meals we are serving every school day and is now reaching more than 110,000 children in over 200 schools. Last year, when schools first reopened after the war, the Mary’s Meals feeding programme was serving around 24,000 learners.
Although the number of children receiving school meals in the region is significantly higher than before, the need for such interventions remains acute. More than 2 million Tigrayans are currently at risk of starvation (1) and millions more are suffering food insecurity because of an ongoing drought and the aftermath of the civil war. There have been fears of a potential famine on a par with or even greater than the infamous Ethiopian famine of 1984, which made global headlines on account of the Band Aid response, four decades ago.
Alongside widespread hunger, another crisis is gripping Tigray as an estimated 700,000 children whose education was disrupted by war remain out of school. (2)
Founded in a shed in the remote Scottish Highland village of Dalmally, the Mary’s Meals story began in 2002 when founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow visited Malawi during a famine. Today, the charity, which is still headquartered in the Highlands, feeds more than 2.4 million hungry children in 17 of the world’s poorest countries every day. The promise of a nutritious meal at school attracts these children into the classroom, where they can gain an education and hope of a brighter future. Our unique school feeding model is embedded in communities and relies on local volunteers.
Mary’s Meals first started feeding children in Ethiopia in 2017. In Tigray, the charity is operating as a support system for communities as they work towards rebuilding their lives following two years of deadly civil war.
In the Hintalo Wajirat District of Tigray, Ara Primary School is one rural school where we introduced our feeding programme in recent months. Before school feeding began there, teachers, parents, and students struggled daily to find enough food to eat.
Fitsum, the mother of 11-year-old Ara student Aradech, told us: “We are living with hunger. We only have this piece of bread or some soup. We don’t satisfy ourselves. We are surviving just with this. The problem now is the shortage of rain consecutively for three years. This repeated seasonal problem is causing great hunger – even death. It is not just [happening to] me, it is not only [happening in] my village, it’s all over Tigray.”
The community around Ara Primary, including Fitsum, has worked diligently to implement its new school feeding programme to address the urgent need for life-saving food among children and families. They constructed a rudimentary outside kitchen to allow the programme to start as quickly as possible, created a shaded area where the children can eat, and organised a roster of volunteers to cook and serve the nutritious porridge-like meal.
Aradech says: “I feel joyful now that we have school feeding. Before it started, I always had a headache at school from hunger. Now I feel happy, and we have the energy for learning, even for jumping rope. It has made such a difference at school.”
Sister Medhin Tesfay, who leads Mary’s Meals’ partner organisation in Tigray, describes the current situation and why work must continue to reach those who are most vulnerable: “During the two years of war, nearly the entire population became dependent on food assistance and all basic needs. Currently, according to credible sources, we have 4.5 million people dependent on food aid. Unless we work together, there is a high possibility of losing so many people. It's vital – critical – that the emergency support people are very much in need of is provided.”
Alex Keay, Director of Programmes at Mary’s Meals, adds: “The fact that we received such an incredible response to our crisis appeal and have been able to expand our programme in Tigray so rapidly is a testament to how generous our supporters are, how highly respected our partner is, as well as the capability and determination of our Tigrayan colleagues and the communities they work alongside.
“During recent visits to the region, we met children who have so little to eat that they are too lethargic to attend classes and parents who have had to choose which of their children will receive food from the tiny rations available to them. We know that for many children, the school meals we provide are all they will eat in a day.
“Mary’s Meals will continue to work with its global movement of supporters and volunteers to feed more children in Tigray. We will not stop until we are no longer needed.”