Inside the school where a 10p bowl of porridge is a lifeline for children

Hundreds of school children line up quietly in their sun-bleached green uniforms, mismatched and ripped, handed down many times over. Some have no laces in their shoes, others are wearing woolly hats. It is winter in Zimbabwe, but the sun is beating down without a cloud in the sky. The children wait patiently for their turn to wash their hands, before they are handed a mug of hot porridge and a spoon. For many, it will be the only meal they eat today.

This is Amazwimabili Primary School in the dusty Matabeleland North province, about 250 miles south west of the capital Harare, where 554 students gather each day to learn, and to eat thanks to a feeding programme delivered by Scottish charity Mary’s Meals.

The children sit crammed together beneath the dappled shade of an acacia tree as they eat. There are no shouts or bursts of laughter, no playful squabbles. The atmosphere is subdued. Unlike the noisy chatter of a British school canteen, here, mealtime is solemn. When food is scarce, eating is a serious business. Nearby, volunteer cooks and helpers in bright patterned aprons scoop out porridge from a large plastic barrel for more hungry children.

Twelve-year-old Sibert Ndlovu, a shy boy who looks much younger than his age, walks three kilometers to school each day. “The porridge helps me concentrate in class and listen to my teachers,” he says. “Before, there were days when I had nothing to eat.” Sibert lives with his maternal grandparents - Angelina, 68, and Gideon, 72, who is in poor health and no longer able to work the land around their home. Sibert’s mother left when he was just two-year-old to find work in South Africa, and has never returned or sent money home. Despite the challenges, both boys are determined to stay in school. They are both passionate about football, though they don't have a favorite team because they have no access to a television.

Abiyah, 12, likes reading and writing and dreams of becoming a policeman one day. “It’s much easier to come to school now because I know I will get food. But I still came even when there was no food,” he says in Ndebele, the local language. Like many of the children, he lives with his grandparents and seven younger siblings, and eats just two small meals a day. At school, he receives a mug of the sweetened, fortified corn porridge. In the evenings and on weekends, he eats sadza - a thick maize porridge similar to polenta. Meat and vegetables are rare.
“My parents live in Bulawayo,” he says. “They don’t send money or come to visit. They can’t find work. I’m the oldest, so I take care of my brothers and sisters.”

“We are working hard each day,” says Khumalo Fanta, the deputy head, as she oversees the morning feeding program in the dusty schoolyard. Overhead, a tattered national flag flutters in the breeze. Nearby, chickens scratch at the ground while stray dogs and goats wander past.
“Most of the children live with their grandparents or distant relatives because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic,” she explains in English referring to the 1.3million adults and children living with the disease in Zimbabwe. “Just last week, three more children were orphaned. That brings the number in this school to 277. Many of them stay with frail grandparents who can’t afford three meals a day. In the morning they come without taking any food. So when they get something to eat at school, at least they are getting something, it is a relief to them.”

“School feeding addresses the disparities between the rich and the poor,” Ms. Fanta continues. “They no longer have to bring lunch boxes to school, which means their grandparents aren’t exposed for being unable to provide. There is equality so the learners are not thinking ‘that family’s better, that family’s richer, that family can afford food’. Now everyone has the same porridge, the same quantity and they eat together. We are a family. We appreciate the support from Mary’s Meals.”

Unlike some other schools, this one has its own borehole for water, but it has had no power since a pylon was blown down in high winds last year. She gestures toward the simple outdoor kitchen where the porridge is cooked on a fire, and concrete benches where the children eat. “The community appreciates the school feeding their children so much that they came together to build the kitchen and the seating area. Now, the children’s uniforms don’t get torn or dirty from sitting on the ground.”

Mary's Meals has been serving school meals in Zimbabwe since 2018 and is currently reaching more than 50,000 children in 171 schools with their local partner, Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress, and the Zimbabwean government.

Monday 8 September marks the charity marks a milestone providing three million children with a meal everyday.

Founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, from Dalmally in Argyll, said: “Whilst it is an amazing thing that this work has grown to reach 3 million children, the sad reality is that tens of millions of children remain hungry and out of school. This very day, in a world in which we produce more than enough food for us all, thousands of children will die of hunger-related causes. And yet it costs Mary’s Meals around 10p to serve one meal, and less than £20 to feed a child for a whole school year.

“And so, this landmark is less a celebration than it is a call to action. We invite every person of good will to join the Mary’s Meals movement so that our vision – that every child in this world receives one daily meal in their place of education – might be realised.”

You can feed a hungry child through Mary’s Meals every day for a whole school year for as little as £19.15. To donate visit: marysmeals.org.uk