Picture of the week!

Having lived through the atrocities of war, millions of Ethiopians are now facing emergency levels of food insecurity and hunger. The charity Mary’s Meals serves school meals to children in the Tigray region of the country, but sadly the stories we are hearing from Tigray are shocking. After the twoyear civil war, so many children are still out of school, and many of those who are in school can’t learn due to debilitating hunger.

Before the conflict Selemon and his parents lived a happy life. Now his father has suffered a mental breakdown and is unable to support the family.

With no food at home, nine- year- old Selemon comes to school without eating anything and sits in class feeling hungry, instead of being able to focus on the lessons. He used to be bold and active in class, whereas now, he often seems to get confused when he’s asked a question. His teacher says: “He always gets sick. He even has a skin disease, which I think is a symptom of hunger. His family is one of the poorest.”

The past few years have stolen so much from Selemon. Mary’s Meals is striving to reach his community and start serving meals to the children in his primary school. Alongside our local partner, we are ready to expand our school feeding programme to more schools like Selemon’s but we urgently need more funds to do so. With your help we can reach these desperately hungry children with food and boost their chances of engaging with education again.

You can provide them with hope of a brighter future. Please visit marysmeals.org. uk to give what you can to our Crisis In Ethiopia appeal – at just 10p a meal no donation is too small.

Matt Barlow, Executive Director,

Mary’s Meals

As the Head of Trusts and Corporate Partnerships at international development organisation Sightsavers, I see many people taking action to drive positive social change. Players of People’s Postcode Lottery in South West England are among those whose generosity I applaud.

Since 2018 players across Britain have raised over £14 million for Sightsavers. This money has helped achieve numerous cataract operations, and eyesight tests for people in some of the world’s poorest countries.

My sincerest gratitude extends to the people of South West England for helping transform lives. Lives like Luyando, a young girl in Zambia who had cataracts in both eyes, and was bullied at school due to her vision impairment. Her eyesight has been restored thanks to Sightsavers’ project offering free cataract surgeries and training local eye health staff. Our projects bring immense relief to countless families like Luyando’s, and are possible thanks to funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. We thank them for helping make our vision of leaving no one behind a reality.

Any readers interested in supporting our vision can visit www. sightsavers.org for more information.

Local suppor ters dri ve posi tive social change DEAR SIR,