Children still need our help
Mary’s Meals is a lifeline for hungry children in Malawi
Gerald gets up at the crack of dawn to herd his family’s cows and goats before getting ready for school.
If there is any food left over from the night before, he might eat something before making the 45-minute walk to school. Otherwise, the 13-year-old arrives at school with an empty stomach and often in pain from hunger.
At his Haitian school where Mary’s Meals provides a daily meal, relief comes at 10am when Gerald will eat his favourite meal of fish and rice.
He says, “I am happy when I have finished eating and my belly doesn’t hurt any more. I learn better and I have more energy to follow the teacher. When I eat it helps me to work in the classroom.”
Gerald is in his final year at Roche La Pierre and will have to make a decision about his future in the coming months.
Sadly, it doesn’t seem like his home life will become any easier for now.
Gerald’s father used to grow pearl millet, but not any more – disease destroyed those crops. Their harvest has been poor this year and the family usually eat once a day at home.
Gerald said, “When I eat at school, I come home and share whatever food is there at home with my nephew because I still feel full from eating at school.”
Mary’s Meals is fuelling Gerald’s dreams for a brighter future.
“I want to be an engineer when I finish school,” he says. “Then, I can make things, and I can also fix things for people in the street.”