Projects

Feeding Hungry Children

As we work closely with four schools in the Galle District, we have had a chance to observe how the children get on at school. It has been sad to see how children come to school with empty stomachs and how hard they find it to concentrate and study. We were astonished at how little the children were able to retain from each lesson. Many children fainted during assembly and many more missed school. The absenteeism due to illness is high.

These observations are supported by a World Food Organisation (WFO) study which showed that over 65% of the children at Unawatuna Maha Vidyalaya (UMV), a school of 1200 students, were malnourished. As a result the WFO began a food programme at UMV which provide a cooked meal at school for children under 14. This was part of a national programme starting in 2007. The children and their families became dependent on these meals.

But as suddenly as the food had appeared, it disappeared. As the price of wheat and other grain soared worldwide, the WFO found it impossible to continue with the programme. The children, their parents and teachers were devastated. Senahasa decided to step in and from July 2008 the Senahasa Trust has run the food programme.

Cooking rice and lentils in the new kitchen	Clearing the new kitchen after the food has been cooked

Cooking in the old makeshift kitchen	The original makeshift kitchen which was impossible to use when it rained

The Senahasa Food Programme not only feeds children under 14 – it includes all the students at UMV. The older children used to look on with envy as the younger students were fed. Yet they were just as much in need of a meal. Now funding is provided by the Government to feed children in Grades 1-5 but it is received in arrears and sometimes many months later. Senahasa therefore provides interim funding to ensure that there is money to feed the children each day and not just when Government money is available.

Boys enjoying their lunch provided by the Food Programme	One of the cooks helps to serve food to older classes to ensure everyone gets a fair share
Making carrot salad	Carrot salad mixed and ready to serve

Like the WFO, Senahasa provides the dry goods such as rice and dhal in bulk and then gives the school a “per child” allowance for fresh ingredients each day. Six parents supervised by a teacher come in early each day and begin preparing a simply yet nourishing meal of rice, dhal or soya curry and a leaf curry. The food is cooked in huge vats over an open fire. At 10.30am the prefects come with plastic buckets to collect the food and take it back to the classrooms.

The mothers who help cook the meal are paid in kind with rice and dhal each day. Kalyani, one of the mothers, says, “It is hard work to cook for so many but now I can give my family two good meals a day.”

The team of mothers which cooks the meals each day	Girls sharing the food using a "newspaper plate"

HSBC in Sri Lanka are supporting this programme and in particular are helping us feed the children in Grades 6-13. The Malika Nivasa Tsunami fund has also supported us in building better kitchen facilities which will not be so affected by rain. Senahasa is also looking at introducing the food programme at a second school in the area.

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Getting ready to serve out the food into buckets for distribution to each class	Serving lentils into buckets