School Feeding Programs
Lighting a path out of poverty through the provision of school meals to improve enrollment, retention, learning outcomes and the transition from primary to secondary school.
Students in our School Feeding Program receive a life altering change through the provision of school meals every school day. This initiative gives the children in our program an opportunity to both learn, and be nourished, in a way they have never experienced in their lives. Without early intervention of nutrition, the future of these students will be tarnished by their inadequate educational foundation due to the stress of hunger and the malnutrition which they suffer. Not only does nutrition cause physical harm to their growing bodies and brains, it also causes emotional stress.
THIS PROGRAM PROVIDES:
School lunch every school day (Monday - Friday)
Meals consist of protein, carbohydrates and fruits
63,700
Students fed in 173 schools across a rural county the size of New Jersey
(8,700 square miles)
26,000
Households and estimated 91,000 people impacted
11.7%
School enrollment increase
68%
Schools in our program saw a marked improvement in performance
In 2023, 90% of students were retained in schools, compared to a dropout rate of 63% in 2022 before our intervention.
About Our Feeding Program
When a child doesn’t know where or when their next meal is coming, they have trouble concentrating in the classroom.
When a child’s nervous system is overwhelmed by the fear of not having food, it is harder for them to access the logical thinking portions of their brain, which also inhibits learning.
We are confident that providing daily meals to the children in our program improves their quality of life, reduce their overall level of stress, improves their health, reduce absenteeism due to illness and therefore improves their school performance.
When a child can begin to learn, develop and grow, they open their future educational opportunities.
“Death is the worst outcome of malnutrition’s ugly grasp, but it’s not the only outcome. Children who survive can face a long list of devastating side effects that last a lifetime, preventing them from achieving success in school and pursuing meaningful work in adulthood. Such effects of malnutrition include increased vulnerability to diseases, developmental delays, stunted growth and even blindness.”
In Their Own Words
Nicholas Mutinda Grade 7, Mopei Primary Kajiado Feeding Program
While food is an essential need which is encouraging our students to come to school - there are many other expenses involved in sending a child to primary school in Kenya including school fees, school uniform, books, and school supplies which the parents are responsible for. When parents have to choose between food and school fees for the children, they will always choose food. By introducing the school feeding program many parents have been able to divert their small income to pay for the school costs to keep their children in school and the food itself draws the children into their eduction.
Nicholas comes from a family of five and his three siblings are in the same school as him. The feeding program has been a blessing to the family both in school and at home. At school, they can access quality food unlike before when at home they would sleep hungry, and even go without food for some days. Today, Nicholas and his siblings celebrate because it is a new dawn in their lives and they can now study well and be in school throughout the week and there are no more cases of their fellow students collapsing in school due to lack of food.
At home, their parents are the lucky ones since they have managed to save something for the family. They managed to save some money to buy food for their livestock and save them from dying due to the drought, though they lost some, the money was used to feed the remaining cattle and pay for their kids’ school fees and other basic needs.
Nicholas shares “My school performance has improved and it is going to improve more since we have the best environment to study and learn, I am hoping to do well in next year’s exams and join the best high school in Kenya. Unlike before we could go to the field just to sleep during lunch. I really thank Light Up Hope for providing our school with the feeding program.”
Mr. Paul Kisironte, Headteacher of Olperrelongo Primary School, Kajiado Feeding Program
“This program has reduced absenteeism, learners are now able to concentrate in class and attend remedial classes. Earlier, before the feeding program, learners could not attend remedial classes in the afternoon because of hunger and the long distance walks from school to home to get lunch. Some of them could not even get anything to eat because of the drought which has led to high levels of poverty.”
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