Children’s Homes
By chance, Mary’s Meals founder, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, came across a ward full of abandoned children with HIV while delivering aid to a hospital in Romania.
The scene he discovered horrified him. “There are two things I will always remember about that ward – the total silence and the stench. Afterwards someone explained to me that if you leave a child long enough it will give up even crying.” Magnus left determined to help these and other abandoned children. Although school feeding is the main focus of our work we occasionally provide residential care for children when funds allow and when this complements our Mary’s Meals programme.
Romania
Iona House in Romania is the home Mary’s Meals set up for the children who had been abandoned in the hospital. Thanks to a generous donation from Duncan Bannatyne we were able to build a second home nearby. Contrary to the dismal predictions given to their natural families that resulted in the institutionalisation of the children in the first place, the children have blossomed when no longer deprived of love and care. Over the years the children have become young adults. While some will need ongoing care and support, others have been able to step out into the world on their own. We have had the joy of seeing several marry and look forward to having families of their own.
Columbia & Peru
Thanks to the support of UK businessman and entrepreneur, Duncan Bannatyne, we have also been able to build homes for vulnerable children in Medellin, Colombia and Villa Salvador, Peru.
Liberia
The Oscar Romero school in Tubmanburg, Liberia, opened in June 2008. It was built entirely by carpenters and builders who trained in our nearby St Benedict’s Technical School in recent years, on land donated by the local community. It is a residential school for deaf children and so, as well as classroom facilities, it also comprises dormitory accommodation for boys and girls. It was built in response to a huge need, brought to our attention by Liesbeth Glas, our former Country Director, for a facility for deaf children in this area. Many children become deaf due to untreated illnesses and infections and so there is a very high incidence of deafness here. In addition, some of these children have been abandoned by their parents and most have not had the opportunity to benefit from any specialist education for deaf children. The teachers have received specialist training and the school can cater for up to 60 children.
