As civil unrest contributes to food shortages across southern Sudan, Mary’s Meals is providing daily school meals for more than 3,400 hungry primary school children.
The charity is working with local volunteers to supply food for pupils in 13 schools in Yirol County near Lake Dinka. The mid-morning meal, which usually consists of maize and beans, encourages children to attend lessons, and for many will be the only guaranteed nutrition they receive.
Poor harvests and an influx of refugees from the north have put pressure on scarce resources in the region, increasing the risk of malnutrition and underlining the need for the school feeding programme.
Rising fuel prices and the fluctuating cost of food, caused by tension ahead of southern Sudan’s secession on July 9, have added to the challenges of delivering aid – our partners are travelling to Uganda to buy food as not enough is available locally.
Father Jose Parladé, who administers Mary’s Meals Yirol project in partnership with Amsudan, is determined to keep providing support: “The challenges are many but the communities we work with are hungry for their children to have the chance to gain an education,” he says. “Our schools which receive food have many learners. The children stay at school because they are fed – the long distance they have to walk doesn’t affect them so much.”
The Mary’s Meals project in Yirol was started in 2007 at the request of the local community, who were determined to enable their children to access school. The meals are prepared by children’s mothers, who volunteer their time to help.
The Dinka people of Yirol are semi-nomadic and mostly depend on cattle for their living. They face the ongoing threat of violence as well as the struggle for food and water – earlier this month seven children were kidnapped during a militia raid in the main town.
Mary’s Meals work in southern Sudan is supported by Band Aid.
- Click here for Mary’s Meals Sudan Project Page
- Click here to read a Q&A with Father Parladé
