A quest for education amidst climate change
How a bright and hardworking 15-year-old keeps her dreams for the future in focus, fuelled by Mary’s Meals.
In many of the countries where we work, severe weather is a common occurrence and can be a literal barrier to education for children as schools are closed due to flooding, storms or drought.
Madagascar’s exposed island location in the Indian Ocean makes it one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and extreme weather conditions. As a result, food production, healthcare and education suffer, and around 76% of people earn below the International Poverty Line of $2.15 a day.
Mary’s Meals has been working in Madagascar since 2018, serving meals each school day to more than 97,500 children in their place of education.
Valicia, 15, is one of these young learners. She values her education a lot. Her father, Alston, describes her as “quiet, yet hardworking”, and it’s this quiet determination that helps her on her arduous journey to Menarano Primary School each day.
Reaching the school in rural Madagascar is a unique challenge. Valicia’s village can only be accessed by crossing a river and navigating narrow paths through rice fields. As Alston explains, during the rainy season, the river can become dangerous and result in schools closing. He says:
Sometimes, school is suspended for up to two weeks because there are no bridges to cross safely.
This makes access to school uncertain for many children. This literal barrier to education is the reality for millions of children in countries where climate change has brought extreme weather events.
Despite these challenges, Valicia remains eager to learn and only misses school when conditions make attendance impossible. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up and her teachers and family describe her as a “bright and capable student.”
Fuelling her hard work at school, and on the family’s farm, is a daily serving of Mary’s Meals. For her family and many others, school meals are essential. Valicia says that without the meals, “It is difficult to concentrate in class, and some children even fall asleep because they are hungry.”
After eating her daily school meal, Valicia says she feels “happy and motivated” with more energy to study and play with her friends. As Valicia’s father explains, going to school doesn’t just help children to get an education and have brighter prospects for the future – it also allows their parents to work and reduce household food expenses.
Most people in our village are farmers and work in the fields all day. School meals allow our children to be fed at school, which means parents can continue working.
For Valicia and her family, Mary’s Meals is more than just food – it’s the promise of a brighter future in an unpredictable environment.
More from Mary's Meals in Madagascar
- Discover how school meals are having an impact that reaches beyond the classroom
- Read about the communities teaching the importance of conservation
- Watch our short film, Walking Together, about our school feeding programme in Madagascar
