Every child should be invited to the table

Dear friend, 

“Every day my children wake up and choose to live their life to help me, not to live their own,” said Estele Witinese as she looked at her silent children dressed in worn-out clothes, huddled beside her.  

“No mother would be happy with the life my children have.”  

And she was right. How could any loving parent be happy when they see their own children suffering hunger and missing school to work in fields whilst other children in their community are attending class and forming friendships in the schoolyard?  

Estele and her children

Our meals change the story 

But a few days after this conversation, things changed in a wonderful way for this family. As part of a recent large expansion of our work in Malawi – made possible by the incredible generosity of you, our supporters – Mary’s Meals at last reached Namingwere Primary School. The promise of a daily meal has led three of Estele’s children – twelve-year-old Lax, nine-year-old Mbilire, and seven-year-old Dija – into the playground and classroom for the first time.  

Now, each morning the three siblings are amongst those queuing for the fortified porridge served by Mary’s Meals volunteers from the local community. And each day they come back with tales of what they are learning in class and of fun with their new friends.  

Dija, Mbilire and Lax with their first serving of Mary’s Meals

Every child should be invited to the table 

At the beginning of February, a few weeks before his death, I participated in a meeting hosted by Pope Francis about the rights of the child. In his opening remarks, he said:  

‘A childhood denied is a silent scream…’  

The plight of Lax, Mbilire and Dija before Mary’s Meals arrived in their village makes me think of those words. How many children continue to scream silently today? And how often are those who are still able to raise a cry being ignored?  

This work of Mary’s Meals is driven by a belief that every child in our world should be ‘invited to the table’. That every single child has the right to food and the right to an education – and to fully be part of their community too. That is no small thing. It is one of the deepest desires of every human heart. To be accepted. To belong. To know you are valued.  

Lax and Dija write in their school workbooks

In their first few days of school, Estele’s children have learned to write their own names. And they have made new friends with whom they can laugh.  

Because of the daily meals you are helping to provide, they are no longer silent. They have stopped screaming. And others now know their names.  

Thank you for helping to make this work possible. 

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow,
Founder of Mary's Meals

Help us spread more smiles like Dija’s 

Thanks to the promise of a daily meal, Dija can now attend school

From a mother saying her children don’t deserve a life of suffering, to seeing them play during their first day at school – this is what we mean when we say our meals are life-changing. 

Girls like Dija can face significant challenges in accessing education. A daily school meal helps to remove those barriers, giving them opportunities they otherwise may not have to learn, grow and thrive. 

Dija is in school today because of donations that funded her school meals. Please help us change the future for more children like Dija by donating today.