The impact of your gift in Malawi
Angela Chipeta-Khonje, Country Director for Malawi, celebrates our three million milestone and the generational impact of Mary's Meals
In a world where good news can sometimes feel in short supply, you’ve just helped to achieve something truly incredible.
It gives me huge pleasure to tell you that Mary’s Meals has just passed a miraculous milestone, and we have our incredible supporters and volunteers to thank.
Mary’s Meals is now, officially, serving more than three million meals to hungry children, in 16 countries around the world, every single school day!
That is three million children being fed. Three million children in school. Three million children who are able to concentrate, to study, to follow their dreams and invest in their future each and every day. And it’s thanks to your belief, your compassion, and your support.
I cannot fully put into words the joy and pride this gives me. But I can tell you it could not have come at a more critical time for communities around the world. The desperate need for simple, effective solutions to hunger has never been greater, not least in my own country, Malawi, where Mary’s Meals started over 20 years ago.
Hope at a critical time
As the Country Director for Malawi, I know that climate change and rising costs have been devastating for so many families here, especially those in rural areas. This is also something that Alesi, a young mother who lives in Nyambi, in rural southern Malawi, knows well.
Years of failed harvests have left Alesi’s family often facing months at a time with no guarantee of food, something she says is harming not just her children’s health, but their very futures: “We used to harvest 18 bags of maize that would take us from the harvest season to January of the next year. It’s been a very long time since we had a good harvest. I fear that my children will not have a good education or a good future because hunger is not leaving my home.”
This year’s harvest, she told us, had been just two bags. Asked what her family would do when those two bags ran out, Alesi was at a loss.
It’s hard to imagine the fear and despair that Alesi was feeling at that moment. But thanks to you, we have already imagined the solution. Namingwere Primary, where Alesi’s son Ismayila goes, recently started serving Mary’s Meals, bringing her, and her entire community, hope.
“I’m so happy because the school feeding programme will help our children to eat and go to class. If they finish their education, they will get good jobs, and maybe they can even help their parents to have a better life.”
Alesi’s story shows that, even when faced with two of the biggest challenges of our time, economic and climate insecurity, Mary’s Meals has the power to address both. Because while these problems may be growing fast, this milestone shows that Mary’s Meals is capable of growing even faster. And I believe we’re only just getting started!
A generational impact
The more I reflect on this milestone, and as I write this letter to you now, the more it dawns on me exactly what this special moment actually means, and what you’ve helped to achieve for children and their families across the world.
It’s the kind of joy I believe can only come from hope in the future. Or, as Magnus has said, from a child’s possibilities. Because these children will have an education, be able to take care of themselves, and be able to lift their communities out of poverty. It is an impact that has never been more needed. And it’s one that, over the years, I believe will be truly generational.
It is best summed up by someone I met recently who’d received Mary’s Meals as a boy. He was very keen to tell me how the daily school meals shaped his future:
It was so heartwarming to hear … even more so because it was coming from a boy who is now a university lecturer. Food for thought, indeed.
That is what you’ve helped to achieve. And that is the transformation that your gift today can, and will, make possible. Whether you’re able to mark this milestone with a gift or not, please enjoy this achievement, because it is yours. And know that the difference you’re making in the world is truly special.
Yours with joy and in gratitude,
Angela Chipeta-Khonje
Country Director for Malawi
