One of the schools we work in, Sirajatil Nursery School, Zanzibar, is part of our Nursery, Nutrition and Health Program. Trying to teach a class of 4-7 year old children who haven’t had anything to eat since 5pm the night before is extremely difficult. The children become tired and listless, lose concentration very easily and will not retain much from their lessons if they have not been fed.
So, every morning, porridge is served at 9:30am just after English class. While one of our African Impact volunteers get the opportunity to share a great moment teaching English to the teacher, the other one serves porridge to more than thirty cute, smiley faces rushing out of their class. The teachers were able to tell our Zanzibar intern, Michael that when the kids have porridge, they are able to concentrate and learn better and also in the afternoons their energy levels are high and are able to play a lot better. When Michael spoke to the kids they said that they are hungry when they arrive at school and that the porridge is good and fills them up. They also add with a smile and laugh that they sneak back into the queue to try and get served twice before the others!
One of the long term goals for this school is to create a vegetable and fruit garden within the community so they can produce their own food and also create an income from this for the community as well. Another future goal is to find a way for one of the schools to have chickens!
We are looking for long-term donor support to help keep the schools’ feeding program running. We need just 15 people to donate $10 per month to cover the cost of the porridge for +-200 children. We will use any extra funding towards teachers’ wages, teaching supplies, school maintenance, school trips etc.
If you would like to donate through Virgin Money Giving please click here, alternatively click the donate button at the top.