Blue Cup of Hope brings smiles to learners

• Published date: 24 September 2022
• Publication title: The Herald

Mubvuyiwa TichafaYouth Interactive Correspondent Over 100 000 learners from about 126 schools have benefited from the ongoing school feeding programme conducted by Mary's Meals International. The beneficiaries are from Harare (Epworth, Mabvuku and Tafara) and Mashonaland East Provinces (Goromonzi and Murewa).

With the support from Mary's Meals International, Mavambo Orphan Care (MOC) (PVO6/2005) a local non-governmental organisation which implements the programme, started community feeding in July 2020 during the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Mary's Meals International is a charity organisation founded by two brothers in 2002, Magnus and McFarlane Barrow in Scotland.

Since the programme's inception in Zimbabwe, it has grown for the betterment with now reaching and targeting 12,748 students from eight schools. The programme ensures that each child receives corn-soya blend (porridge) meal in their place of education during school days.

Meals being served in schools have been defined by the organisation's chief nutritional officer, Mr Danny Gomwe, as, "little acts of love". Stepping at Manjonjo Primary School one of the schools under the feeding programme in Murewa, a jovial and electric atmosphere could be felt as each learner wore a memorable smile.

However, for other non-feeding schools all this could simply be separated by a thin line of hunger and poverty. This has been worsened by effects of climate change, fall of business enterprises due to the global pandemic Covid-19 induced restrictions, and but not limited to under average harvests for subsistence farmers in the provinces.

For schools that receive the meals, excitement and zeal to learn have been rekindled for third term by the 'blue cup of hope' served daily at the schools. Children learning in rural schools face a myriad of challenges rangingfrom social, economic, geographical and health which impinge success of these children in school.

This has been a story for the two brilliant girls at Pote Primary School, Masciline (13) and Ressy (12). Where they live, they faced shortages of food, However, the biggest challenge is that of the distance they walk as colleagues to come to school.

On several occasions, after school Masciline and Ressy got tired and slept by the roadside, which eventually result in them arriving at home late in the evening. "I recall when we were going home, we would sit under a huge guava tree and gather fruits when guavas...