Scottish Catholic Observer

Mary’s Meals, the charity reaching more than 792,000 children with a daily meal in their place of education, is preparing for its annual celebration and information day and a visit from two schoolgirls who are thriving thanks to the charity’s supporters.

Mary’s Meals Day will take place in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on the afternoon of Sunday, November 10 and is to be hosted by BBC Radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty.

Two Malawian learners, Joyce, 13, and Vanessa, 12, (above right) will sing on the day, accompanied by the choir from St Stephen’s Primary and selected players from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO). Both girls have been orphaned by the HIV pandemic and know first-hand how life-changing a daily meal served in school can be. Joyce and Vanessa attend Jacaranda School for Orphans and receive a mug of likuni phala porridge every school day through Mary’s Meals.

Scottish-based Mary’s Meals sets up school feeding programmes in some of the world’s poorest areas where hunger and poverty prevent children from gaining the education they deserve. The charity currently reaches 792,621 children with a daily meal in their place of education, in 16 different countries.

“Often I must come to school without eating anything, but when I come here I receive porridge and I eat,” Joyce, who lost her father six years ago and lives with her terminally-ill mother, said. “Now I can be someone in the future—be strong and healthy.”

Education

Earlier this year, Joyce lost her older sister to AIDS—a tragedy all too common in Malawi, where the HIV pandemic has obliterated many families. Joyce’s family certainly falls into this category, with her father having succumbed six years ago to the same illness and her mother now terminally ill with AIDS, too.

In the not-too-distant future, Joyce will be left all alone in the world, just another Malawian orphan desperate for a brighter future, just another young girl in this beautiful country who could so easily end up on the streets, working or begging just to survive.

The only thing that stands between Joyce (above) and that bleak fate is school. Her daily mugful of nutritious likuni phala porridge, which she receives from Mary’s Meals, means that she can come here to learn every day, full in the knowledge that she will be able to eat.

The food may be what attracted Joyce and her fellow pupils to the classroom for the very first time, but in attending every day, they receive something even more important: an education.

When asked what Mary’s Meals means to her, Joyce answers that it represents hope. Not having to worry about where her next meal will come from, she says, means she can concentrate on her schoolwork, and—importantly for Joyce—it also means her ailing mother doesn’t have to worry about her so much.

Joyce also tells me that the food from Mary’s Meals makes her realise that she and her friends are not alone in the world. They have their teachers and the dedicated members of the local community who come to cook the food, but she also knows that every time she enjoys her mugful of porridge it’s because someone on the other side of the world is thinking about her and wants the best for her. Someone has donated £10.70—the average cost to feed a child for a year—to make this possible.

Often when we show photographs of the children enjoying their porridge to people in the UK, they wonder what it must be like to eat this same maize meal every day. But for these kids in Malawi, it’s everything. Joyce is asked what the phala tastes like. With a wide smile crossing her lips, she says: “It tastes like chocolate!”

Being all too aware of the fact that the porridge, though appetising, doesn’t taste like chocolate, we ask Joyce if she’s ever tasted chocolate before. Joyce says she doesn’t think so, but she knows it’s supposed to taste really nice and the porridge is the nicest thing she’s ever tasted, so it must taste like chocolate!

Transferring skills

Both girls know the importance of an education and would like to use their skills to help others in the future.

“I’d like to be a nurse one day and help needy people,” Vanessa (above, top right) said. “Singing with the school choir makes me feel good and I love to entertain people with singing and dancing.

“I cannot believe I will be travelling to Scotland on a plane in a few weeks. My grandmother and sister are so excited for me.

“I am going to sing and dance the best I ever have to thank Mary’s Meals for the porridge and this trip.”

Mary’s Meals Day

Doors open at 1pm and there will be a number of interesting stalls as well as refreshments, live musical performances, and guest speakers. We’ll also be sharing our latest news and launching an exciting campaign with some help from a few famous faces.

The idea to invite schoolchildren from Malawi to sing in Scotland was conceived in 2012 when Mary’s Meals founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow visited Jacaranda School for Orphans and was both shocked and overwhelmed when the children began to sing about the charity. They are so aware of the benefits of the food provided by Mary’s Meals and so grateful to its supporters that they have penned three songs as a gift in return—One Cup of Porridge, Let us be Educated, and Children of Africa.

The link with St Stephen’s was made possible by the Celtic FC Foundation, which both supports Mary’s Meals and the music programme at St Stephen’s. Pupils from the school have generously donated 30 guitars to Jacaranda School to support the start of an instrumental music programme there.

After singing at Mary’s Meals Day in Glasgow, the girls will be flown to Vienna to attend the Mary’s Meals Austria open day. The Austrian celebration is being hosted by Princess Marie of Liechtenstein, a Mary’s Meals supporter.

Joyce and Vanessa are being accompanied on their trip by Jacaranda Foundation founder and CNN Hero Marie Da Silva and her husband and colleague, Luc Deschamps.

n To watch a video of the girls singing visit the following link:  http://youtube/RGySn2t5WWs

n www.marysmeals.org.uk