Scottish Catholic Observer

Hungry children in Malawi, who now have the chance of a brighter future thanks to the incredible efforts of 9-year-old Scottish schoolgirl Martha Payne and her friends, have sent a heartfelt message of thanks.

Martha (below) and supporters of her NeverSeconds blog have raised close to £100,000 so far for Mary’s Meals and have increased worldwide awareness of the charity, which provides a daily meal to hungry children in some of the world’s poorest countries where poverty and hunger prevent them from getting an education.

Already, as a result of donations to Martha’s online giving page, the Lochgilphead Primary School pupil has raised enough money to build a new kitchen shelter and feed an entire school for a year at Lirangwe Primary School in Blantyre, Malawi (above), as part of Mary’s Meals’ Sponsor A School initiative.

In addition to the children at Lirangwe school, around 5800 of the world’s poorest children will begin receiving Mary’s Meals—which includes a daily mug of likuni phala, a nutritious type of porridge— because of funds raised, a number that is increasing as donations continue to come in.

Blog ban

Martha Payne made headlines across the UK and all over the world last week after Argyll and Bute Council banned her from posting photos of her school meals on her blog, which has a donation link to Scottish-based charity Mary’s Meals.

The ban was later overturned, after a storm of protest, and donations to Mary’s Meals came flooding in as hundreds of thousands of people visited Martha’s online blog.

All 1963 pupils at Lirangwe Primary School were excited to hear about the news from Scotland and they gave Martha and her supporters a huge message of thanks.

On the blackboard at their school, they wrote: “Thank you Martha and your friends,” and pupils also sang songs in appreciation of the support they have received.

Martha has chosen to name her kitchen in Malawi as ‘Friends of NeverSeconds’ in recognition of the worldwide support she is receiving. Commenting on the amazing response to her blog, Martha said: “It is really good because it can feed lots of children for a long time.

“Calling the kitchen ‘Friends of NeverSeconds’ is important as it is a thank you to everyone who has supported me and Mary’s Meals. Mary’s Meals is a very simple charity and it can achieve so much with so very little.”

Lirangwe Primary School

Gilbert Chigomere, a pupil at Lirangwe, who is the same age as Martha, is an orphan who has nobody to look after him and he lives on the streets. Gilbert was motivated to come to school when Mary’s Meals started feeding there, because he would no longer have to spend his days worrying about how he was going to eat.

Upon hearing about Martha’s efforts, Gilbert said: ‘Please say hello to Martha for me!’

“I want to thank her for all of her hard work,” he added. “I like the porridge because, after I eat it, I am active and can concentrate in class. It really helps me because it takes me a while to get hungry again.”

Mary’s Meals

It costs Mary’s Meals a global average of £10.70 to feed a hungry child for an entire school year. The charity provides a daily meal to more than 650,000 children every school day in 16 of the world’s poorest countries, including Malawi, Liberia, Kenya, India and Haiti.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and chief executive of Mary’s Meals said he has been left ‘humbled by Martha and her friends.’

“We feel extremely proud of them,” Mr MacFarlane-Barrow said. “Because of what they are doing, and all those generous people who are donating, the lives of thousands of the world’s poorest children will be transformed. For every £10.70 donated, we are able to ensure another child will get a good daily meal for a whole school year.

“Many schools on waiting lists for Mary’s Meals will soon get very good news! We refuse to accept that any child in this world of plenty must endure a day without a meal and it is so heartening to realise that so many people around the world share that vision.”

— To donate to Martha’s appeal, please visit www.justgiving.com/neverseconds