Feed 1200 children and 400 women in slums

In a typical traditional rural Ugandan family, the main meal is dinner. That means that, in most families, children skip breakfast. In addition, when having dinner, a scale of hierarchy comes in place. The elderly get the most food and meat while the children only receive the remaining part of what the male adults don’t eat. This also means that children go to school the next morning on a hungry stomach and can result in malnutrition.

A year ago, Brenda (not real name) would watch other children eat their packed lunch at school while she stayed behind in class because her family could not afford packed lunch for young girl. But a mere $50 per year helped the shy eight-year-old Ugandan girl take her place among students in the Mulago slum community in the central part of the country. Poor children are enrolling and staying in school, enticed by the daily meals they receive.

“When I wake up in the morning, I get ready to go to school very quickly because I know that good food is waiting for me,” says Brenda. “I’m happy that I can spend the whole day at school learning and I don’t have to walk the long way home hungry. I like eating rice every day. In my family, we eat rice only two or three times a year.”

Many children arrive at school having had little or no breakfast. Without a lunch at school some children would choose to stay at home, while those at school would go through the day learning on an empty stomach or be forced to walk home at lunchtime in the hope of finding a meal.

Despite the physical benefits of a having lunch at school- especially in body and mind — it is important to remember that access to food is a human right that both national and international communities must recognize. The right to food is linked to one’s right to life and dignity.

Through your generous donations, we have partnered with selected schools in the slum communities of kampala city to provide lunch for the school going children. Our feeding program provides our partner schools with the foodstuffs to serve a daily term-time lunch to each and every pupil. It is a basic but nutritious meal of maize/rice and beans, however for many of these children; it is often their only guaranteed meal of the day.

By providing a daily lunch to children in school we remove hunger as a barrier to learning. An active feeding program encourages pupils to attend school in the first place and then keeps them there throughout the day. The programme also provides health and educational benefits to these vulnerable and impoverished children by helping to keep minds and bodies fuelled for productive and successful learning, allowing them to focus on their education rather than their empty stomach.

The demand is still high and we can only do a little, but with you support we can do much. $ 10 can buy 10 kilograms of maize flour, $20 can buy 20 kilograms of beans and can feed 50 children for 2 days.

Although linked to poverty as conditions reflecting inadequate access to resources to obtain food, issues such as hunger and food insecurity have seldom been recognized as important in urban settings. Overall, little is known about the prevalence and magnitude of hunger and food insecurity in most cities. 

The effects of covid-19 lockdown continue to bite hard for hungry families. Food insecurity has been exacerbated by rising fuel prices, long dry spell, rising food and non-food prices and poor harvests. "In the past 12 months... essential foods such as maize more than doubled in price.

Children living in the slums face daily hunger and lack of access to education. In Uganda the rising trend in urbanization is fuelling the population of Ugandan slums and meaning that more and more children are becoming susceptible to the risks of malnutrition and poor health.  Most of these children also do not go to school because they cannot afford it. Nutrition is vital for children, especially the young ones. Good nutrition is more than just having enough to eat – it also means having the right balance of foods and sufficient nutrients. 

Having enough of the right foods is especially important for infants and toddlers, whose bodies and brains need good nutrition for healthy growth.

Joy for children- Uganda works to provide children in deprived communities with the chance to live meaningful lives by proving access to basic needs such as food, shelter, education and clothing.

During the Children’s day of 2022, Joy for Children- Uganda with the support of partners/donors made a profound and lasting impact on 150 children in the three slums of kampala- kivulu, mulago and Bwaise. With the provision of essential sustenance, food and water, these children were given the gift of nourishment and the opportunity to thrive. The interactive session was not just enjoyable, but also deeply meaningful, leaving an indelible imprint on the hearts and minds of all those involved. This was conducted at community schools in the 3 slums.

“Food is a major problem to many schools in the slums and many government institutions are not able to fund all the feeding programs,” Ritah, a teacher in one of the community schools.

It only costs $10 a month to buy enough rice, beans, and porridge to feed a child 2 meals a day, 5 days a week while they are in school. Because some children attend school to get this food, your donation of just $10 a month will also help them get an education and improve their life and the life of their family, by getting them off of the dangerous streets in the slums.