Providing school lunches to kids in Mozambique

Addressing a fundamental child need

Every school day, MSLI is serving nutritious meals to 12,969 students! It seems like a basic thing, but it makes a huge difference for kids who don't have much to eat at home and often go to school hungry. With the school meals program, we've seen attendance soar above 98% - when there's food, the children will come! MSLI's dedicated team works hard each day to manage all of the logistics of ensuring schools have quality food and are preparing it on time every day. Seeing those smiles at lunch time is our biggest motivation.

School gardens enhance the nutrition of school lunches even more!

This year, MSLI has piloted a new initiative to support schools to set up school gardens to produce vegetables that can be incorporated in the school lunches – making the meals more delicious and nutritious! MSLI started out by selecting six schools in Mabalane District with good access to a water source. This is important, because in this arid region, many communities struggle with having enough water, even for cooking, and so it was critical to start with schools that had access to water that they’d be able to use for irrigating the vegetable gardens. At each school, there is a teacher responsible for looking after the garden, with the help of the parent teacher association. In May, the first seeds were sown – carrots, kale, beets, and onions, all of which can easily be cooked into a bean stew. Three months later, the students were enjoying fresh veggies in their meals! The plan is for schools to harvest vegetables gradually over the next 2-3 months, boosting the nutrition of the school meals. Some vegetables, like kale, regrow after being cut, allowing multiple harvests. It cost MSLI just $78 to cover the start-up costs for each school garden, and the production is expected to far exceed this!

Your support makes this happen!

It is thanks to the trust and generosity of people like you that enables the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative to reach children in need with nutritious food. Your donation goes a long ways in Mozambique, and makes a big difference in the lives of these kids, who often depend on the meals to attend school. Thank you!