The Scottish-based children’s charity Mary’s Meals has announced that it is now operating in Yemen, where civil war has devastated the country and put thousands of children at risk of malnutrition and starvation. It is estimated that almost three quarters of the country’s population of just over 20 million people will require humanitarian assistance in the near future.
Mary’s Meals founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, said: “Given that Yemen can be described as the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, and so many children are suffering, we are delighted to begin serving our daily school meals there – meeting the immediate need of the hungry child and, crucially, at the same time, enabling their education”.
After being founded in 2002 in a garden shed in Argyll, Mary’s Meals has provided vital nutritional support to children in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Syria and Malawi at points of crisis in those countries.
The double-edged effect of nutritional support is that the prospect of a mid-day meal attracts children to school who might otherwise be more likely to truant or simply remain at home, generating apathy and blocking educational progress. It is estimated that in the two decades of its existence the charity is now able to feed some two million schoolchildren every day and in a total of twenty countries.
The charity is co-operating with Yemen Aid, an organisation established in the country, and will focus on children living in the troubled Al Mansoora district of Aden, which has a high number of displaced persons and those living marginal existences.
Mr MacFarlane-Barrow said that while Yemen was an immediate priority, “we are always thinking of the next child waiting for nutritious meals. That’s why I’m so pleased that donations made to Mary’s Meals this winter are being doubled by a group of generous supporters, meaning we can reach even more hungry children around the world with a life-changing meal at school.” The charity’s fund-matching campaign Double The Love means that every contribution made will be matched by an equivalent amount, up to £1.6 million.
Loading ...
