A school meal filled Chandy’s classroom with life

Mornings no longer start with emptiness for 13-year-old Chandy.

She wakes up and gets ready for school with something to look forward to. Not just the lessons, but the meal waiting for her.

At school, she joins her friends, washes her hands and sits down to a warm breakfast. Steam rises from the plate. There is chatter, laughter, the kind of start to the day that feels full.

“My favourite meal is sour soup and fried rice. I like fried rice because it has vegetables like carrots and beans” she says.

It fills her stomach. It steadies her. It carries her through the day.

It was not always like this.

There were mornings when she went to school without eating. With her parents working long hours in the fields, preparing meals was not always possible. What little they had was often not enough. Children like her went to school hungry. Some stopped going altogether.

Days feel different now.
Hunger does not hold her back.
Her classroom does not have empty seats.

The school meal has also eased the worries of Chandy’s mother as she knows her child will have at least one nutritious meal a day.

For Chandy, school is no longer a place to get through. It has become a place where she can learn, grow and dream of what comes next.

The school meals gives her hope and courage,
to dream big dreams.

“If I become a Prime Minister, I would support students with two meals. Because a delicious breakfast and lunch makes students less hungry while studying, makes learning smooth and reduces parent's expenses” says Chandy.

In Cambodia, almost one in ten children are acutely malnourished. In rural areas poverty, food insecurity and long travel distances hinder regular school attendance of children like Chandy.

Provide School Meals. Keep Children in School. $90 provides 5 children with one month of school meals. With your support we seek to provide 1,000 children in Cambodia and Zambia with school meals.