This year in the São Vicente Paylo After School Support Classes we have very special news: the usual snack (bread with jam and juice) became a more nutritious and substantial meal. The great draught in the Chokwé region brought hunger and more financial strains for the families. The family farming plots have not been producing, the land is very dry and the prices of food are very high.
In the beginning of the School year, Sister Alice, a ALG Partner in São Vicente Paulo, raised our attention towards this situation:
“The South and Central areas of Mozambique are struggling with serious drought, we haven’t had rain to favour agriculture production since 2014. Today hunger is an undeniable reality. In October, we expected rain since it is the time to begging sowing. But there was no rain and now we have famine.
I’m quite concerned because if this continues I fear that children start missing classes, and even the after school support classes, to look for means of subsistence: selling plastics, credit and opting for other small scale commercial solutions to obtain some food. I believe the option of strengthening the snack is more viable since it would represent a strong incentive to keep children in school and secure their success in studies.”
To satiate our children’s hunger and ensure that they continue in school, ALG strengthened children’s nourishment in the After Class Support Classes. Thus, this project assumes an annual cost of 12£ per child, but we make sure that 174 children do not abandon school and continue their studies with a full stomach!”