Hot meals help Haitian children recover from earthquake

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GENEVA – Children of families affected by the devastating earthquake that devastated large parts of southwestern Haiti in August of this year receive free hot meals at school as part of a UN World Food Program initiative to support the recovery of the country’s most vulnerable communities.

It’s 11 a.m. at the Ecole Nationale des Filles de Dame Marie in the small town of Dame Marie on the western peninsula of southern Haiti. Two volunteer chefs are a bit late preparing today’s meal for 307 schoolchildren.

On the menu are black beans, which take a little longer to cook than usual. Add the wheat grains, as well as the vegetable oil, green onions, and cayenne pepper to two steaming pots.

Students here, girls and boys alike, benefit, despite the school’s name, from the World Food Programme’s School Feeding Initiative, which aims to provide the most vulnerable children with at least one cooked meal per day.

“This is the only meal they will eat today,” Principal Frances Sylvester says to many of these children.

The town of Dam Marie was affected by the earthquake, but the school was largely unscathed except for some cracks in the walls of the buildings and a collapsed entrance gate.

earthquake effect

The most significant impact was on the parents of these children, as many of them lost their farms or missed the planting season due to the earthquake.

This is why this school feeding program is so important. It will give children the energy to continue studying and provide support to their parents.

Principal Sylvester says: “They can no longer grow food, so they cannot feed their children properly. This is why this school feeding program is so important. It will give children energy to continue studying and provide support to their parents. In the long run, this is good for our community.”

This school feeding program was in place before the earthquake that struck southwestern Haiti on August 14, killing more than 2,200 people; Another 12,700 were injured and basic infrastructure such as bridges, roads, hospitals and schools were destroyed or damaged.

This school is only one of more than 1,600 schools where the World Food Program provides meals to approximately 344,000 students. In most schools the initiative focuses on more than just providing a meal to hungry children.

holistic approach

Small handwashing stations made of buckets stand on stands outside each classroom. Formulated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to ensure that children learn good hygiene habits such as washing hands before meals.

UNICEF provided books for French, mathematics and other subjects as well as desks where students could study comfortably.

“We have to take a holistic approach, because if children don’t wash their hands and then eat, they can get sick. If they don’t have any books, they can’t study even if they eat well,” says Magilita Farren of the World Food Programme.

The World Food Programme’s school feeding program is planning to expand to provide cooked meals from locally grown produce to nearly 40,000 children in 190 schools in the three earthquake-affected counties.

The United Nations International Labor Organization looks to support broader agriculture among farmers in the field of bread, a nutritious and versatile food. It is hoped that breadfruit will become a staple in school meals, a development that will in turn support the local economy.

“This approach helps sustain the local economy and will encourage farmers to grow more crops,” Majulita says. “Ultimately, it will help societies recover better and build resilience to future shocks.”

At the Ecole Nationale des Filles de Dame Marie, food is ready, and students line up patiently to wash their hands before joining the queue for their hot meal. For many, this is their first food of the day and some seem very hungry.

Returning to their offices, they engaged enthusiastically in the generous aid of beans and wheat. They are too focused on eating to spend time chatting, and the teachers know they will be well fed and focus on the next lessons. – UN news

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