Food in the nick of time

There are so many things we take for granted, but not for the students of Makima Primary School who treasure their lunch meal exceptionally. The school lies in the Eastern parts of Kenya in Makima in Mbeere South District. It is among the fifteen primary schools that are benefiting from ActionAid’s school feeding program.

It is around Lunchtime when we get to Makima Primary School, everything is serious business as usual, and Mr. Francis Njoroge, the ActionAid coordinator in Makima, takes us to the head teacher’s office. He is enthusiastic to receive us.

We are very grateful for the help ActionAid has been giving the school. It is a new beginning for us

says the head teacher, Mr. Moses Mirugi.

“Some pupils used to come to school irregularly but now we are happy when we look at the registers, since the school feeding program started we can say that the turnout has improved in classes,” ads Mr. Mirugi. As we continue to talk, the lunchtime bell goes and we leave the office and walks towards the kitchen where the food is served.

As the process goes on, I get to talk to one girl who is sitting for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCPE). Christine Kalonda (15) is the second born in a family of five. She explains to me how time before they started food distribution in school life was hard because they used to go to school without having meals. Now life is easier because they always get maize and beans for lunch.

“My concentration level for the afternoon class was very low because the sun was very hot and I had not eaten. Now with the food at lunch time, I am even confident that I will pass my KCPE very well,” says Christine.

Christine is confident that the school meals give her the energy to work harder and hence perform better is school. She walks a long distance to school every day and this used to drain all her energy. With a solid lunch every day all this belong to the past.

I let Christine join her friends where they are taking their meal and on the way back towards the learning blocks, I meet another 15 year old, Lilian Ngithi a class eight girl holding her half kilogram of maize and beans. Lilian says that life before getting meals was very hard but now they are managing easily.

I never used to listen in class but now I do. Before the school started giving us lunch, we used to borrow food from those people who carried. We used to go round class checking out what people have carried and ensure that you get a bite, but now the trend is long gone because we all get food at school

Lilian says.