Learning is easier when my stomach is taken care of

Martha with one of the daily meals she receives in school

Photo: ActionAid

Fourteen year-old Martha Cherop is in standard four at Kongleai Primary School, West Pokot, in Kenya’s Rift Valley. The ongoing drought and food crisis affecting the country meant that she struggles to go to school and keep going throughout the day without food.

As part of ActionAid’s emergency response programme supporting the most vulnerable, we’re targeting children who, without the provision of a daily meal in school, might be forced to drop out of education to help their parents search for food.

The government of Kenya is responsible for providing lunch time meals to all primary schools. However, the programme has not yet reached all schools. In addition, the relief can be inconsistent, with a delay at the beginning of each term and provisions often running out before the end of term.

ActionAid is targetting schools that are not included in the government feeding programme as well as filling in the gaps at the beginning and end of terms in other schools.

Kongelai Primary is one of the schools that has benefited from ActionAid Kenya’s school feeding programme, having not had any government food delivered since September.

I am happy that this week I have had a lunch time meal from school,

explained Martha.

"For the past week since school started, I have been staying hungry the whole day because we do not take lunch time meal in our home. We only take supper and something light in the morning.”

ActionAid’s school feeding programme has so far supported over 19,707 children with nutritious meals in schools across 6 districts - Isiolo, Makima, Sericho, Tangulbei, Kongelai and Narok.

I find learning easier when my stomach is taken care of,

Martha continued.