Healthy School Feeding Ensured During Drought in Southern Angola
The Okulonguesa project, implemented in Namibe in vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities like Nkhondo, is transforming lives. In addition to benefiting the children attending the only school in the locality, which is the central focus of World Vision Angola’s interventions, it has also positively impacted the lives of many mothers.
Maria Zita is a native of this locality and is part of the team of cooks at the community kitchen that provides daily school meals, implemented by the project in an initiative that has been running for 2 years. She lives with her husband and seven children and is a farmer by profession. Since the beginning of the Okulonguesa activities in Namibe, Maria accepted the challenge of serving meals to the children at the Nkhondo primary school, earning a small incentive of approximately USD 20 per month.
"I’m very happy! Now I have my job as a cook in the school kitchen, and my joy only increases when I see my two children, who study here, having something to eat at school. They’re different!" explained Maria Zita.
Today, attending classes has become more motivating for Maria’s daughter, young Isabel, and her schoolmates. They now receive a hot meal five times a week. With the arrival of school feeding, Isabel's attendance has increased, and this has allowed her to acquire the knowledge necessary to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor in the future.
"Before, when I didn’t have soup, many days I missed school because I had nothing to eat, either there or at home. That prevented me from learning, from being able to read and write. But now, with the soup, I feel stronger and more motivated. I know that if I continue studying, one day I will be a doctor and I will take care of the people in my community," Isabel says, hopeful for the future.
The operation of the kitchen is managed by the school and supervised by the WVA team. In total, 32 cooks have been trained, who are also farmers and are part of the Field School implemented by World Vision in the community. With the good practices learned from the agricultural technicians of WVA, the supply of fresh ingredients for preparing meals is guaranteed daily and follows the requirements set out in Article 7 of the School Feeding Regulation, such as:
a) Providing 1/3 of the daily required calories, that is, 700 Kcal/day, as recommended by the World Health Organization;
b) Ensuring that food hygiene rules are strictly observed throughout the entire food distribution chain, to guarantee the provision of safe meals.
The food offered to the students is based on ingredients rich in essential components for a child's development. The meals served in Nkhondo were selected by WVA nutrition experts for their nutritionally satisfying composition.
In particular, the bean soup with vegetables, made with local ingredients such as pumpkin, carrot, cabbage, kale, and onion, is prepared with ingredients grown by the community itself, as a way to introduce certain food habits less frequent in the local diet. After the distribution of the first seeds delivered by the project, the farmers now have the opportunity to replicate the crops and maintain the sustainability of the activity.
The Okulonguesa project, through its school feeding component, aims to contribute to reducing hunger, poverty, and vulnerability to food and nutrition insecurity in Namibe province. At the Nkhondo primary school, school meals are being served daily, benefiting over 120 children in the two shifts.
With a sparkle in her eyes, Maria expresses her satisfaction with the changes brought about by the project: "Before, parents and teachers had a hard time convincing the children to go to school, but thanks to the meals, our children never miss school anymore. We, as mothers, are now more at ease. With the food they receive at school, we only need to worry about dinner. The children no longer resist going to school because they know they will find a plate of food there," she said with a relieved and happy expression.
Aunt Zita, as she is lovingly called, speaks with emotion about the changes in the children’s attitudes since the introduction of school feeding: "Before, they would stray from the path to school to look for wild fruits in the field because they were so hungry. But now, my Isabel is different; she no longer needs to look for fruits to eat. She happily goes to school knowing that she will find food and learn there," she proudly stated.
"Today, they go to school because they want to, and they are happy," she affirmed.
The Okulonguesa project is funded by Camões - Institute for Cooperation and the Portuguese Language, I.P., under the FRESAN Program, and is implemented by World Vision Angola in partnership with ADESPOV.
FRESAN is an initiative of the Government of Angola, financed by the European Union, and co-managed by Camões, I.P. It aims to contribute to reducing hunger, poverty, and vulnerability to food and nutrition insecurity in Cunene, Huíla, and Namibe, mainly through strengthening resilience and sustainable family agricultural production, improving the nutritional situation of families, and supporting capacity development in institutions.