Haiti’s children need us now

When Mary's Meals started its school feeding program in Haiti in 2006, hunger was already a significant barrier to children accessing education. Today, the situation is far more severe. Living standards have collapsed as armed gangs have seized control, forcing Haiti into an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.

Initially they were limited to urban environments around Port-au-Prince, the capital, but their grip is spreading wider to previously safe areas. There are killings, child exploitations, trafficking, murder, and sexual violence on a daily basis and children are at high risk of being recruited by gangs. Millions have been forced from their homes and in just one year, the number of children displaced has almost doubled. Families have fled not once, not twice, but three times, trying to find safety, only to be forced to run again in fear of their lives. Over 1.4 million people are internally displaced, which lack sanitation, food, and security and where women and children are most at risk of violence. In such conditions cholera and malnutrition are on the rise.

We’re also witnessing record level of hunger with 5.7 million people – half the population – facing critical levels of food insecurity. It’s projected that this will increase when the lean season begins, the period between planting and harvesting, when food availability is at its lowest.

A disrupted education

Education has not been spared and delivering the school feeding program is challenging. We work with three local partners and under normal circumstances, our meals reach more than 196,000 children in more than 670 places of education, but with the current crisis, the number of schools that are open and accessible for deliveries changes from one day to the next. Some have closed due to the violence and there are times when we cannot deliver meals because the area or delivery routes are under gang control. The safety of students, school staff, delivery teams, and our partners is our priority, and no visit is made if the risk is deemed too high. We trust our partners implicitly and we know whenever they can deliver food safely, they will.

Haiti’s children need us now

Impacts on the school feeding program Under such conditions, it’s costing more than ever to deliver daily school meals. It’s increasingly challenging and expensive to buy food. Food prices - both imported and local - are some of the most expensive across our programmes globally, and the price of fuel and other essential equipment has surged.

A few years ago, a 100km journey to transport food supplies from a local supplier to a partner warehouse took less than five hours, using a main motorway. That same delivery is now several hundred kilometres long and takes several days as trucks have to take detours to avoid driving through gang-controlled areas. Sometimes they’re forced to abandon roads altogether and use boats.

Despite all these challenges, Mary’s Meals remains committed. Haiti is in crisis and its children are living in devastating conditions. They need us more than ever. Their safety is under threat. As long as we can do so reliably and safely, we will be there for the children we serve, ensuring that they have a meal in their place of education. These meals are so much more than just food. They are a vital safety net, providing a much-needed sense of normality, routine and safety for a generation surrounded by chaos.

Haiti’s children are running out of options. Hungry and surrounded by violence, many are being recruited into armed gangs – lured by the promise of food.

School meals give them a lifeline, and a donation of just $31.70, will help us to continue providing life-saving nutrition to children in a safe place of learning. Together, one meal at a time, we can restore their belief that a life beyond the chaos is possible.

Paige Boxshall is a Programmes Relationship Manager at Mary’s Meals, working with our partners in Haiti to deliver the school feeding progam