Meet Nimungu from Uganda

The parents of any pre-teen girl will tell you that friendships are the centre of their world, and 11-year-old Nimungu from Uganda is no different. Returning to school with her classmates, after two years of closures, she is once again starting to feel hope that she had all but lost. With the support of her friends and teachers she is rediscovering the confidence to speak out in class and is finding joy in learning.

“My friends think of me all the time,” she says. “They always come to me at break and in class, when we are sitting together, if I don’t understand the question, they can help me.

“I think school is better now. We are back in school, and we are all happy.”

Disrupted learning and friendships weren’t the only consequences of Covid-19 lockdowns for children in Uganda. Nimungu felt the absence of her regular school routine in more than just an educational sense. She says:

“Because we are a large family, we were having problems with feeding and there wasn’t enough money for us to eat properly.

“I was missing being at school because here we can eat Mary’s Meals for free.”

Working with our local partners, Emmaus Foundation, during lockdown we distributed take-home food rations in impoverished communities where Mary’s Meals would normally be served. However, in-school feeding is where children feel the most benefit, with guaranteed portions of nutritionally balanced food in an environment of supported learning.

“The good thing about Mary’s Meals is they care about us, and they make sure the whole school gets food,” says Nimungu. “What makes the learning difficult is if our stomach is empty. We don’t learn and we don’t feel like learning because we cannot pay attention to the teacher.

“I feel so happy for the people in the world who are supporting Mary’s Meals. They are feeding us, the children of the world. That is the best thing about Mary’s Meals, they care about children.”

The school feeding program in Uganda is back in full swing, serving meals to more than 11,000 vulnerable children. The majority of schools in our program are in remote, rural areas in eastern Uganda. We also serve meals in two centres in the capital Kampala and two in the north of the country. Our meals are served by a network of dedicated volunteers with the vital support of the Emmaus Foundation who share our vision of encouraging children to attend school by providing a basic meal each day.