MAGAZINE - Mary`s Meals

Transcription

MAGAZINE
2014
Gerard
Butler
meets children
FEED A
WHOLE
SCHOOL
receiving
Mary’s Meals
Child 31:
FOCUS ON:
KENYA &
LIBERIA
watch,
love,
share
Giving girls
a voice
www.marysmeals.org.uk | 1
CONTACT US
CONTENTS
FEEDING THE FUTURE
4
FOCUS ON: KENYA
6
OUR SPENDING PROMISE
8
HELP US CUT COSTS
9
GIVING GIRLS A VOICE
10
CHILD 31 12
FEED A WHOLE SCHOOL
14
CHANGING LIVES, IN LOVING MEMORY
15
GIFT A BACKPACK
16
GERARD BUTLER VISITS MARY’S MEALS
18
FOCUS ON: LIBERIA
20
WALKING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER FUTURE
22
Mary’s Meals, Craig Lodge,
Dalmally, Argyll, Scotland, UK
PA33 1AR
Freephone: 0800 698 1212
Tel: +44 (0) 1838 200 605
Email: info marymeals.org
Charity Number: SC022140
Company Number: SC265941
Mary’s Meals Ireland, Room 82,
Senior House, All Hallows College,
Grace Park Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9
Tel: +353 (0) 1 857 2155
Email: ireland marysmeals.org
Charity Number: CHY16897
Company Number: 420286
JOIN THE MARY’S MEALS FAMILY 24
GIVING TIME; GIVING HOPE
26
HOW WE WORK: MALAWI
28
facebook.com/marysmeals
HELP US REACH THE NEXT CHILD
30
twitter.com/marysmeals
youtube.com/marysmeals
Mary’s Meals provides life-changing meals to some of
the world’s poorest children every school day.
We are a no frills charity with a simple idea that works—by providing one good meal in
a place of learning, children are drawn into the classroom where they can receive an
education that could one day free them from poverty.
Mary’s Meals is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus, who brought up her own child
in poverty. We consist of, we respect, and we reach out to people of all faiths and none.
Our vision is that every child receives one daily meal in their place of education.
Working together, we believe that can be achieved in this world of plenty.
For more information, please visit www.marysmeals.org.uk
Front cover picture: Esme Allen
Photography: Chris Watt, Esme Allen, Chris Leslie, Fiona Murphy, Heathcliff O’Malley, Ian Tuttle, Laura Kane, Louise Henderson
Special thanks: Harriet Alexander, The Daily Telegraph; Susan Anderson, My Weekly
2 |
Little
Acts of
Love
A message from founder and
CEO of Mary’s Meals,
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow.
changing for the hungry child than the
gift of daily food and education? What gift
could ever produce more profound and
beautiful changes in a child’s life?
The work of Mary’s Meals is beautifully
simple. One meal every day for a hungry
child in school—what could be more
simple than that?
But the stories told in this magazine
show us that Mary’s Meals is also made
beautiful by the variety and richness of
all the lives involved; lives that change
through this work.
Hundreds of thousands of children now
receive Mary’s Meals each day, thank
God. And each of those children is unique,
with their own story to tell, their own
dreams, and their own gifts with which to
make this world more beautiful.
The cost to feed a child for a whole school
year may seem like a very small amount
to some of us—so small that we might
even underestimate the significance of
donating this amount. But what gift could
ever be more enormous and more life
£12.20
(€14.50)
Perhaps most of us feel we only
contribute ‘little acts of love’ to Mary’s
Meals, but let us not ever make the
mistake of thinking these ‘small acts’
produce ‘small results’. For every act of
love that makes Mary’s Meals possible, I
thank you with all my heart.
Happy reading!
Magnus
FEEDING THE
FUTURE
BACK TO
CONTENTS
WE NOW FEED OVER
890,000*
children every school day
*Thanks to the hard work and
determination of our supporters
and volunteers, the number of
children receiving Mary’s Meals
frequently increases.
Please visit
www.marysmeals.org.uk
for our latest feeding figures.
BOSNIA
HAITI
BURMA
BENIN
THAILAND
KENYA
INDIA
Ecuador
South Sudan
LIBERIA
4 | www.marysmeals.org.uk
UGANDA
MALAWI
FOCUS ON:
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CONTENTS
KENYA
Juliene, 16, lives with
her father and younger
siblings. She lost her
mother in 2011.
Kenya is home to some
of Africa’s largest slums.
Mary’s Meals is dedicated
to reaching children in
schools in the urban slums
of Nairobi and Eldoret.
“She got sick very suddenly,” Juliene
explains. “She was taken into hospital
but died during an operation. I was very
sad and I still miss her very much.
“My father got remarried to a lady who
isn’t nice to me. She drinks a lot and
doesn’t take care of us. I look after my
brothers and sisters.”
At the age of seven, Lucy was sent out onto
the streets of Eldoret by her mother to find
materials to sell. Each day, she would leave
the house at 6am without breakfast, not
returning until late when there would often
still be nothing to eat.
She spent her days foraging through rubbish
dumps looking for plastics and scrap metal,
trying to make a little money so her family
could eat.
While Lucy was walking home one evening,
she was violently attacked at the hands of
“bad police” who arrested her, beat her, and
threw her in a cell along with murderers and
drunks, before she was later released.
At least half of Nairobi
residents, about two million
people, live in slums with
limited access to water
and sanitation.
Juliene’s father lost his job so now
there is not enough money to feed the
family. She explains: “I like coming to
school because we get to eat something
every day.
Thanks to Mary’s Meals, Lucy—who
dreams of being a dancer—is now in
school full-time, along with several of
her brothers and sisters.
Her headteacher explained: “The daily
lunch means the children don’t have
to leave the school to find food and can
stay until the end of the day. For many,
this is their only meal of the day. The
food keeps them safe.
“Now there is Mary’s Meals, they come
to school every day. It is the first step
to achieving what they hope for in
their lives.”
“I am very happy here—I feel safe and it’s
a relief for me to leave my house. I come
to school very early each morning.”
Juliene is an intelligent girl with perfectly
spoken English. When asked what
she thinks her future will be like, she
considers her answer carefully.
“According to my background, I should not
amount to much,” she says. “But I hope
in the future I will be able to make my life
stable and help my younger siblings. If I
do well at school, I would like to train as a
surgeon and save people’s lives.”
Turkana
As well as reaching almost 19,500 children
in government schools throughout urban
Kenya, Mary’s Meals also provides a daily
meal to over 7,000 nursery-aged children
at early childhood learning centres in the
northern region of Turkana.
Conditions are challenging in these remote
tribal areas where drought is common.
OUR SPENDING PROMISE
BACK TO
CONTENTS
Mary’s Meals grew out of
humble beginnings in a tin
shed, which founder and
CEO Magnus still uses as
his office.
Read the full story of
how Mary’s Meals began
on our website
goes towards our
charitable activities
At most seven pence
covers fundraising and
governance costs.
As an organisation reaching out to some of
the world’s poorest communities, we are
committed to keeping our running costs low
to maximise the good we can do with the
donations entrusted to us.
£12.20
(€14.50)
HELP US CUT COSTS
You may have noticed this magazine is slightly
taller and slimmer than in previous years, with a
few extra pages.
Recent changes
to the way
postage costs are
calculated...
...mean it is significantly
cheaper to send a
magazine of this shape
than the larger, square
format you have come
to know.
By adding extra pages, we’ve made sure the
Mary’s Meals magazine still contains everything you’d
expect; from fundraising updates to stories of how your
support is helping individual children around the world.
If you’d like to help us reduce our running costs even
further and, ultimately, feed more children, please consider
signing up to receive our updates by email instead of post.
Just get in touch and let us know: info@marysmeals.org
Giving girls
a voice
BACK TO
CONTENTS
In many of the communities where Mary’s Meals
works, girls face obstacles in getting an education.
For example, in Malawi, half of girls are
married before the age of 18 and many
others have children of their own or
siblings to care for; while in India huge
numbers of young girls are expected to
support their families by working and
earning instead of going to school.
Thanks to the incentive Mary’s Meals
provides—a daily meal served in school—
young girls and their parents are seeing
what can be achieved when they no longer
have to choose between being able to eat
and having the chance to learn.
Ever since 10-yearold Rubeen’s
mother passed
away, the little
girl has had to
look after her four
younger siblings
at her family home
in the Sangam
Vihar slum of Delhi
while her father is
at work.
Rubeen can’t always make it along to
the Mary’s Meals centre, but when she
does, she enjoys her lessons and the hot
meal she receives. She said: “There isn’t
enough food for us all at home, so I like to
come here and eat. I want to study and get
a good job one day.”
Social, economic, and political obstacles
to education for girls are often very
difficult to conquer, but Mary’s Meals
is giving girls all over the world the
opportunity to be empowered by learning.
When 16-year-old
Hawa fell pregnant, she
dropped out of her school
in Malawi.
Initially, her boyfriend was supportive,
buying clothes and soap for the baby
during her pregnancy.
However, after their son Chisomo was
born, Hawa wanted to return to education
and her boyfriend disagreed.
He gave her an ultimatum. If she stayed
out of school, he would marry her and
support the child; if she went back to
school, she’d have to raise Chisomo
without his support.
She enjoys learning Maths and English
and would like to be a teacher one day.
She says: “The food from Mary’s Meals
helps me concentrate in class and having
a meal in school makes it much easier for
me to breastfeed Chisomo.”
She decided the best way to
give her baby a future was to
receive an education.
Hawa no longer has any contact with her
son’s father. Her parents are farmers
and look after her one-year-old son
while she is at school.
Now that she is studying again,
Hawa feels confident about her
exams and future.
CHILD 31
WATCH, LOVE,
SHARE
Child 31 is a beautiful,
moving film about our
work, which can now be
seen online.
The short film follows Mary’s Meals
founder, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, as
he travels to Malawi, India, and Kenya, to
see the difference a daily meal in a place
of education is making to thousands of
children living in poverty.
Child 31 was made by Brooklyn-based
Grassroots Films and the production
costs were covered by a very kind
supporter, to ensure we could continue
to focus our funds on where they are
most needed.
The film was launched online free
of charge last year with heartfelt
messages of support from well-known
figures, including actors, singers, TV
personalities and politicians.
You can help us bring Child 31 and our
work to new hearts and minds by going
online and sharing the film with others.
www.child31film.com
Watch, love, share … and help us
reach the next child waiting for
Mary’s Meals.
STAGE A SCREENING
If you would like to
host a screening of
Child 31—whether it’s
in the comfort of your
own home or somewhere a little
larger—please contact
film@marysmeals.org for a
screening kit.
We’d love to
hear from you!
BACK TO
CONTENTS
Magnus gives a copy
of Child 31 to His
Holiness Pope Francis
during their meeting
in June 2013
Celine Dion, singer/songwriter
“Everyone needs to watch Child 31. It’s a
heartbreaking film about some of the tragedies
of hunger facing the children of our world.
“Yet the film is filled with hope; the hope that
together we can make a difference in the lives of
all these precious children who are suffering.”
Lorraine Kelly, breakfast TV host
“When you see the faces of those little children
whose lives are simply transformed because
they get one good meal every day, it’s so
heartening and uplifting.”
Dermot O’Leary, TV personality
“Child 31 shows us that if we help impoverished
communities to provide a daily meal for their
children in school, the rest will follow.”
Dana Rosemary Scallon,
Irish politician and singer
“Child 31 shows that people with love in
their hearts can offer hope to the world’s
poorest children.
“Hope of an education, hope of a better
tomorrow, hope of a better life.”
Nick Nairn, celebrity chef
“You should watch it because we should realise
how fortunate we are and you should watch it
because you can help other people.”
CHANGE THE FUTURE FOR
A WHOLE SCHOOL
BACK TO
CONTENTS
You can help us reach many more children and give
your fundraising a focus by pledging to cover the cost of
feeding a whole school.
Individuals, families, and fundraising
groups can be matched with a school
in Malawi or Liberia where we have our
largest projects.
The fundraising target is set depending
on the number of children enrolled at the
school you are supporting, and the rest is
up to you!
It costs us an average of just £12.20 to
feed a child for a whole school year so
just think how many children you can
reach with your fundraising efforts.
Our supporters often tell us they find
it helpful to have something to work
towards—and, of course, receiving
information about the school and the
children who are benefiting is a great
reward for their commitment.
As well as receiving updates on how
the pupils are progressing with their
education, the fundraising group will have
words of their choice painted on a sign on
the kitchen wall, which the children will
see every day when they receive their lifechanging meal.
If you’d like to
feed a whole
school, we’d love
to hear from you.
fundraising@marysmeals.org
CHANGING LIVES, IN
LOVING MEMORY
Kathryn Lumb always wanted to
teach her children to think of others and
try to help, as her mother Eileen taught her.
At the beginning of 2013, Kathryn
introduced her eight and nine-year-old
daughters to Mary’s Meals and the simple
idea of feeding hungry children in a place
of education.
She says: “I loved the fact that the costs
involved were amounts my girls could
relate to.
“To feed a child with Mary’s Meals for a
whole year in school isn’t far off the price
of a CD or DVD, and it made sense to start
fundraising with manageable targets
in mind.
“The girls sorted through their toys and
ran a stall, knowing that every small
amount raised would help to feed children
who really needed a chance.”
When Eileen (above) passed away later
that year, aged 86, the family felt it would
be appropriate to send donations made in
her memory to our project in Malawi.
Kathryn said: “I called Mary’s Meals
to discuss our options and we decided
to cover the feeding costs at a small
school in southern Blantyre called
Namitalala Primary.
“Now we have Mum’s name on
the wall and we’re keeping up
with the fundraising so we can
feed the whole school again
next year.”
“I recently opened an auction house in
Mytholmroyd and serve tea and coffee
at our fortnightly auctions in return
for donations.
“We’ve made £255 in the last four months,
so I’m sure we’ll be able to reach our
target again this year.
“It’s lovely to be able to involve my girls
in such a fitting tribute to their wonderful
nana and they really enjoy having
something to aim for too.”
Gift a backpack
Many children receiving
Mary’s Meals don’t have
basic learning tools such
as pencils and notebooks.
For many of the children, the backpack
they receive from our supporters is the
only gift they have ever been given.
The ideal donated
backpack should include:
• backpack • notepad • pencils • pens • crayons • eraser •
• ruler • sharpener • pencil case • towel • shorts or skirt •
• t-shirt or dress • flip-flops or sandals •
• small ball e.g. tennis ball • soap • toothbrush •
• toothpaste • spoon •
Our Backpack Project allows supporters
to help those children realise their full
potential by donating a backpack filled
with educational items.
The project complements our main
school feeding focus by offering an
added incentive to keep children
in school and rewarding the ones
who attend.
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CONTENTS
HANDY HINTS
“I wish everyone could have
a backpack like mine.”
Sosa Saidi, 7, Malawi
• Clothing for children aged between four
and 12 is suitable and second-hand
items are fine as long as they are in
good condition.
• You can label your backpack to show
whether it is suitable for a boy or a girl
and suggest what age.
• Please don’t include any liquids
(including liquid soap) or be tempted
to add any other gifts such as toys or
sweets as this can cause problems with
Customs during delivery.
• For more information about donating
backpacks, please call 0141 336 7094.
to collect useful items to donate, knowing
where they will end up and how much these
simple gifts will help the children on their
journey out of poverty.”
Over the years, The Inner Wheel of
Llangefni, which has around 20 members
from across the Isle of Anglesey, has
donated 115 filled backpacks to be gifted to
children receiving Mary’s Meals.
The Inner Wheel of Llangefni in Wales has
been supporting the Backpack Project for
the last four years.
Overseas Organiser Joan Langrill said:
“Mary’s Meals is so appealing because it’s
so focused on education. Our members love
16
16 || www.marysmeals.org.uk
Joan continued: “It’s
a lovely project
to be involved in and we’re encouraging
other groups to take part too.”
BACK TO
CONTENTS
“Mary’s Meals is helping kids
get a great education, and
in turn, a better education
system can help lift a
nation out of poverty.”
Movie star Gerard Butler put Hollywood on hold to visit
Liberia and see Mary’s Meals in action for the first time.
Gerard visited several schools where Mary’s
Meals is already established and witnessed
the difference a daily meal can make to the
health and energy levels of children and its
impact on their ability to learn.
Among the highlights of the visit, the actor
pitched in to help volunteer cooks prepare
and serve up meals, taught a class of
orphans, played football with kids, loaded
a truck with sacks of rice, planted pepper
seeds and pineapples at a school garden,
and danced with villagers.
“I’ve seen a lot of these communities
becoming more energised and alive, and
what Mary’s Meals does is to help create a
sense of community that goes way beyond
the feeding programme itself.”
Gerard described every meal as a ‘piece of
charity and a little piece of love’, which goes
into the hearts of the children.
He added: “I see communities full of
resilience, integrity, warmth, love, and hope.
All of that is already here but Mary’s Meals
is like a little switch that helps flick it on.
He said: “Since 2010, I have come to know
Mary’s Meals but I had no idea of what that
really meant until I saw what is possible
with this organisation and the effect it can
have on the lives of so many children.
Gerard meets
children receiving
Mary’s Meals
“One of the things that I have been struck
by during this visit is the strength of
people’s dignity and what I love about
Mary’s Meals is that it is all about retaining
this. They don’t operate a free system
where people are just taking; instead it is
all about respecting and promoting the lives
of people, their culture, and what they are
capable of.
“There is such a direct link between a
donation and a nutritious meal for a kid and
so much more than that. Donors can have
a great deal of comfort in knowing their
money is going straight towards helping
the children.”
To watch a short film clip of Gerard’s visit to
Liberia, please visit our website.
FOCUS ON: LIBERIA
Mary’s Meals began its Liberian
school feeding programme in
2006 and currently reaches
over 115,000 children with a
daily meal in school.
Meloshe and Charles Roberts—who are not related—were
among the first children to benefit.
Ten years ago, Meloshe’s life was in tatters.
Driven from his home by rebel forces, he found shelter
in a refugee camp before eventually daring to return to
Tubmanburg in western Liberia. After the civil war, his
parents were unable to help him and his life looked set
to take a depressing downwards spiral from there on.
But now 24-year-old Meloshe is one of Liberia’s
rising stars.
As director of news for Bomi Radio, a large
regional station, he manages a team of 22
people. The independent radio service is
fearlessly holding the government to
account, with lively political phoneins and active debates.
Speaking about Mary’s Meals, he
said: “It helped me to get where I
am now.” he said.
“Receiving food at school encouraged
me to stick with my studies, and be focused.”
BACK TO
CONTENTS
Charles was 13 when rebels entered
his hometown during Liberia’s vicious
civil war.
“I saw people being killed,” said Charles.
“There was gunfire all around. I left halfnaked—I didn’t want to carry anything,
because it might have slowed me down.”
He was bundled into a friend’s car and
driven away from his village. With rebels
everywhere and surrounded by chaos,
Charles’s family feared the worst, but they
finally found him in a refugee camp.
Charles, 24, now a teacher, believes that
receiving food from Mary’s Meals in school
every day played a large part in helping
him get his life back together.
“Before Mary’s Meals started, I was always
thinking about food,” he said. “I wanted to
learn but it was hard … I’d stop school in
the middle of the day to try and find some
food. I would have carried on boycotting
school, were it not for Mary’s Meals.
“Mary’s Meals has helped me to succeed
and become a teacher. It has given me
the strength.”
Inspiring the future
With her strong independence and dazzling smile, 23-year-old
Henriattor Singbeh has helped to change perceptions in western Liberia.
Miss Singbeh, who is finance and HR assistant at the Mary’s Meals
headquarters in Tubmanburg and studies Economics part time at
university, has become a role model to children and adults alike.
Her work with Mary’s Meals has made her home village proud, and
whenever she returns, she is given an emotional welcome. Her example
has inspired many in the village, especially the women.
“My mother used to say that I should have lots of children, and start
young,” she said.
“But I would say ‘No Ma, it’s better to have a career first.
My mother has had her eyes opened to a different way
of thinking, and that has passed onto other mothers.”
WALKING
TOGETHER FOR A
BETTER FUTURE
BACK TO
CONTENTS
FUNDR
SPOTL AISER
IGHT
We love hearing from supporters and we never stop being
amazed by the ways people find to help Mary’s Meals—
we hope you enjoy this handful of examples!
STEP BY STEP
People from all corners of Ireland took
part in a walk from their hometowns
to Knock in County Mayo to raise
awareness of our work. The Mary’s Meals
Letterkenny supporter group led the walk
from Malin with others joining along the
way. The event raised over €69,000 and
the mastermind behind it—Mary Higgins
from Cork—is planning a follow-up
fundraiser for 2014. Anyone interested in
taking part in any stage of this year’s walk
should contact ireland marysmeals.org
A WHOLE GROTTO LOVE
STUDENT SOLIDARITY
Eleven undergraduates from Aberdeen
University helped raise awareness and
funds for the work of Mary’s Meals
by pledging to live on £1 a day for a
whole week.
pennies in the slots as they pass by and
John’s beautiful display has raised over
£2,800 already.
The Church of Scotland Guild has selected
Mary’s Meals as the focus for a threeyear project (2012-2015). Over 24,000
members across nearly 1,000 church
guilds have so far raised over £65,000
to support our school feeding project
in Liberia.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
CARING CIARA
Seven-year-old Ciara
Donaghy learned about
Mary’s Meals at school.
She asked her parents
if she could clear out all
the savings in her bank
account to donate, and
it was enough to provide
over 20 children with Mary’s Meals for
a whole year. She’s been encouraging
others to help too—asking her family
to follow her lead and dig deep to give
children in the developing world a chance.
SSSSSSHHH
HHH
KEEPING SCHTUM TO SEND
KIDS TO SCHOOL
CHURCH SUPPORT
As Andrew Buchan approached his 90th
birthday, he told his family he’d like
to dedicate his milestone celebration
to Mary’s Meals. Donations poured in
instead of presents and Andrew’s sacrifice
raised enough to feed over 50 children for
a year.
When John McLaughlin suffered a heart
attack aged 54, he decided his life needed
a change of pace. He began carving
wooden chairs and figures and, later,
using his skills as a carver and inventor,
created a grotto dedicated to Mary’s
Meals in his front garden in Bishopton,
Scotland. Children and adults love to drop
DE-CLUTTER AND DONATE
Daisy from Southgate, North London,
raised money for Mary’s Meals by selling
her unwanted books and toys in her front
garden before her family moved house.
CHARLIE AND MARTHA
Inverness Beaver Colony held their
tongues for a sponsored silence and
raised enough to feed 30 children with
Mary’s Meals for a whole school year.
Two of our youngest fundraisers—Charlie
Doherty, 14, and Martha Payne, 11—
continue to raise huge amounts of money
for Mary’s Meals.
Martha’s blog and public speaking
engagements have prompted over
£131,000 of donations from the public
so far.
Charlie’s latest fundraising event saw
him cycle across Europe with family and
friends, bringing his total above £42,500.
“Mary’s Meals is about people all over the world walking together with
the same very simple goal: that the hungry child receives a meal every
day in a place of education.”
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder of Mary’s Meals
Join the Mary’s Meals family
and start changing the future
BACK TO
CONTENTS
Every penny raised makes such a difference to the lives
of desperately hungry children, so it really doesn’t matter
how you decide to help.
You’ll probably have lots of brilliant fundraising ideas,
but here are some of our favourites to get you started…
GET SPONSORED
Need a challenge to get you more active?
Whether you’re taking on a fun run or
walk, swimming the channel, or pledging
to tap dance for 10 straight hours, we’d
love to hear from you. Whatever challenge
you’ve always wanted to set yourself,
make this your opportunity to go for it.
GIVE IT UP FOR MARY’S MEALS
Why not use Mary’s Meals as your
inspiration to kick a habit for a month,
or even longer if you can? Whatever you
would usually spend on your vice can
quickly add up, so whatever it is, give it up
for Mary’s Meals.
10 OCT
WORLD
PORRIDGE DAY
Don’t
forget!
Does your workplace select a charity
to support each year? Talking to your
employer about Mary’s Meals could be
the first step towards a fun and rewarding
project that will turn things around for
some of the world’s poorest children.
If you need any more information or
you’d like to speak to someone about
corporate support options, please contact
the Mary’s Meals fundraising team.
CLUBS AND SOCIETIES
Mary’s Meals often benefits from
fundraising work undertaken by
generous organisations such as Rotary
International, Inner Wheel, Soroptimist
International, The Knights of St Columba,
and many others.
GREAT NEWS!
Mary’s Meals now has small offices
in Dublin and London.
Your local contact in Dublin is Aoife
Martin, who can be reached on
+353 (0) 1 857 2155 or
aoife.martin@marysmeals.org
In London, please contact Gerrard
McMahon on +44 (0) 207 253 9572 or
gerrard.mcmahon@marysmeals.org
If you are a member of a club or society
that would like to help support our work,
please contact the fundraising team.
fundraising@marysmeals.org
You’ve Got A Friend
One of the best ways to help us
to reach more children is to tell a
friend about Mary’s Meals.
PORRIDGE BREAKFAST
Invite friends, family, or
colleagues round for a
hearty bowl of porridge
with a choice of toppings,
or offer samples of likuni
phala, as served in our
school feeding programme
in Malawi. To request some likuni phala
mix, just contact the fundraising team.
CHARITY OF THE YEAR
So, why not arrange a catch up with
a pal and pass on a copy of this
magazine while you’re at it?
OFFICE TEA PARTY
How about bringing all your colleagues
together for an office tea party to raise
funds for Mary’s Meals? Invite everyone
to bake a sweet treat and bring in their
favourite teapot—before you know it,
you’ll have an office tea party worth
charging entry for!
25
www.marysmeals.org.uk || 25
GIVING TIME; GIVING HOPE
BACK TO
CONTENTS
Mary’s Meals is able to reach so many children at such
a low cost because of the dedication of thousands of
volunteers, based all around the world.
VOLUNTEER PROFILE:
SHABNAM SABUR
Shabnam first
heard about Mary’s
Meals from a BBC
documentary
about 11-year-old
Martha Payne’s
fundraising success.
She has been an
official volunteer speaker for more than
a year, giving talks about Mary’s Meals in
and around her hometown of Leicester.
Shabnam, who is a full-time pharmacist,
said: “Raising awareness for Mary’s
Meals gives me a great sense of purpose.
I am still so struck by the simple way
the charity is not only changing lives
daily but also making a real investment
into education and the future of
several nations.
“One day I could be discussing the basics
of the school feeding programme with
a group of school children, and a few
weeks later, be presenting to established
professionals from all walks of life at a
Rotary club.
“I would never have thought I’d be
comfortable standing up and talking in
front of so many people, but I’m just so
passionate about Mary’s Meals—I can’t
keep it to myself!”
VOLUNTEER TRAINING: MALAWI
Eight schools in Malawi’s Mangochi
District were recently added to the Mary’s
Meals family, prompting an early morning
training session for over 300 volunteers
who had signed up to do their bit.
The area is home to both Christians and
Muslims and volunteers of both religions
came together at 5am to learn about
the Mary’s Meals programme. Each
volunteer was asked to bring a little
firewood and the overall yield was enough
to last around two months, thanks to the
efficiency of the stoves.
Mary’s Meals school feeding programmes
are essentially owned and run by
community volunteers who prepare, cook,
and serve the daily meal in each school.
Our expansion manager in Malawi, Florian
Suwedi, led the session, explaining
the responsibilities of a volunteer;
demonstrating how to use the stoves and
the best ways to prepare the likuni phala;
as well as covering health and safety.
He also made sure, as always, to
emphasise that the job of a volunteer
is to prepare and cook the meals, while
children are in school to eat and learn.
Florian said: “The sense of excitement
at the arrival of the programme is
so infectious.
“I am
volunteering as
I am serving my
own children and
also the orphans.”
Jennifer Saliwa,
volunteer
It always feels like a party when there is a
training session in a new area. Everyone
is singing and dancing because the
community can now feed their children
and they are so happy.”
HOW WE WORK: MALAWI
BACK TO
CONTENTS
The Mary’s Meals model is community-led, cost effective, and efficient. School
feeding committees—made up of parents, teachers, and volunteers—are
absolutely essential, and always one of the first things to be established in any
new area receiving Mary’s Meals.
So, with Mary’s Meals, Malawian
communities are growing and
cooking the food that their children
are eating in school.
PUPILS RECEIVING MARY'S MEALS
enrol in school, attend school, study,
complete education, reach potential and
change the
world
MARY’S MEALS
community engagement and
training, supplying food,
monitoring, providing
best practice model
SCHOOL
managing feeding,
record keeping, secure
storage and stock
rotation, education
MALAWIAN
SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
grow maize, soya, sugar the ingredients for the
likuni phala mix
COMMUNITY
set up and run school
feeding committee,
organise volunteer cooks,
encourage pupils
MALAWIAN-BASED
FOOD PRODUCER
purchase local ingredients,
develop recipe, process and
distribute likuni phala - the
porridge-like meal served
to children in Malawi
IMPORTS
vitamin
fortification
The ingredients for the daily meal
are provided by Mary’s Meals using
donations from supporters.
Regular giving allows us to
make plans for the future, so
we can reach more children
with a life-changing, daily meal.
Please fill in this form using a ball point pen and send to:
Mary’s Meals, FREEPOST NATN 448, Dalmally, PA33 1BR
BACK TO
CONTENTS
MY DETAILS ARE:
Full name:
Home address:
Postcode:
Tel no:
donated goes towards our
charitable activities
Email address:
(To receive regular updates)
If you are a UK taxpayer, we can reclaim 25p of tax on every £1 you donate under the Gift Aid scheme at
no extra cost to you. This will be used to help us feed more children.
HELP US REACH THE NEXT CHILD
When supporters set up a regular gift through
direct debit or standing order, this means we
can plan ahead and select more schools to
receive Mary’s Meals.
I would like Mary’s Meals to treat this donation, all donations that I have made over the past four years and all future donations, until I notify you otherwise, as Gift Aid
donations. I have paid enough income tax and / or capital gains tax to cover the amount of tax that all charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs I donate to will
reclaim for that tax year. I understand other taxes such as Council Tax and VAT do not count, and Mary’s Meals will reclaim 25p of tax on every £1 that I give.
MAKE A DONATION
OTHER WAYS TO DONATE
I would like to make a single donation of
By cheque / postal order. Please make payable to Mary’s Meals
and send to the address at the top of this page.
£
Please debit my MasterCard / Visa / Maestro / CAF charity card
(Delete as appropriate)
Make a bank transfer to our account using the following details.
Mary’s Meals Account Number: 00609134 Sort Code: 83 26 24
Card number:
Signature:
Start date:
Expiry date:
Issue No:
Date:
(if appropriate)
Chronically hungry children are often unable to attend school,
and those who can will struggle to concentrate without a meal.
I want to donate on a regular basis
Whenever Mary’s Meals is welcomed into a new area, the news
is met with elation, enthusiasm, and a collective effort from
the local area to support our work. With your help, we can
make this a reality for more children and their communities.
£
Monthly
Annually
Please fill in the Direct Debit Instruction below.
INSTRUCTION TO YOUR BANK OR BUILDING SOCIETY TO PAY BY DIRECT DEBIT
Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send to:
Mary’s Meals, FREEPOST NATN 448, Dalmally, PA33 1BR
Service user number
Name and full postal address of your bank/ building society
To: The Manager
Andrew, 16, attends Cheesemanburg
Public School in Liberia.
Each morning, despite having no breakfast,
Andrew walks almost six miles to school,
knowing that he will receive Mary’s Meals at
break time.
Being one of the older students at
Cheesemanburg, he remembers a time
before Mary’s Meals came to the school
and how he and his classmates struggled
without their daily meal: “At break time
everybody would sit; no-one had energy and
everyone was quiet.”
Things are different now. The daily meal
provided by community volunteers through
our Liberia project gives the children at
Cheesemanburg Public School enough
energy to learn as well as play.
“I eat the food to get strength,” says Andrew.
“Now I can concentrate, I’m not thinking
about my hunger.”
To all those who support the work of Mary’s
Meals, Andrew says: “Thank you, and please
continue. When there is no food, learning is
very challenging.”
Bank/Building Society
6 7 4 6 9 3
Reference
Address:
Postcode:
Name(s) of account holder(s)
Bank/building society account number
Instruction to your Bank or Building Society
Please pay Mary’s Meals Direct Debits from the account
detailed in this instruction subject to the safeguards assured by
the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction
may remain with Mary’s Meals and, if so, details will be passed
electronically to my Bank/Building Society.
Signature(s):
Branch sort code
Banks and building societies may not
accept Direct Debit Instructions for
some types of account.
Date:
The Direct Debit Guarantee (This Guarantee should be detached and retained by the payer). ∞ This guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that
accept instructions to pay Direct Debits. ∞ If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit, Mary’s Meals will notify you 10 working
days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Mary’s Meals to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date
will be given to you at the time of the request. ∞ If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by Mary’s Meals or your Bank or Building Society, you
are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your Bank or Building Society. If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it
back when Mary’s Meals asks you to. ∞ You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your Bank or Building Society. Written confirmation may be
required. Please also notify us.
Mary’s Meals, Craig Lodge, Dalmally, Argyll, PA33 1AR. Registered Charity: SC022140 Limited Company: SC265941
ARE YOU IN?
GRACE IS 10 YEARS OLD
GRACE LIVES IN MALAWI
GRACE IS WAITING FOR MARY’S MEALS
Find out how her story ends at www.marysmeals.org.uk/savinggrace
Share our animation and help us reach more hungry kids #SavingGrace

MAGAZINE - Mary`s Meals

Transcription

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