MAF partners with Ezekiel 37 Ministry who feed school children in Karamoja’s Napak district.
Karamoja region, located in the northeast of Uganda is infamous for its food insecurity through much of the year.
But a school that provides break-time porridge and lunch for children that attend classes has become a ray of hope to families that have been able to have their children enrolled there.
Akigyeno nursery and primary school, in Karamoja’s Napak district was started by Ezekiel 37 Ministry, about six years ago.
Mission Aviation Fellowship flies Ezekiel 37 Ministry to Moroto district, from where they can drive to Napak in slightly below an hour.
“MAF flights are very vital, we could not do this without them because it takes us two days to fly from the US to Uganda, and we would lose another two days driving to this place and returning to Kampala. MAF flights save us a lot of time,” said Rebecca Sekamanya, Director, Ezekiel 37 Ministry.
It takes a full day to drive from Uganda’s capital, Kampala, to Moroto district, while a MAF flight needs only slightly over an hour to travel to the same destination.
In addition to feeding during school days, the children come to school every Sunday, to attend the Sunday service and also have their lunch. The school made this decision in order to support the children as for many of them, this may be the only meal they will have until they return to school when classes resume. Many families are not able to provide a meal even once a day, especially in the most challenging seasons of the year.
Some children walk as far as eight kilometres to and from their homes to school. While this is arguably a very long distance for children as young as three years old, it’s a journey they are willing to make rather than be starving due to food shortage in the region.
Akigyeno school head teacher Alex Okello noted, “We are trying our best to provide meals to the kids and the meals are attracting the children to stay in school.”
Ms Sekamanya added: “The families appreciate that the children can get at least a meal a day when they come to school.”
Karamoja region is one of Uganda’s most insecure regions, emanating from food scarcity that leads to cattle raiding, many times, at gun point.
When raiders attack a home and find them preparing food, they will wait for the food to be ready to serve, and they will eat it, steal everything in the home, and then go away.
“Over 89,000 children aged six months to five years and 10,000 pregnant or lactating women are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in the Karamoja region of Uganda between February 2023 and January 2024,” said a UNICEF report.
