In October, the reopening of schools in Mozambique, enabled 897 children and youngsters to return not only to classes, but also to warm and free meals. With this return and, after such an extended period without classes and with a difficult access to food products, ALG has been trying to monitor more closely the health and weight of students, thus strengthening the project’s key performance indicators.

ALG’s Schools Meals Programme tries to reduce school abandonment with the incentive of providing a free daily meal at school for over 900 children. But ALG also tries to have a deeper impact on the lives of girls, by reducing gender inequality, and releasing them from having to traditionally stay at home to cook for the family. Our aim is also to try to reduce girls’ susceptibility to diseases and early pregnancies by strengthening school attendance. ⠀

Soraia is one of the girls benefiting from this programme, she is 13 years old, and she has been with ALG since 2018, when she joined our sister charity Sponsoring Programme  at Sta. Luisa de Marillac School, in Chokwé. Soraia lives with an aunt because her parents are separated and living in South Africa. To provide for the family Soraia’s aunt is only able to do odd jobs in a few neighbouring farming plots.

For a family like Soraia’s a free meal at school is crucial.