With cattle farmers as parents, some meals come easy for Ibrahim. When you live on a farm, you don’t have to look far. Other times his family sells livestock so they can purchase food from the market.
But sometimes food is not so readily available.
Not every meal is guaranteed, and clean water has to be bought since it’s inaccessible at home. So what then?
For Ibrahim, that meant long walks to and from school — on an empty stomach. “This makes it difficult to attend school every day,” he said. “Sometimes because of rainfall and poor infrastructure, I fail to go to school.”
But lately his circumstances have changed. Convoy of Hope’s Children’s Feeding program started partnering with his school to help provide two meals a day for students. It’s one of the things he’s most excited about! “I like the Tuesday and Friday meals where they mix corn, beans, and vegetables with oil, onions, and salt,” he said.
Properly fueled, Ibrahim is able to put all his energy into working hard in school, especially in math, his favorite subject. “I can see changes in my performance; I’ve scored higher since I have started having filling, satisfying meals. … I have the assurance of eating for the five days of the week,” he said.
And the nutritious food isn’t just helping Ibrahim do better in his studies. “It helps put me in a better mood. I can also participate in sports because I have enough energy from the food, and when I get back home I can happily look after the cattle, too.”
Convoy’s Children’s Feeding program was created to serve kids like Ibrahim so that they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. School, cattle farming, whatever they pursue in life — they can now pursue it to the fullest.
