Malawi School Continues to Grow
For the past few years, World Hunger Coalition at Notre Dame has focused on the importance of contributing to both local and international hunger organizations. Among these international organizations is Mary's Meals, a global movement that operates in fourteen countries across the world. Our donations of $4,200 in 2014, $5,300 in 2015, and $6,700 in 2016 have been used to fund a school lunch program at the Mteka Primary School in Mwanza, Malawi. This year the school has increased its enrollment and now educates 346 children, 177 of these are young girls.
Given Mary's Meals' transparent mission and commitment to spending a minimum of 93 cents on charitable activities for every dollar donated, WHC ND is proud to partner with an organization that makes the most of every donation we can give. Through the ongoing efforts of ND students who donate their dining hall lunch swipes every Wednesday, Mary's Meals is able to focus their efforts on increasing school enrollment and attendance, improving the well-being of students, and encouraging concentration and learning through their hunger-reducing initiatives.
As students at the University of Notre Dame, we know and experience the power of our community. Mary's Meals focuses on community ownership and establishing long-term projects (such as working with local, smallholder farmers and increasing national government participation in Mary's Meals initiatives) for the communities where they work. We feel that it is necessary to contribute to the organizations that best represent the Notre Dame mission and emphasize the Holy Cross pillar of Family that we encourage in classrooms and residential communities, and Mary's Meals is an excellent representation of that.
**Image courtesy of Mary's Meals report on our donations**
