Our third feeding point went so well. We had fifteen more children register, and our number of registered children is now up to 92! We had about 109 children show up altogether, and some of those extras will be investigated to see if they need to be part of the program.
Here is a glimpse at an update my dad sent around last week- he figured out some of the statistics of our kids, and I thought I’d post them.
· In terms of caregivers, only 7% of all the children live with both parents(!).
o The rest are taken care of by:
§ mothers (29%)
§ fathers (3%)
§ grandmothers (33%)
§ both grandparents (12%)
§ other relatives (6%), and
§ siblings i.e. child-headed households (10%).
***Just because a child has both parents does not mean that their situation is necessarily good; for instance, one family has 6 children living with both parents, but they are very poor and receive only 1 meal per day because the father cannot work or help much at all.
· All of the families (100%) are subsistence farmers and get their food from their gardens.
o 9% receive 3 meals a day
o 67% receive 2 meals per day, and
o 24% are given only one meal per day.
***Please keep in mind that what these children mean by a meal could include ½ a “mealie” (roasted corn cob) or 1 slice of bread or 1 cup of maize porridge or 1 avocado or 1 banana or even just 1 tomato.
· Five percent (5%) of children do not attend school because their families cannot afford school fees (usually between $30 - $90 USD per year)
Next week school will have started, so we will have to see how it works with all the youngest children coming first, and the older ones later on. I’ll keep you updated!
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