Ngara, TZ – School Breakfast Program – 29 Jul 2014

Lydia, program coordinator, and Daudi, assistant coordinator, next to the bags of breakfast nutrition mix they have just prepared.

Solutions and Opportunities for the Disadvanatged Trust (SODAT) continues to make an impact on three schools in the Ngara region of Tanzania. Their breakfast program provides a daily morning meal to over 2,100 students at three primary schools – Mukibogoye, Kabalenzi, and Mukirehe. Unlike many other schools in Tanzania, parents in the Ngara region have not been able to provide inputs to support a school lunch program. Thus, the breakfast program provides children with their only nutrition for the school day.

When the program first started, the schools nearly doubled in size. Not only did local attendance increase, but many students from other villages started walking long distances just to attend the schools serving breakfast. This has strained school resources but also improved attendance and performance. Before the breakfast program started, attendance at the schools was around 70%. Now the schools have 95% attendance rates.

In early 2014, the program suffered a tragedy as its co-founder, Alice Rugumyaheto, passed away. Without Alice, the program coordinators could not withdraw the funds necessary to continue the project. During this two week span, many children thought the program had been cancelled indefinitely. School attendance dropped back to around 80% and teachers reported changes in student behavior and attention. When the issue was resolved and the program coordinators showed up at schools with trucks of nutrition mix, the students all stopped what they were doing to cheer and dance. Now, school attendance is back to around 95%.

This episode clearly illustrates the importance of the breakfast program and the need to begin encouraging food self-reliance among schools and families. Better Lives is beginning to work more closely with SODAT to empower students, families, and schools to become food self-reliant so that children can be assured they will receive the nutrients necessary to pay attention, retain knowledge, and grow up educated and trained to earn an income.