Lunch Program for Mlima Shabaha School

Dear Rafiki,

Mlima Shabaha Shule is an elementary school in a Maasai area about an hour away from Moshi, Tanzania. Because the landscape is dry and arid, it does not easily support agriculture, and families here only have a cup of chai tea for breakfast. The students attending school are very hungry by lunch time. They can't afford to bring lunch and they often go the entire day at school without food, which lasts from 8am to 3pm. Learning on an empty stomach is extremely difficult.

This will be the second year that we will be raising funds for a lunch program for the school. The lunch is served daily and consists of beans and ugali (corn porridge). When lunch is served at school, not only do students learn better, but attendance rates have increased in the last year. Mlima Shabaha public school has 150 students and 5 teachers.

Our friends, Mr and Mrs Street, and Mr and Mrs Mtunga will be obtaining the beans and corn in Moshi for the lunch program using the funds we raise. They will transport the food to the school to be stored on-site for use throughout the year.

While we were living in Moshi last year, we would drive out to Mlima Shabaha to visit the school. The students were extremely friendly and the principal appreciative of the lunch program. During visits the Tanzanian students would ask me, "hello, how are you?" to practice their english. And in turn, I would practice my swahili, and ask them "mambo, habari?". I attended a sherehe (a party) last May, in which we wore traditional massai robes and ate a special pilau with stewed goat. It was a very memorable experience.

I would appreciate your support for helping feed a daily lunch to a school full of students at Mlima Shabaha Shule again this year in 2016.

Thank you,

Sam Vaughan