Lunchtime in Malawi

I had the opportunity to get involved and witness the process of lunchtime in various schools across Malawi. Every school had a different process but the outcome was the same. 

Over the UK and various others so called "developed countries" the problems they are dealing with is, during lunchtime the children have access to a variety of unhealthy, high calorie choices at lunchtimes. Often low nutritional value and not a huge benefit other than energy. This energy is rarely used up efficiently  leading to a generation of kids that are overweight, potentially malnourished and at risk of many different lifestyle diseases in later life.

However in rural Malawi they are dealing with malnutrition at the opposite end of the spectrum with the children not always eating enough. At school the children are given one option, phala. Phala is a porridge created from a maize blend from Mary's Meals. For the majority of children the mug of phala may well be their only meal of the day. 

With this being said the perception that is given in the UK media of African child overly skinny with large bellies and flies around there mouths was not the only reality I saw when in Malawi. 

I regularly fast therefore I have an idea how difficult skipping meals are, especially when you are expected to concentrate at school without food. The difference with fasting is I will have the option to break my fast however these children don't have that same luxury. However it gave me the opportunity to some what empathize with their situation. 
  

Experience of making the Phala: 

 Making the phala was a straight forward process, however it was long and required some level of upper arm strength to constantly be mixing the porridge and getting the lumps out. I was reluctant at first to do it because I didn't want to ruin it. However I did it anyway with the help of some of the older children from the school. I did find it quite challenging however I would never really get this experience again so didn't want to waste it. As it cooks on the firewood a lot of smoke is released and this smoke if it gets in your eyes can make it quite difficult to see. I often found I had to step back every now and then for some fresh air. After being left on the fire to keep warm it is then ready to serve. 

Experience of serving Phala:

I did enjoy the serving process, it really kept you on your toes. I did feel it was more important that I helped served the child rather than worry about my own lunch. Plus it kept us busy so you often didn't realise it was lunchtime.

They all came over eager with their cups and lined up in one long queue. We were told that it was half a cup of phala per child. The younger ones were given priority over the older children so they would come first. They came lining up standard by standard and it felt as if the line went on forever. When you thought the line was going down then another class came out. Almost instantly a sign of relief came over me and the others serving when we finally were done. Plus there was an element of excitement in the air as the atmosphere changed once the bellies were full.

What we quickly learnt was once a cup was given to you, often you rarely saw the child who gave you this cup. Mostly because your head is down concentrating trying to work quickly, therefore when giving the cup back to the owner wasn't always easy. What we found was the kids seem to have this mutual respect with each other. They all seemed to just know who the cup belonged to. If we accidentally gave the cup to the wrong child, the children quickly rectified the mistake. Very refreshing to see. Mostly because I doubt we would see this selflessness in the UK.

  

Story time:

While serving phala the one moment that really stood out for me:

On this occasion we kinda felt a slightly more stressed while serving. We started realising that some children were coming for seconds some even tried for thirds. You know that whole supply teacher situation. They probably thought they could get away with it. 

They know under normal circumstances until everyone has had then they shouldn't be coming up for seconds. However many tried and some were successful others were not so. 

A little girl probably about 4-5 years came over to get seconds we had recognised that this girl had some already and ask Shan to speak to her. Shan worked with us and looked after us when we were out, and helped us translate when needed. She eventually left, probably disappointed. We then asked Shan what the conversation was he was very reluctant to tell us. We kept pushing and eventually he told us. He asked her why she was coming for seconds. The little girl then replied that she was getting some for her mum. Shan then explained to her that the phala was for the children only and she left.

I felt horrible because it then dawned on me that she is probably one of the many children whom this porridge is the only meal they would potential have.

In a world of plenty it hard to understand why some people have so little.