Children Still Need Our Help
My Weekly’s Helping Hand Appeal continues to help children around the world…
The Helping Hand Appeal may have reached the magical million pound mark, but that doesn’t mean we’re resting on our laurels. There are still so many children who need food and who need an education to lift them out of their poverty-stricken lives.
Children like Topos, on the left of the picture with his schoolfriends Epiding and Ikaru who was under-nourished and in poor health when he first started attending his nursery school in northern Kenya. At home, his family struggles to find food for them to eat and Topos, aged four, often goes to bed hungry.
With a walk of more than two miles to reach his Early Development Centre, it is perhaps not surprising that Topos was not always able to attend every day. When these problems were identified, Topo’s mother was encouraged to bring the young boy to school every day to receive Mary’s Meals so his health could improve.
Given Topos’s age and translation circumstances he was unable to answer our questions directly so we received the following information from his teacher, Job Eloto.
“When Topos was eating every day, he started regaining his health and now he’s much better,” explained Mr Eloto.
Usually, most of the children at the Kenya Oil Settlement ECD depend on the two nutritious meals they receive from Mary’s Meals. Some children walk for over an hour on foot to get to the school.
“Mary’s Meals is bringing food to the school. That food is helping the children to have a meal and it’s attracting them to come to this school,” added Mr Eloto. “When they come in the morning you can tell that they have not eaten the previous evening. They look very weak. But when they get the porridge, you see them start playing. The food is helping them continue with their normal school activities.
“I hope that the children continue with school and when they finish from here they move to one of the primary schools and continue with their studies.”
How You Can Help
Our lovely readers have been supporting our Helping Hand Appeal for 20 years now, and only last month their donations broke through the one million pound mark! If you’d like to help us build on this amazing success, send a cheque or postal order to My Weekly Helping Hand Appeal, 2 Albert Square, Dundee, DD1 1DD.
Other ways to donate: Freephone 0800 698 1212; Visit www.marymeals.org.uk or text MMHH18 and the amount you would like to donate to 70070. For example, to donate £5, text “MMHH18 £5” to 70070. You can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 up to a maximum of £30 in any month. Donations will be added to your phone bill or deducted from your pay-as-you-go credit.
To claim Gift Aid on your personal donations, please follow instructions in the reply text.
Find Out More About Mary’s Meals and Our Appeal
www.myweekly.co.uk/category/caring-and-sharing/helping-hand-appeal/
