Kunyumba Newsletter June 2024

Already an hour before the scheduled opening time they are sitting patiently in the Kunyumba garden: ten children from the village, each holding a bowl and a spoon.

They can hardly wait until the large steaming pot of porridge is brought out.

In the next hour 55 more hungry children will arrive. And at 2 p.m. it finally starts:

First hand washing at the garden hose, then - without pushing - join the queue.

There's enough for everyone. The porridge consists of cornflour, beans, soya, peanuts, water and sugar. The children love it. Many of them are starving, but most of them are improperly nourished. They are only given maize porridge (Nsima) to eat at home. It is cheap and filling, but lacks important nutrients.

Those who have already had their portion sit down on the grass. Soon the meadow is crowded with dozens of children. I hear a child from the crowd say grace and then everyone joins in with a loud "Amen".

I was worried that there wouldn't be enough porridge for the 65 children, but now I see that there are even seconds for some of them. When everyone seems to have had their fill, Egiré, one of our employees, suddenly, spontaneously stands up in front of the group of children and begins to sing a verse of a Malawian gospel song in an incredibly powerful voice. Everyone enthusiastically joins in with the chorus.

We did it. That was our "premiere". This feeding programme is now to be a daily offering for the poorest children from Senga Bay.

I would like to thank the Kunyumba staff for their full commitment to this work and their willingness to do a little more every day, and I would like to thank everyone who supports this feeding programme financially.

Vera Kleinstoll