From aid to investment!

Yesterday the Zambia team finished their investigation and research in the field of education on Nutrition. Gaining insight in the situation of the most vulnerable children in Zambia was a impressive experience. It energized us…but not for ourselves! We feel that we are now ambassadors of those children who cannot speak and those who cannot hear and are completely dependant on aid of many people.

We interviewed all of them … teachers, social workers, pastors, parents, doctors, researchers, managers, and last but not least the children themselves. But as an African wise men said…it is better to teach men how to fish than to give him a fish…However moving from aid to investment in a world of poverty is a real challenge. The best investment for any young child is education. It’s a responsibility of us all, as an individual, the private sectors and government’s world wide.

All members of the Zambia team are very proud that DSM and the WFP gave us this unique opportunity to invest in this project. Investment must be sustainable so we wish the next team in October a very fruitful preparation.
Thanks for all the people of WFP who trained us. Thanks!

Vikram, Marianne, Carolien and Adri

"Purchase to Progress"

When you have nothing and you are given one thing then you will ask for more because this seems the right time and…you have nothing to loose. This is what we have experienced a few times, which made me a bit sad but it is also understandable seeing the circumstances these people live in.
However this is largely compensated by all the enthusiastic responses of the other teachers, pupils and parents we met. They are very happy with the things we have given them; amongst others a booklet for all grade 4 students on nutrition education and training on this book, pencils, sharpeners, papers, mugs, spoons, tea, sugar, markers, exercise books (multiple hundreds), white papers, color waxes, cricket sets, and soccer balls!

Our assignment is almost done and we have provided the schools a start of something which can grow, like a garden, but the next step has to come from the schools and the community itself. I am confident that they will succeed since the schools are very proud that they have been selected amongst all community schools. The Zambia group of October will be able to witness their progress!

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