Cantine Scolaire also known as School Feeding Program

Last week I had the chance to join my team on a 3 day dirt bike trip to visit some of the schools in our program. The program is a partnership between Samaritan's Purse and the World Food Program. The goal of the program is to provide food for 67 schools and over 30,000 students in conflict affected areas. (Remember to click on the pictures to view them larger.)

We headed out on the bikes and met up with a WFP truck full of food. Our goal was to deliver food to  22 schools in the 3 days and also monitor the food consumption, stocks, and records of the schools to make sure the food is being used as intended and getting to the kids. Each school has a committee made up of teachers, students and parents that are in charge of unloading their school's food and also making sure the integrity of the program is kept. 

Schools vary in the different areas but a normal one looks like this. Mud and sticks with a tin roof.  The plus side of this is that its usually pretty cool inside. 

It's a team effort when the food arrives, even the little girls help out. Here they are carrying cooking oil. 

The young men team up to carry a 50 Kilo sack of flour. The food is normally rice and beans, oil, salt, and sometimes flour and cornmeal. 

The Mama's work hard to prepare a meal for a school with over 1000 students! 

Best part of the trip! Getting to see kids that otherwise might not be eating, get a solid meal. The program is not only helping kids stay in school, but at almost every school, attendance numbers are much greater than expected or that were registered at the beginning of the year.

  Here are the guys that make it all happen. Jimmy, Baba, Robert, (Mufalme not pictured.) These guys are out on the road away from there families, at the very least, two weeks per month in the rain, heat, dust, and in some cases very dangerous areas. Thanks for all you do! 

Matthew 18:5

"And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

First USAIDizi Distributions

About a month ago, Travis and I had the opportunity to join our NFI and Food teams in Nobili (in North Kivu Province) and to help them with some NFI distributions.  The area in which we were intervening is quite isolated, so we had the choice of taking the quickest route there through a forest controlled by ADF-NALU rebels, driving for 2 days or hopping on a WFP helicopter that could get us there in less than 2 hours.  We chose the helicopter.

Travis and our friend, Randy, decided to have a little fun on the chopper ride.

As we prepared logistically for these distributions we ran into a lot of challenges and a lot of corruption, delaying them by about a month.  Our teams and the beneficiaries were very discouraged and anxious to begin the distributions, so it was really exciting to share in the joy of the first ones.  Here are a few pictures of the distribution process.

As Quality Assurance Manager, Travis did spot checks at the warehouse and the distribution sites to make sure NFI kits contained everything they were supposed to, proper protocol was being followed and documentation was in order.  Here he is checking the contents of a couple random kits.

The NFI kits were composed of hygiene kits, kitchen kits, clothes, mosquito nets, jerry cans, basins, blankets and much more.  

Our teams are so good at their jobs! They had a really impressive system that made distributing to about 600 families/day flow so smoothly and quickly.

The ease with which the women carried their loads was very impressive.  They put the men to shame.

Some of the cute spectators.

                           

Happy beneficiaries walking home with their kits.

 We loved being able to work together!

The amazing SP DRC USAIDizi NFI and Food teams!

At the end of this intervention our teams distributed NFI kits to 3,113 households and food to 3,096 households.  Our food team will be returning to distribute food to the same households in March and April.

This coming week our teams will begin distributions to 4,000 households in and around Eringeti, North Kivu.  The majority of these families fled the horrific massacres taking place in Beni Territory the end of last year and into this year.  See article below.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/12/many-dead-dr-congo-massacre-201412785151582543.html

Pray for our teams as they are anticipating these distributions will be challenging.  Although in need of help, the beneficiaries have shown themselves to be extremely difficult to work with.  Furthermore, there is continued rebel activity nearby and the UN just recently positioned soldiers in the area for a possible offensive.

*Remember you can click on the pictures to view them larger .*