Martha in Malawi
Mary's Meals Youth Ambassador Martha MacFarlane-Barrow shares her reflections from a recent trip to Malawi with other Youth Ambassadors.
It has now been a couple of weeks since I travelled to Malawi with a group of Mary’s Meals Youth Ambassadors, and yet I still find myself constantly reminiscing over our time there.
My name is Martha and I am a 22 year old Youth Ambassador from Scotland. In June of this year, I had the greatest privilege, alongside volunteers from around the world, of seeing Mary’s Meals in action. We started off as a group of five; myself, Veronika from Slovakia, Christine and Dominik from Austria, and Engagement Manager Calum, but this number grew on our arrival as we met with local Youth Ambassadors; Tapiwa, Wonderful and Lette, who joined us for the week. It was such a blessing to learn from them and hear about how they see Mary’s Meals as a beautiful way in which they can support their own communities.
We followed a busy itinerary that was designed to help each of us develop a deeper understanding of how the organisation operates day to day, which included visits to a wide range of schools, the offices in Blantyre, and the factories where the corn soya blend is made. The Mary’s Meals staff could not have been more welcoming and hospitable, and they took the time to explain to us all the moving parts that make the feeding programme possible, and were always willing to answer the (many) questions that we had.
I find it almost impossible to pin down a single ‘favourite moment’, but I will never forget our very first morning in the field. We visited a rural school named Samama Primary, and for the first time, we saw the children of Mary’s Meals receive their Lukini Phala. We often hear the incredible number of 2.4 million being spoken about, but to see students have their mugs filled, one by one, you are reminded of the individuality of every single child. I was also struck by the change you could see before and after the porridge was eaten. When they first arrived, the students were quiet, but after their meal, they were filled with so much energy.
We visited five different centres of education during our stay, including Samama Primary, Noreen Davis ECD, Mountain View School for the Deaf, Nkolokoti Primary - an urban school with an enrollment of 6,000 - and Jacaranda School for Orphans. It was incredible to see how the feeding programme is run in each of them, all so different in structure and organisation, but the unique joy that exists within Mary’s Meals was tangible in everyone.
Our evenings were filled with discussion, talking about the events of each day and how we all felt more motivated than ever to each play our small part in this mission. It was certainly difficult to see the reality of the hardships that are faced by so many and it served as a stark reminder that this work of Mary’s Meals is so important. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of global poverty and the numbers of those who battle with hunger on a daily basis, but that is where the beauty of this mission can really be seen. We are all invited to carry out our own ‘little acts of love’, and through things like the Youth Ambassador Initiative, we can each bring our own skills and talents to the table. Nothing you do is too small, and we can all play our part in fighting world hunger, whether that be through our actions, words or prayers.
