By Sarah Easter
In drought-affected Somaliland, daily meals eaten at school are nourishing more than bodies and minds. With food on the table, children—especially girls—are returning to school, families are breathing easier, and entire communities are growing stronger.
When drought devastated her small community in Somaliland, 43-year-old Muna faced a heartbreaking reality. Let her son and daughter stay in school, or make sure they had enough to eat.
“I didn’t know how I could feed them,” she says. “I had to keep them at home to help me find something to eat. Sometimes they had to shine shoes in the streets to make enough to afford food.”
Failed harvests. Empty water tanks and wells. Livelihoods crumbling. In Somaliland, this has been the reality many families face after years of drought.
But things began to change when CARE’s school meals project came to Muna’s children’s school. Before the program, the schools were not able to provide meals to the pupils. Now, as a volunteer with the program, Muna can prepare meals made from locally grown cereals, beans, and grains for her own children, as well as more than 380 other students.
“It gives me joy to see their happy faces,” Muna says, smiling herself as she portions meals out in bowls for the students.
CARE’s project now reaches nearly 5,000 children across 26 schools. Since the program began, Muna’s school has enrolled 55 new students. Families are even relocating so their children can attend, and other participating schools are seeing higher re-enrollment, as parents no longer need to keep children home to help provide food.
“The children eat at school, which takes a big worry off the parents’ shoulders,” Muna says.
Instead of seeing malnourishment in the classroom, teachers are watching students grow stronger and more focused.
They are also dreaming of their futures, something they hadn’t been able to do before.
“My daughter wants to be a doctor,” Muna says. “Both my children tell me they are not worried about their futures anymore. They know they will grow up well.”
After lunch, students return home to study or help their families.
Muna and other parents wash dishes and prepare for tomorrow’s meals. Their work keeps the community moving forward, one bowl at a time.
“I do this for the children,” Muna says. “They are our future. Without food, our children cannot learn.”
The food for school meals is grown locally in school gardens, which teachers use as a hands-on learning tool. Children help tend the gardens and learn how plants are grown, harvested, and used to support healthy eating and prevent malnutrition. To improve food production year-round, schools also use greenhouses and solar-powered irrigation to conserve water, increase yields, and lower costs.
As part of the project, more than 600 local farmers are being trained in climate-resilient farming techniques. They receive seeds, grow crops, and then sell the harvest back to the program to supply school meals. Involving local farmers strengthens the entire community and helps families better manage the effects of drought.
“Before, our community had many challenges,” Muna tells us, and several of the other parents nod. “Now, we’ve solved most of them.”
Through school meals, CARE is not only keeping kids in classrooms but helping entire communities recover from crisis and build toward a better future. In Somaliland, that future starts with a single bowl of food.
