Form time reflections, stories and questions on the theme of food.
Reflection
‘For I was hungry and you gave me to eat...in so far as you did this to one of the least of my brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25
Story
Emergency food
In places where there isn’t enough food, young children are particularly at risk. We give highly nutritious food supplements to children under five who are going hungry, and often pregnant women and new mothers as well.
The Sahel
For the third time in less than ten years, the Sahel region in western Africa is facing a major food and nutrition crisis. Whereas the droughts in 2005 and 2010 affected Niger and Chad most severely, this year’s food emergency is starting to grip across the region, from Chad in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
The crisis is due to a complex combination of factors including recurrent drought and as a result, poor harvests. Thousands of people have been displaced and there has been chronic poverty and vulnerability in these countries.
In the Sahel, CAFOD and other Caritas member organisations are:
- Running nutrition centres for malnourished children
- Paying people in cash or food to work on projects that benefit their communities
- Supporting cereal banks that provide grain at subsidised prices
- Distributing food to the most vulnerable
- Distributing animal feed
- Organising seed fairs so that farmers can plant in the next agricultural season
CAFOD is part of Caritas International, which has appealed for 10.3 million Euros to respond to the crisis in five Sahel countries. These appeals are providing relief directly to approximately 700,000 people, as well as indirectly to a much wider circle of beneficiaries also running into the hundreds of thousands.
Questions
What is your favourite food?
Which foods do we need to eat and which are less important?
How easy is it for you to eat the foods you need to stay healthy?
1 in 4 children in developing countries are underweight
Reflection
‘It is not God’s will for some to have everything and others to have nothing.’
Oscar Romero
Story
Making a better living through farming
We are helping communities in vulnerable regions to have enough food and to make a better living. Where people are living in areas that may be prone to disasters such as floods and cyclones, we are providing training in seed collection, and farming so that families can work with their land to try to withstand disasters.
Kabery, Bangladesh
12-year-old Kabery from Bangladesh lives in a village that’s often hit by natural disasters. Cyclones and floods cause havoc, destroying houses and ruining farmland. These disasters mean that it’s very hard for Kabery’s family to earn a living. Every time a disaster hits, people have to pay to fix the damage and – in some cases – start their businesses all over again.
CAFOD has helped Kabery’s mum, Bijoli to turn some of her land into a vegetable garden, and trained her to farm fruit and vegetables.
It isn’t easy to grow crops in the village, because when the land is flooded by sea-water, it gets very salty – and most plants don’t grow well in salty soil. That’s why our partners have trained Bijoli to grow plants that do grow well in salty soil.
“Before the training the land wasn’t being used for anything,” says Bijoli. “Now the crop is always successful. The income I get from the garden means that I can spend extra money on my children.”
Questions
Imagine if you didn’t know whether you would have a meal today.
How different would your day be?
One person in seven will go to bed hungry tonight.
Reflection
‘When you give a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relations or neighbours, in case they invite you back and so replay you. No, when you have a party invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, then you will be blessed.’
Luke 14
Story
Responding to emergencies
When a food crisis strikes - like during a drought or after a flood - we make sure people have enough to eat. That might mean delivering food packs, or giving people cash or vouchers so that they can buy food for themselves.
Taabu, Kenya
15-year-old Taabu’s mother knew that her life would be hard: that’s why she named her “Taabu”, which means “problems” in the local language. The area in Kenya where they live is often affected by drought, which makes it extremely hard to grow crops. Another challenge Taabufaces is that her step-father is blind – which in rural Kenya means it’s very difficult to earn money.
In 2011, there was a very severe drought in the region where Taabu lives. Crops failed, and many animals died: the family’s donkey, which they used to carry water, died because of a lack of food and water. That meant that Taabu’s mother had to make extra trips over long distances to fetch water, which meant she didn’t have time to farm. The family relied on the compassion of neighbours and on food handouts from the government; but these food handouts normally lasted only two days.
Taabu said: “We have had to make do with little portions of whatever food my parents have been able to get especially due to the drought in this area. I wish I could have bigger portions of the food.”
As part of our emergency response to the drought, CAFOD gave Taabu’s family cash grants of £22 every three months. The family used the money to buy food – maize, beans, sugar and flour – but also to buy a goat.
Taabu’s step-father John says: “I thought it was important to invest in a long-term asset that would benefit me in the future. So I decided to buy a she-goat which I named CAFOD as an appreciation for the support I had received. The assistance from CAFOD has made a big difference in our lives. I have been able to feed my family and buy a goat that gives my family milk on a daily basis which lessens the problems of surviving a drought situation in our area.”
In times of drought, we often give cash to vulnerable families like Taabu’s, rather than simply handing out food. The advantage of this is that people are able to decide for themselves what is most important to buy. So, for example, Taabu’s family were able to use the money to buy more than simply food: they also bought a goat, which will be useful for them in the long-term, a new water-tank so that Taabu’s mother wouldn’t have to walk so far and so often to fetch water, and some much-needed new clothes.
Questions
What are your experiences of sharing food at home?
When do you share food as a family?
Are there special times when you will sit down together to share and celebrate with food?
Hunger is the world’s number 1 health risk. It affects more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDs combined.
Reflection
‘Give us this day our daily bread.’
Luke 11
Story
Caring for the environment
We are helping farmers to improve their crops, care for the environment, cut costs, and learn from each other, and these sustainable farming techniques are helping to transform people’s lives.
Karen, El Salvador
In El Salvador, we help families like Karen’s to improve their crops, care for the environment and learn from each other.
Karen lives with her mother and eight brothers and sisters in a small house. Sadly, her dad died when she was young, and her mum Gladys is bringing up the family on her own. The family own some land, which the boys work on. Karen’s mum Gladys works as a fruit seller.
Karen and her mum are part of a women’s group run by CAFOD’s partner JDS. Last year, JDS gave Karen’s family agricultural tools, machetes, spades, rakes and hoes, to help them grow vegetables.
JDS are also helping Karen learn new skills, which will help her to earn more money.
She said: “I got involved in the groups because I like what they do. What I hope for, from the work of the JDS, is that we get support to have a fish pond.”
Questions
Did you know that there is enough food in the world for everyone, but only if we share.
Does it seem fair to you that some people have a lot and others have nothing at all?
We need to challenge the injustice to help make the world a fairer place.
Reflection
‘On this mountain, for all peoples, the Lord is preparing a banquet of rich food.’
Isaiah 25
Story
Tackling hunger in the long term
We want to help people grow or buy food themselves.This might mean by providing tools and seeds for farmers, or a boat to help people catch fish. It often means working withpoor families find new ways of earning money, so that they can afford to eat more healthily in the future.
Winfreda, Zambia
Winfreda and her family used to struggle to have enough to eat. When times were tough, the family lived on pumpkin leaves – that was all they ate, for every meal. Living on only pumpkin leaves, Winfreda became very weak. She says: “My health suffered. I became thin and weak. I hated my kids seeing my like that.”
We provided tools and seeds, which meant the family could set up a vegetable garden. We supplied water and an irrigation system, which means the family can grow vegetables all year round. And we gave the family cows, which plough the land, supply milk and which the family are breeding to earn more money.
Today Winfreda can sell the extra vegetables at the local market. “Having a vegetable garden has doubled our income,” says Winfreda. “I grow tomatoes and rape. I sell the tomatoes but the rape is for us to eat. How much I make depends on the value of one crate. On average we can make between 60,000 to 70,000 kwacha per month on tomatoes. I managed to buy a mattress for my children to sleep on last month thanks to the nutrition garden. I also bought a goat for my son.
“When I’m working in the garden I feel a sense of community because other members of the garden come there and we stop for a chat.”
Questions
Have you ever felt really hungry?
How did it feel?
What did it then feel like to have a meal?
925 million people in our world do not have enough to eat.