Mary’s Meals is a charitable foundation founded by Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow that provides meals to more than 2 million children while they are at school in the world’s poorest regions.
That changes the lives of these children. Not only because it combats hunger in a simple and effective way, but also because it motivates them to attend school regularly, which opens up new opportunities for them in life.
Magnus traveled to Bosnia with his brother in 1983, and the experience left an indelible impression on him. Years later, in 1992, after watching a television report on the atrocities of the war in that country, he decided to get off the couch, roll up his sleeves, and go help. He traveled to Bosnia in the midst of the war with the goal of providing food to children who were going days without eating.
The spark that ignited a great cause
Great achievements sometimes stem from a personal need to do something small that later—as in the case of Mary’s Meals—grows into a major global project: Magnus quit his job, sold his house, and took a sabbatical so he could deliver humanitarian aid.
Over the next ten years, his organization expanded: he began establishing homes for abandoned children in Romania and Liberia, and funded projects in Croatia and other countries.
One day, while in Malawi, Magnus met Emma, a girl who was dying of AIDS. At her bedside was her brother Edward, a 14-year-old boy who, when asked about his dream in life, replied,“I’d like to have enough food and someday be able to go to school.”
This inspired Magnus to found Mary's Meals. Today, this organization operates in 20 countries around the world and provides a nutritious meal at its educational centers to more than 2 million children across several continents.
For the price of a daily set meal in Spain, a child can eat for an entire year
In Liberia, as in Malawi and many other countries, the cost of feeding a child for an entire school year is just €18.30— roughly the price of a single meal per person per day in the developed world.
Eating is undoubtedly a basic need for these children, but this great initiative sets in motion other important actions as a result of them receiving their daily meals.
Magnus's NGO has managed to significantly increase these children's school attendance rate, since they receive a meal and go to school happily.
There is a beautiful and insightful documentary in which actor Gerard Butler vividly describes what this organization does on the ground, and in which we see the children’s grateful smiles—smiles that reach right through the screen.
By providing them with daily meals and a reason to live, the children want to give back all the good they have received to their community, which will then prosper and pass on the help it has received within the community. This creates a productive chain that, in the short and medium term, revives the economies of depressed countries.
At ELZABURU, we wanted to get involved in this project: we have joined the effort in Malawi by sponsoring daily meals for more than 733 children at Kapotera Primary School. The meals, prepared by mothers on a volunteer basis using local food and resources, are guaranteed for every child on every school day throughout the upcoming school year.
ELZABURU has completed the first year of the project for the 2022-2023 school year, and we have now launched the second year, which is open to participation: for just over 18 euros, a child can eat for an entire year.
Helping others is helping ourselves—it’s a true privilege, and there are a thousand ways to do it.
Mary’s Meals is a project that will endure and outlive its founders, improving the lives of people in many countries. Would you like to help? You can make a donation here.