Three-quarters of South Sudan's population, including most of our neighbours, are finding it hard to get enough to eat these days. After two and a half years of conflict, South Sudan's economy is on the brink of collapse. The South Sudanese pound has been in free fall during the past months. The depreciation of the currency, combined with triple-digit inflation (currently the highest in the world), has crippled South Sudan's import-based economy, making it very difficult for average people to afford even the most basic food and other items. Salaries that used to be enough to feed a family for a month now last just a few days.
In the midst of this bleak situation, our school received some good news in late April: we had finally (after a few years of applying) been accepted to benefit from the WFP (World Food Program) School Meals program. How we thank God for this! The WFP gives us sorghum (the nutritious grain that is the basic food staple here), yellow split peas and oil so we can provide lunch for our students and teachers each weekday.
Photo: sorghum and split peas
We are required to count the number of students each day and then cook a prescribed amount of sorghum, peas and oil for each student, teacher and cook.
Here's an idea of what takes place now at the school each day. The food is prepared by three ladies from our local partner church. Each student pays a small amount each month and the total is divided among the cooks to provide a modest financial compensation for their work, in addition to the lunch they eat each day.
Each morning the total daily amount of sorghum, split peas and oil are measured. The sorghum is sifted to remove bits of chaff or other debris and then washed. The split peas are also checked over and any small stones, etc. picked out.
The fire is stoked and big pots of water set to boil. Then the sorghum and split peas are put in to cook.
Once the food is ready, which is usually in plenty of time for when school ends at noon, the cooks set out bowls and spoons. The food is served once the students begin to come, class by class.
The sorghum/split pea mixture is nutritious and satisfying. I like the chewy texture and nutty flavour. I've found that a few squirts of mustard make it really tasty, so I now keep a bottle of it in the storage cabinet in my classroom.
Some of the students also like to adjust the food to their taste, adding more salt or a dribble of oil, which they bring from home in small plastic bags.
And now for the best part: eating. What a blessing for these kids. I love watching them eat. :-) For some of our students, this may be the only meal they eat that day. Some sit on the porch of our new building; others on logs under a big tree in the schoolyard or simply on the ground in the shade.
Lunch has become a social event, with many students lingering after they finish eating, enjoying chatting and playing. Most of the students then go home, since the usual school day here ends at noon. However, about a quarter of our students, the upper grades, have their class in the afternoon. These kids come and eat lunch before their class begins at 1:30.
One really fun thing is that many of the students like to eat as they do at home, from a common bowl. So they sit with siblings or friends and share their food, all eating from one bowl until it's finished, then moving on to the next, etc. That's what the girls in the next photos are doing.
Finally, once the dishes and pots are washed, it's the cooks' turn to eat. :-)
