The Breakfast Club, based in the Mtwara region of Southern Tanzania, is committed to developing sustainable feeding programmes in local schools to combat the problem of hunger amongst students. The education of this generation should have a positive long-term effect on the region. The current lack of access to food dramatically impairs mental and physical development and in the Mtwara region of Tanzania, most children will have little or no food until school ends in the afternoon. It is then that they will receive their only meal of the day. Hunger at schools is rife, directly reducing the performance and attendance of students.
The Breakfast Club recognises that a long-term strategy is paramount in solving the problems of malnutrition amongst school children. We therefore aim to deliver School Feeding Programmes that can be sustained for years to come. Each Feeding Programme will work in partnership with the local community to create a customised project that reflects the needs of teachers, students and parents alike. Our first project was at Mangamba Primary in 2007, but we now work with three schools, Mkangala (began in 2009)and Mtawanya (since 2011). This means that our projects support around 1000 children in total. We provide free breakfasts to students in these schools and aim to expand across as much of the Mtwara region as possible,based on the funding secured. As soon as we secure enough donations further schools will benefit from the Breakfast Club’s School Feeding Programme, while parental contributions are also important, both financially and in demonstrating a clear sense of community engagement and involvement.