Hatua began its Fortified Uji Project in 2020 right before the pandemic forced schools to shut down. No students meant no uji (porridge); and the project, like so many others, went on a hiatus. When schools opened in January, Evans Omondi, Hatua’s Library Coordinator, spent more than a few sleepless nights working to get the Fortified Uji Project up and running once again.
Congratulations on restarting the Uji Project this year! Can you tell us more about it?
Thank you! The Fortified Uji Project to schools was conceived to help vulnerable school children overcome malnutrition and hunger at school. This way, they can remain in school and learn. The Project also helps introduce children to Hatua’s satellite libraries, which is where we host and run this project.
Hatua provides a team of qualified nutritionists from the ranks of its student alumni community. In addition, the nutritionists are placed in charge of a group of cooks who ensure that the entire school is served with porridge on designated days of the week.
Currently, we are conducting the program in three schools with a total population of approximately 3000 pupils. We serve children with porridge for two days a week in each school.
Why fortified porridge?
The children we serve do not have access to a balanced diet at home, and fortified porridge contains the requisite food nutrients that vulnerable children need to be able to pay attention in class.
How did the Uji Project begin? What problem is it trying to solve?
Likoni is one of the sub-counties in Kenya with a high poverty index rate. Most parents can’t afford to provide a balanced diet to their families which results in malnutrition, a leading cause of low school attendance rates.
This further perpetuates the cycle of poverty through generations, and we felt a need to respond. Nourished children stand a better chance to remain and do well in school. I believe this program helps us do that.
Why is the library spearheading this program?
The Hatua Network of libraries boasts a deep connection to the community in Likoni. All the children who miss out on Hatua Scholarships also benefit from the broader programs that Hatua provides. This remains one of the reasons Hatua started its library program.
Having already established great relationships in schools through our library literacy programs made it easier for the library team to host the project.
The project also ensures nourished, happy, and excited children attend the library literacy programs in more significant numbers. This attendance provides for the children’s educational success while enabling the library to meet its literacy program goals.
How is this project funded?
Our primary partner for this project is The ELMA Foundation which gives us a grant through its Elma Community Grant Program. Their program provides funding for physiological needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter to the vulnerable members of the community.
What fulfills you about this Project?
As a librarian and a person raised in Likoni, I appreciate the impact the project has had so far. We previously had few children attending our library literacy programs due to overall low school attendance. Some children looked malnourished and could not concentrate in their classes and the library literacy programs.
Now I’m happy to see energetic and nourished pupils actively participating in class and the library literacy programs thanks to the porridge they receive.
What are some goals/future expectations you have for this Project?
The Fortified Uji project was received well by the community in Likoni. More so, because of the economic challenges occasioned by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Most parents cannot afford to provide their families with three meals a day, and this project supplements and covers the childrens’ nutritional needs.
I look forward to the day when more partners will come to support this project so that it can remain sustainable over the coming years. This will also help us take this project to more schools within the county.
What are some of the successes you’ve had so far since the project began?
We actually started this program in February 2020, but like many of our other projects and activities, the corona pandemic halted it.
However, since we re-launched it, we’ve been able to feed children in three schools, namely Peleleza, Skikaadabu, and Vyemani primary schools, a total of 6632 cups of fortified porridge in just two weeks!
The feedback from the school principals has been encouraging. They have reported a general improvement in school attendance, more so on days when the project is conducted. Teachers are also happy because they’ve noticed that their students are more attentive in class.
And our library team has also seen an increase in the number of students participating in our library literacy program because of the Uji Project.
What are some of the challenges you have faced so far since the beginning of the project?
Covid -19 brought its fair share of challenges to the project and we were forced to stop last year. When schools reopened, coping with the new covid-19 protocols with regard to young children became especially difficult.
Dealing with young children while enforcing covid-19 protocols calls for patience [laughs]. You need to constantly remind them to wear their masks and observe social distancing as they queued.
Donate now and help Hatua Network continue to run its Fortified Uji project and other library programs.
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