Mary’s Meals provides school meals to more than 100,000 children in Liberia every school day
Life in Liberia
Liberia is located on the West African coast and is bordered by Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and is currently ranked 178 out of 191 countries and territories in the Human Development Index (HDI).
Hunger is a deep-rooted problem for many people here; it is estimated that 16% of families are food insecure and 1.6 million people have insufficient food intake. The country is also still healing from the wounds of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak. In Liberia, like many poor countries, survival often takes priority over education.
Children have suffered greatly over the years, and so has their education. Years of civil war destroyed schools and forced children out of education. The country still faces huge challenges with learning and school enrolment; it is estimated that 210,622 children of primary school-age are out of school, and more than half of all students do not complete primary school.
Mary's Meals in Liberia
Mary’s Meals has been supporting children with school feeding in Liberia since 2006, but the charity’s work in the country goes back to 1992 when we provided aid during the first civil war.
We currently serve school meals to more than 100,000 children in five counties in Liberia: Bong, Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Montserrado. Mary’s Meals is the sole provider of school feeding in Bong County.
Many of the schools we support are in remote and hard-to-reach areas. Delivering food to these schools that are found deep in the jungle, accessible only via off-road routes, is particularly challenging during rainy season when flooding is common.
Locally produced food is limited in Liberia and while we strive to source as much of our food locally as possible, it is sometimes necessary to order from further afield to ensure we can keep our promise to feed the hungry children we serve.