Overcoming hunger in Zimbabwe - Beyonce’s story

Lunchtimes for Beyonce are different now, as she sits laughing with her friends. Now, she receives the same meal as her classmates – a mug of fortified corn-soya porridge from Mary’s Meals – and Brasio says this is a huge relief.

Beyonce’s story has a difficult beginning. Her mother abandoned both her and her elder sister when Beyonce was just a baby. Neighbours alerted her father to the two girls crying in a locked room, and he immediately returned from the capital Harare, where he had been working.

With the elder sister no longer at home, Brasio and Beyonce live together in their small, one-room home. It’s a simple structure, with a bed on one side and improvised shelving making up the kitchen on the other. There’s no electricity but they have a small stove to prepare meals, on the rare days they’re able to afford the food.

Brasio gestures around their home and says: “If you look around you will see that we don’t have enough. I am struggling to get food for both of us.

“It was difficult when there was nothing to eat at school and Beyonce would come home and there was nothing here either. But earlier this year, Beyonce told me she would now be getting Mary’s Meals.

“From that moment, I was not worried about her going to school without anything because I knew that she was going to get a meal there. It has become a relief to me. The only hope I have is the feeding program; it is something that is helping me to take care of her. I cannot send her to anyone else. It’s the only way she can get a proper meal.”

Beyonce agrees: “Before the feeding program, I would feel very weak after going to and from school. Sometimes I would have to walk to and from without eating anything. Maybe there was nothing at home to take to school and then at school, there was nothing too. It was the whole day without having something to eat. Sometimes my dad would give me a little money, but it was not enough to get anything meaningful for the stomach.”

Beyonce is a bright student; she speaks in English when she can and has a quiet confidence about her. Her dad says she can be shy, but sometimes he sees her dancing when she thinks that he is not around. Apparently, dancing is a passion they both share. She jokes about becoming a pilot because: “they get better renumeration that any other job I know. It would be exciting! Aeroplanes only take a small number of people, but they pay so much money!”

Besides dancing and dreams of a high-flying career, Beyonce hass clear ideas about the impact of the meals she can now rely on in school. She says: “The porridge is so good and tasty and also for children like us who don’t carry anything to school, it helps us. After eating the porridge we can start concentrating, we can also write like any other children in class.

“I try my best at school. Education is important to me, I see it as an escape route for the way that my mother left me. I hope that one day I will be successful, I will help my father who has helped me since I was a toddler. I hope that one day I will also help other children and other people to have a better life.”

Beyonce is so full of potential. She has ambition, confidence, and a supportive father who wants her to be happy. The difference that a daily school meal can make to her chances of fulfilling that potential cannot be understated.

We share Beyonce’s hope for future success, and leave the final word to her: “To our sponsors and funders who support us with the meals, please don’t tire. Keep on supporting us children.” 

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