Country: Madagascar
The Light Foundation’s funding has enabled Blue Ventures to strengthen and increase the reach of its community health programme. This programme benefits 130,000 fishers and their families, supporting community members to act as community health workers, offering health services and education and integrating the program within Madagascar’s public health system. These community health workers offer a range of services, including treatment for childhood illnesses, basic maternal healthcare, access to family planning services, and the distribution of mosquito nets, water purifying solutions and oral rehydration salts for diarrhoea.
The Foundation also supports Blue Ventures to equip these communities with the knowledge, skills and tools needed to manage their fisheries more sustainably, resulting in an increase in the income of local fishers. Blue Ventures also introduced processes for better food processing and storage, aimed at reducing post harvest losses and therefore reducing stunting and other health issues among children and mothers. Collectively these efforts are serving to improve the health of both people and the ocean and helping to lift these communities out of poverty.
Furthermore, Blue Ventures shares its expertise and resources through its networks, supporting others on the application of its methods. Through this sharing of expertise, Blue Ventures has indirectly supported improved access to health services for approximately 830,000 individuals living in remote, highly biodiverse areas, further expanding the positive impact of the programme.
Mary’s Meals has more than two decades of experience in addressing classroom hunger and is currently using grant funding from The Light Foundation to initiate positive change in communities in Kenya (specifically in Turkana), South Sudan, and Madagascar.
By providing much-needed meals in school, the programme seeks to offer children experiencing poverty the opportunity to return to education or continue their schooling. The meals, prepared and served by community volunteers, not only meet the children’s immediate need for sustenance, but can also improve their overall health and happiness, reduce chronic hunger, and provide energy for their learning and play.
The Mary’s Meals school feeding model is designed with sustainability in mind, sourcing meal ingredients from local agribusinesses wherever possible and building capacity within communities to deliver the programme for their children. Mary’s Meals offers training to local volunteers – many of whom are parents or relatives of the learners – on important topics such as food storage, meal preparation, and safe and fair serving. The school feeding programmes funded by The Light Foundation are a vital lifeline for families suffering extreme food insecurity, and a beacon of hope for their children who can attend preschool and primary school confidently because of the meal on offer.
In 2022, with the support from The Light Foundation, Mary’s Meals was able to provide a daily meal at 134 schools or preschools. This joint initiative enabled more than 10,500 children in Madagascar, more than 10,500 children in Kenya, and more than 7,000 children in South Sudan to stay in school and learn better while they were there. Thanks to this partnership, tens of thousands of children have a significantly better chance of avoiding exploitation and building a better future for themselves and their families.