| Our ongoing work battling childhood malnutrition ▸ |
I recently returned from a visit to our team in Kyrgyzstan, and wanted to share with you the success your support is making possible for families there. In Bishkek, the capital, I met with Dr. Uma Kandalaeva, a pediatrician by training who is Mercy Corps’ current Kyrgyzstan country director. Looking out at snow-capped mountains, I learned that in 1994, when Mercy Corps team members first arrived in Kyrgyzstan, we discovered schoolchildren who were given only a cup of tea — just tea — for their mid-day meal. At that time, Kyrgyzstan was a former Soviet republic that had only recently declared its independence. In this remote, mountainous country, where most people are traditionally nomadic herders and still rely on a predominantly agricultural economy, food was scarce and initiatives to help were even scarcer. Twenty-five years later, with your support, Mercy Corps programs in this landlocked central Asian country have fed tens of millions of hot meals to schoolchildren, helping battle an epidemic of malnutrition that threatens this young nation’s future. Certainly there is much more work to be done, but when we look at our first quarter-century here, we see a great success story unfolding. 
In schools throughout Kyrgyzstan, children receive nutritious, hot lunches prepared by Mercy Corps-trained chefs who bring a global mindset to their food resources and are dedicated to providing healthy meals for the children.
As the political and economic conditions in Kyrgyzstan have shifted over the past 25 years, Mercy Corps has adapted our approach to meet the needs of Kyrgyz families in times of both civil conflict and peace. Whatever the current situation on the ground, our longstanding presence has focused on the health and educational needs of Kyrgyz schoolchildren. In local schools around the country, our program provides nutritious and filling lunches for children in kindergarten and primary schools, including in remote, high-altitude communities. To make a sustainable, long-term difference, we train the chefs who provide these meals, and train the communities on sanitation, hygiene and nutrition. We also have renovated nearly 300 school kitchens so that these hot meals can get to those who need them. Between 2012 and 2018, your generous support has helped us to serve more than 56.5 million hot meals, feeding 50,000 kindergarteners and 65,000 primary school kids.
I learned that introducing hot meals at the preschool and primary school levels doesn’t just prevent children from going hungry. Improved nutrition and health outcomes lead to improved cognitive learning capabilities, which result in better academic performance. This, in turn, can lay the groundwork for the entire country’s economic success. "A nation’s future depends upon its children," says Dr. Kandalaeva, the country director. "When those children are underfed, undernourished and undereducated, that nation may be facing a long road out of poverty. Malnutrition in Kyrgyzstan is taking a real toll on not only the Kyrgyz people but on the nation as a whole." Hunger remains a critical issue for these families, but I could see encouraging signs that things are headed in the right direction. And, when our teams have talked to the school cooks attending vocational schools in Bishkek, and to the instructors leading these longtime programs, what we consistently heard is hope and inspiration. They tell us that change feels possible, and that they see these programs improving children’s lives every day. As my visit ended, I considered the challenges that remain. Nearly a third of Kyrgyz people live below the poverty line, and millions of people struggle to build sustainable lives for themselves and their families. But as Mercy Corps marks our 25th anniversary of working with communities here, you’ve helped us to build programs that feed Kyrgyzstan’s children, and show that a better world is indeed possible. 
Children participating in Mercy Corps school lunch programs in Kyrgyzstan benefit from improved nutrition and health, so they’re better prepared to learn and lead.
Thank you for your ongoing support, you can see the difference you make in the faces of the children. Christy Delafield Mercy Corps Director of Communications P.S. Learn more about what your support helps provide in Kyrgyzstan. |
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