A brief history of Feeding Futures
A brief history of Feeding Futures began when Vanessa Bennett. As a mother of young children in the UK, she learned that children were collapsing from hunger at St Brendan’s Primary in the Rift Valley of Kenya. The head teacher, Peterson Githinji, a friend of Vanessa’s worked together in 2009 and pledged to do all they could to feed the children at the school. With the help of supporters in the UK, Feeding Futures was born.
In April 2010, Feeding Futures built a kitchen at St Brendan’s School and later added a food store. With joy and celebration, all 730 children at the school received a daily substantial cooked meal from July 2011. St Brendan’s received an award for the most improved exam scores in the area, and the feeding programme was the talk of the district. More importantly is the impact on individual lives.
Feeding Futures then partnered with Mukinyai Primary, providing a nutritious breakfast and lunch every school day. Many of the children would have had no lunch at all and for some, it is their only cooked meal of the day. The impact of the meals, supported by effective water harvesting has been huge. The community has come together and now provides the school meals independently from Feeding Futures.
Having heard of the work at Mukinyai, late in 2021, 15 schools applied to work in partnership with Feeding Futures. Four schools were shortlisted. Sidai Primary was one of the four selected to receive support to provide school breakfasts and lunches. Through serious partnership, guttering and tanks have been installed with a kitchen being built (November 2022). The aim is to provide meals to all the children at Sidai Primary School from January 2023.
Relieving hunger
Reducing poverty
Promoting self-esteem
Combatting donor dependence
By combining meals for children at school with community training in sustainable agriculture, Feeding Futures works to improve the long-term prospects of disadvantaged, rural communities.
The Vision
Prospering independent Rural African communities
Partnering with rural communities
Increasing school attendance
Improving the perceived value of education
Improving children’s health
Improving national exam scores
Feeding Futures has provided over 160,000 meals per year since 2010 and given farm training to around 140 households. The plan is to finalise a ‘Partnership for Sustainability’ model and offer partnerships to more schools in the region over the next five years but also to offer the model to others.
The gift of water
D. Hunja-Previous member of MPS Board of management, “Since 1976, Mukinyai Primary school has never had a single drop of water. Feeding Futures was sent here by God to prepare us for the pandemic we are experiencing right now. Pupils used to fetch water at the river Mau and you can imagine if we didn’t have water, pupils would be coming with their own water for hand-washing purposes. Now we have enough water not only to cook but for also for hand-washing.”
The benefit of school meals
The head teacher Mary Njoroge said “Needy pupils can now access at least two meals a day with one of the meals being at school since their parents cannot afford to provide breakfast or lunch at home which has been provided at school for the last 2 years”.
“Cases of absenteeism have gradually reduced and the health of the children has improved since they receive a balanced diet which has been guaranteed and also an improved school discipline since in the past there were many cases of theft of money at home by the pupils so that they can buy food during lunch hour and there has been no need by the same pupils to steal money from their parents now that they have no food to buy. The moral values have also improved such as responsible children who wash their plates and cups and patience in that they queue well during meals time and in case there is a class of pupils who have been caught up in a class activity and got late for their meals actually find that the other pupils did not get double portions and left them without a meal”
SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL MEALS
By providing regular school meals, children are motivated to stay in school and learn better and be more resistant to illness.
COMMUNITY MOBILISATION
Through working in partnership with the school community, the children have a better educational experience and parents learn new skills.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Delivering farm training empowers individuals to be independent and also helps communities work together and support each other.
Meet Our Team
Vanessa Bennett
Founder and Chair of Trustees
Vanessa’s role as founder and chair…..
Colin Clark
Trustee and Treasurer
Colin’s role entails….
Jenni Clark
Trustee
Jenni is responsible for….
Michael Askwith
Trustee
Michael brings decades of experience…
Peterson Githinji
Trustee, Operations Director and Head Teacher
Peterson is responsible for….
Gemima Kema
Trustee in Kenya
Gemima’s role entails…
Andrew Njenga
Trustee in Kenya
Andrew is involved in….
Nderitu Nyaga
Development Support and Livestock OfficerNderitu is responsible for….