Hunger in the slums of Pakistan is a severe problem with grave consequences. Slums often face challenges such as limited access to clean water, inadequate sanitation, overcrowded living conditions, and insufficient healthcare, all of which exacerbate the problem of hunger.
In these areas, many families struggle to afford a nutritious diet, and malnutrition can be prevalent, especially among children. Lack of proper education and employment opportunities can further contribute to the cycle of poverty and food insecurity.
After doing a survey within our communities, we found that students were severely malnourished and at most, had one meal a day.
Typical diet in the life of student:
Breakfast: tea or biscuit
Lunch: nothing
Dinner: boiled vegetables or beans
Food is a basic right and we needed to ensure our students were nourished if they would thrive in and out of the classroom.
HOW WE TOOK ACTION.
We now serve more than 200,000 on-campus meals to our students annually alongside several other resources that help to support their food security. This includes food supply bags, roti banks, fresh gardens on our grounds, and meat distributions.
OUR ON CAMPUS MENU
+fresh fruits and vegetables
DAY 1: Lentil stew and rice
DAY 2: Chicken curry and bread
DAY 3: Lentil stew and bread
DAY 4:Biryani (seasoned rice) with buffalo meat
DAY 5: Egg and chickpea curry
DAY 6: Lentil stew and rice, milk
WHAT WE DISCOVERED.
On campus meals were transforming our students! They were more engaged, enrollment was up and our staff were feeling more hopeful about the future. However, our food related activities were being held in different locations, far from each other, thus delaying our work and/or making it very inefficient for us to get from campus to campus in a timely manner.
HOW WE TOOK ACTION.
We secured land. And we are looking to build a food kitchen, located near all of our facilities. This food kitchen will serve as a central cooking, storing, and distribution hub for all food programs. It will feature a state of the art commercial kitchen, food storing and packing areas, clean water plant, roti making room, and flour milling station with open air facilities such as our vegetable garden and meat slaughter and packing area.
So far, we have secured $50,000 of the total $80,000 required to fund this project. While we have been able to kick off construction with these donations, more support is needed to complete our full vision.
CENTRAL FOOD KITCHEN- MODERN FACILITY WITH SUSTAINABILITY IN MIND
The facility will feature:
– State of the art kitchen to ensure safe and efficient food preparation
– Preparation and distribution of nutritious meals
– Stations for food staples bags prep and food storage
– Flour production & milling
– Open-air area for a slaughter and meat packing
– Sustainable on-site farm
HOW YOU CAN HELP.
- Share this blog post. Do you have a friend or family member who would be interested in supporting this project? Send them a link to this blog and help us spread the word!
- Donate Today! Your contributions, however much, help ensure the future safety and wellbeing of our students. Donate Here
Thank you for reading and thank you for being here!
Peace. Love. Thaakat.