The unsung hero of school meals in Malawi

Ever wondered how the food you were eating ended up on your plate?

Francis Thawani
World Food Programme Insight
3 min readMay 3, 2018

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Unsung hero, WFP Malawi truck driver Stanley Kondowe. Photo: WFP/Badre Bahaji

“I have on more than three occasions slept on the road when my truck got stuck in the mud or when the roads were impassable due to poor conditions,” says World Food Programme (WFP) truck driver Stanley Kondowe. “But I’m always inspired every time I arrive at a school to deliver food for school meals. I’m welcomed by children joyfully shouting ‘Porridge! Porridge! Porridge!”

Every week for 11 years, Stanley has been delivering food assistance to vulnerable populations in remote and hard-to-reach areas in the southern region of Malawi. He has been stuck many times in the middle of nowhere, relying on the solidarity of his colleagues or local villagers to get his truck out of trouble.

He has many stories and anecdotes to share. It is true that delivering food in Malawi is not always a piece of cake. However, something has kept him going.

“When I deliver food or nutrition supplements to hospitals, I see a sigh of relief from staff and patients. This motivates me to work hard. I feel useful and proud of helping people in need,” says Stanley.

Stanley leads a convoy of trucks to deliver food at Didi Primary School. Photo: WFP/Badre Bahaji

Didi Primary School lies in the middle of one of the country’s biggest tea plantations, in a remote, difficult-to-reach valley in the southern district of Thyolox. Although it is only 45 kms from the city of Blantyre, the terrain and poor conditions of the road means that it can take Stanley and three other WFP trucks about three hours to deliver bags of Corn Soy Blend, which is used to prepare school meals.

“My wife and children understand the nature of my work so they know that if I come late, after dark, it is because I’m having a hard time in the field. They have learnt to live with this fact,” Stanley says.

Fellow drivers try to pull Stanley’s truck stuck out of the mud. Photo: WFP/Badre Bahaji

At Didi school, WFP — with support from USAID and USDA — provides school meals to 1,711 children.

“I got my truck stuck four times today. It rained yesterday and it is very slippery, but with my colleagues we are helping each other. We know some people are waiting for us and this gives us the strength to continue,Stanley concludes.

Back on the road, Stanley can continue his journey to deliver food to schoolchildren in Didi. Photo: WFP/Badre Bahaji

WFP is the lead provider of school meals in Malawi. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), the WFP-supported School Meals Programme aims to reduce hunger, improve student attendance and improve health and dietary practices in primary schools and pre-schools. In 2017, almost one million children benefited from school meals across 783 primary schools in 13 food insecure districts.

Read more about WFP’s work in Malawi.

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