An interview with Anjali Tripathy of Catholic Relief Services in India

Ms. Anjali Tripathy, Program Support Officer for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in India, describes how CRS' school feeding programs are helping the poorest of the poor in the city of Lucknow.

How many children are benefiting from this school feeding program?

About 200 children receive a hot lunch as part of the program that CRS funds at St. Agnes' School in Lucknow, India. The meal is provided to all children, from the nursery to grade five. CRS India feeds children in other school settings, too. For example, we provide meals to the children of leprosy patients who stay at a boarding school in the Meerut District, which is also in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

At St. Agnes, the school feeding students are all children of rickshaw-pullers, men who make only a dollar a day or even less. Rickshaw-pullers' children are more likely to start working early and miss out on school. After age 9 or 10 they are often expected to work as domestic workers, or to look after their siblings. Many of them would not be in school without this feeding program. So by offering lunch, we help them to get an education.

What is the effect of the meals in terms of the children's nutrition level and performance in class?

CRS focuses on the most marginalized people, especially in terms of economic, caste and social status. The children coming from these backgrounds do not usually get breakfast, so for most of them at St. Agnes', the 10 am meal we provide in schools is the first they eat all day.

Children receive cooked bulgur wheat, sometimes with added spices and sugar,each school day. In some of the schools they also add vegetables to make the meal more nutritious. At St. Agnes' school, if the less fortunate children didn't get this cooked bulgur, they might not get sufficient food at home, because their family might only eat one meal a day.

In discussions and in visits to schools, we see that these programs have helped hungry children. It is also evident through their attendance and increasing enrollment that children are sustained in school to study due to these kinds of programs. If they aren't hungry, their educational performance increases.

Are there plans to expand the program and how would this be funded?

Unfortunately, because of the phasing out of Title II programs in India, many feeding programs in India (both general ones and ones associated with schools) are coming to an end.

What is the overall status of CRS' school feeding programs in India?

In CRS India we have three kinds of programs: for preschoolers, for primary school students, and for children in boarding schools. The quantity of food per child differs in each kind of program depending upon the age and what type of school it is. Poor children who live at boarding schools receive more meals than children who go home after school.

These programs are mainly to support poor schools. Often, the schools are in remote locations, too.

The food program is mainly focused on bringing children to schools and making them stay the whole school day.

How can someone get involved with the CRS program in India and elsewhere?

Although the Title II food programs are suffering decreases in funding, CRS continues to feed many hungry children in India. Donations via Catholic Relief Services are most welcome.