School Feeding Program to meet nutritional needs of tsunami affected children

World Vision(WV) together with World Food Program and the Government of Sri Lanka has signed an MOU to implement an emergency school feeding program in 171 schools of eight districts affected by the tsunami from March 14.

This program will meet nutritional needs of school going children between 5-10 years of age according to Dr. Debebe Dawit, the Regional Food aid specialist for Tsunami Response in Sri Lanka. 40,000 children will benefit through this program when their parents receive a take home ration pack containing Corn soya blend, sugar and oil.

The mothers of the beneficiary children will be educated on the nutritional value of the rations, way of cooking and how to prepare the Corn soya blend before they are distributed. Twenty-two trained nutritionists will be deployed into the respective areas for this tasks.

Prior to the delivery of food commodities, World Vision staff will meet school principals to ensure that the distribution centers are secure and located within the school. WV food monitors will conduct on-site monitoring at each school. The relevant school heads will provide WV, a beneficiary list as well.

Each child will receive six kilograms of Corn Soya Blend (CBS), Sugar 500 gram and oil 500 ml. The program will be implemented in Batticaloa, Trincomalle, Jaffna, Mullative, Ampara, Galle Matara and Hambantota for two months.