What a Difference a Meal Makes

Since education paves a path out of poverty, we’re glad to help poor children make the most of their time in school. Especially when just getting to school is half the battle. Take the kids in rural Aripiaco, Guyana, for instance. Fr. Javier Correa recently took a few of us up river by speedboat to visit the elementary school there. Many of the students get dropped off at the school’s dock by their parents, or row to school themselves! Can you imagine expending that much energy to get to work—on an empty stomach?

Anyway, we’ve been supporting a feeding program to these students for a few years now. During our visit we were shocked to learn the students of this school were not able to pass the secondary school entrance exam—until the feeding program started, that is. Once Cross Catholic sponsored their school lunch (the main meal of the day for many), the graduating students were all able to pass the exam and enter secondary school for the first time! It’s like these kids were given the key to escape the bonds poverty—an education—but only with food were they able to turn the key!

Click here to learn more about the St. Francis Xavier Feeding Program to this and other rural schools in Guyana.