Charity feeding children in Haiti appeals for support amid severe hunger crisis
Mary’s Meals, which provides school meals in 16 countries, said many children are being lured into joining armed gangs by the promise of food.
A Scottish charity providing food to children in Haiti has launched an urgent appeal for support as the country grapples with escalating gang violence and its worst hunger crisis.
According to the World Food Programme, more than half the population of the Caribbean country – some 5.7 million people – is experiencing acute levels of hunger, including at least one million children.
Mary’s Meals, which provides school meals to children in 16 countries, said many children are being lured into joining armed gangs by the promise of food.
The charity also said armed conflict is intensifying in the absence of a functional government and that more than 1.4 million people are displaced, half of whom are children.
It said gangs control 90% of the capital city Port-Au-Prince, with violence spreading to areas of the country that were previously considered safe.
Emmline Toussaint, main coordinator of the charity’s school feeding programme in Haiti, said: “Gangs are always trying to target children because they are most vulnerable, most in need of assistance.
“You cannot get out once you get in a gang. It’s either you die, or your family dies, or you stay in.
“We’ve already lost those aged 15 to 30. That’s why we need to work more with those children aged three to 14.
“They are the ones that we should focus on, those little ones. They need us to guide them differently.”
Mary’s Meals reaches children by working with local partners, who have adapted their delivery plans to keep reaching as many schools as possible.
The charity said in schools where it operates, children have a reason to go to class and have the energy to concentrate during lessons – staying connected and, for a short time at least, feeling safe.
More than half of Haiti’s population is younger than 25, and one in five are aged between 15 and 24.
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow founded Mary’s Meals from a shed in the Scottish Highlands more than 20 years ago.
“I knew from my visits that, from the beginning, Haiti would be an extremely difficult place for us to work,” he said.
“But I had no doubt that it was somewhere we should be providing Mary’s Meals.
“What I could have never imagined is that, 20 years later, the situation would be even more terrible.
“Poverty, hunger, and disruption still stand in the way of children and their education.
“Yet there are signs of hope – a child smiling in school where they feel safe and receive a meal, and teachers who keep showing up for their classes with remarkable courage.
“Our meals help children to stay in school, and we will keep doing all we can to ensure those we serve can continue to depend on us.”
Ms Toussaint said: “The situation in Haiti has long been difficult but I cannot think of a time when things have been so desperate.
“I remember my own childhood. You could go out in your yard and play with others your age.
“Now, if a day passes without hearing any shootings, it’s a great day. But shootings are every day, every single day.”
Mary’s Meals said together with three local partners it is now operating in one of the most challenging and risky situations it has ever faced.
As well as the price of food and fuel increasing, it said the safe transportation of food is also costing more than ever as suppliers have to use longer but currently safer routes to avoid the gang-controlled main highways.
The charity has issued an urgent appeal for donations to help it provide nutrition to children in a safe place of learning.
“Mary’s Meals urgently needs support to keep its promise to the children it serves in Haiti and show them that there is hope beyond the violence,” the charity said.
“Right now, your gift does more than provide food — it helps children stay in school, where they can learn and grow into the leaders who will transform Haiti’s future.”
To donate visit the website, marysmeals.org.uk.
