– Ruchi Gurung

Food for Life – Nepal (FFLN) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has not only worked in service to children who are deprived of Education and Food through Mid-Day Meal Programs, but it has also served children who don’t have the opportunity to enjoy their childhood as privileged kids do. Teaching our children how to live a sustainable life is a must, but since they are dependent on others, they need to be guided, supported, protected and nurtured. So as guardians and parents, we are obliged to do just that and provide them their basic rights to life, food, shelter and education.

There’s a real-life incident that the FFLN team encountered in 2018. During the month of Jestha, the FFLN team visited a community school and met a 5-year-old boy, who happened to be sweating excessively in the scorching heat of the sun. He was wearing a jacket with nothing underneath and that jacket was the only cloth he had for the entire year, despite the seasons and the climates. We also discovered that there were hardly any toys for children to play with during the day. We saw a desperate need to solve these issues and that’s how ‘Give Hopes’ began. ‘Give Hopes’ is a program initiated by Food for Life – Nepal, where clothes, toys and story books are distributed. The works of FFLN aren’t only confined within promotion of education through food, but also responds to humanitarian emergencies.

The COVID-19 epidemic has affected all aspects of human life, bringing huge financial crisis, which had intensified globally and in case of Nepal, the nation-wide lockdown had taken a toll on many Nepalese and threatened their lives. Among these problems, being susceptible to the coronavirus was a major one and since the schools were closed for more than 6 months, parents who were dependent on Mid-Day Meal Program to feed their children were in a difficult spot. The families were coping with difficulties of unemployment, with the constant need to feed themselves as well as their children. Putting these things into consideration, Food for Life – Nepal had launched its new food relief campaign named ‘Hausala’ with an intention to deliver dry ration kits or even cooked meals to underprivileged groups, daily-wage earners and to the communities sustaining on low income, amidst the crucial times of COVID-19 pandemic. The FFLN team also distributed food relief to a vulnerable group of pregnant women at Rudreshwor Health Post of Budhanilkantha Municipality, keeping in mind all the nutritional requirements for the proper development of their foetus, so that they can give birth to healthy babies.

Part of being a person is about helping others. Keeping that in mind, Food for Life – Nepal is always willing to help others through immediate responses to emergencies, ensuring to keep its work sustainable and wanting to reach wider audiences. There’s a saying that goes ‘it takes a whole village to raise a child.’ We believe that every person in a community play their respective roles, whether small or big, in raising up and nurturing a child. Likewise, we at FFLN know that there are many hands behind all the works that this organization has done as of today. We are absolutely thankful and elated to have gotten so many FFLN supporters, development partners, individual donors, international donors and well-wishers, who have acknowledged our works. We have complete faith that this well of constant support will never dry up and our dream of serving thousands of underprivileged children will become a reality.