The Group had a good turnout of 21 members as we met to listen to a talk from Wendy Kenyon representing a charity called ‘Mary’s Meals’. Their aim is to provide daily meals for schoolchildren around the world. The venture was founded by Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow who was born in Dalmally in Argyllshire. He was from a devout Catholic family, whose house after he had left home had become a Catholic retreat centre. As a teenager and, with his parents’ blessing he and some friends had travelled to Yugoslavia after hearing that six teenagers there had seen a vision of the Virgin Mary at a place called Medjugorje. Magnus
and his friends all came home feeling changed and exhilarated knowing that ‘Our Lady’ had appeared to the locals saying that ‘I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is fullness of life, and to enjoy the fullness and obtain peace you must return to God.’
It was to be ten years later when Magnus heard that Yugoslavia was tearing itself apart with civil war and, Slovenia and Croatia had declared themselves independent. Bosnia-Herzegovina to include Medjugorje, also became independent and, ‘Our Lady’ was still appearing to the same six young people. There followed reports of bloody massacres, ethnic cleansing and mass rape. Hearing that a group in London was organizing the transport of aid to Medjugorje, Magnus and friends were prompted to help, and organised their own small appeal, using his Dad’s old shed in the garden to collect and store donations.
This shed had doubled as his Dad’s garage and workshop and was later converted into a playroom for him and his two brothers. Little did he realise then that after having driven that first little collection of aid to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992 his life, and thousands of others would be changed for ever.
After 23 visits to Bosnia-Herzegovina by Magnus and supporters calling themselves Scottish International Relief, he had a call in 2002 to visit Malawi, during a terrible famine. The communities there were so poor that children were having to beg for food and too hungry to go to school. It was here that Magnus met a mother, Emma, who was dying of AIDS. She had already ‘lost’ her husband to the disease and was attempting to bring up six children on her own. He had
asked the eldest son, Edward, what his dreams were in life, when he simply replied, ‘I want to have enough food to eat and to go to school one day’.
Becoming a registered charity the name was changed to ‘Mary’s Meals’, which firstly fed 200 children at a school in Malawi and today feeds more than 3 million children around the world! The work is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus, and consists of, respect, and being able to reach out to people of all faiths and none. By providing a daily meal at school, hungry children are encouraged into the classroom where they can gain an education that can provide an escape from poverty.
The programme is owned and run by local communities in the 16 countries where they work, with food sourced locally wherever possible to support the economy. Many mothers volunteer their services to cook. Today there are 71 million primary school-age children out of school around the world in 16 countries. In Malawi in 2002, 70% of the population lived below the poverty line, 39% of whom had stunted growth and almost half never reached school age.
In 2006 in Haiti, there occurred the worst hunger crisis in history, which created violence so that children were being lured into gangs by the offer of food.
In Benin in 2011, two-thirds of the population were illiterate and 52% didn’t complete their primary education. The low-cost approach means that, with ‘Mary’s Meals’, a hungry child can learn on a full stomach for just 10p a meal and can be fed for a whole year for £19.15 and, educated as well!
Our speaker, Wendy, wrote after the meeting to tell Trish that along with the £40 donation given her, the total money given in cash alone amounted to an amazing £185.50. She herself is planning to up that sum to £191.50 knowing that 10 more children can be fed at a place of education for a whole year.
She was certainly very thankful on behalf of ‘Mary’s Meals’. She had suggested that more info was available online and three videos were worth watching – ‘Generation Hope’, ‘Child 31’, and ‘Love reaches Everywhere’.
The Women’s Group will be meeting again on Wednesday 6 May at 7pm, when John Bown will be talking to us about ‘The Prayer Stall and Street Pastors’ in Chesterfield. As ever, if you would like to know more about the Group, do speak to Trish, Marilyn J or myself.
Wendy Drake