Children in the Philippines, especially those from the poorer classes, often suffer from undernourishment or/and malnutrition. Because people from these backgrounds live hand-to-mouth, many days there is no warm meal and the children go to school without breakfast. If there is anything to eat, it is primarily rice, the Filipino staple. Vitamins and proteins are in short supply.
The consequences are (sometimes seriously) malnourished children with a lack of concentration in school and susceptibility to illness.
An important goal of Gugma is to counteract these phenomena and to ensure that the children have an adequate and balanced diet.
Thanks to the support of the local cooperative FICCO, the children can be offered breakfast every day. They either take this at the center or it will be brought to them directly at the school if it is further away.
After school, the children get a warm meal in the center and before they go home in the evening, they can have a snack. Our cook Bebe makes sure that the children get enough vegetables, eggs, fish and some meat in addition to the obligatory rice, thus ensuring the necessary intake of vitamins and proteins.
Our center is closed on Sunday and Monday. Therefore, the children get a big food package on Saturday, so that they are also taken care of for these two days.
Gugma staff regularly monitor the weight of our protégés. Many children are in the "seriously malnourished" category when they join the organization, but then move up to a better weight class after a short time.
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After breakfast on the way to school -
Lunch
