Sifa is 13 years old and lives in the community of Buterere in the north of Bujumbura where she shares a single room with her 4 brothers and 3 other children that her family has taken in. Obviously, his parents’ income did not cover their expenses.
Before joining the canteen program, Sifa and her siblings did not eat lunch. She went to school on an empty stomach in the morning and returned at noon to find the pots empty. She could then do last night’s dishes, wash her clothes and then go to sleep. And the same thing happened the next day; even for the days when she had to take classes in the afternoon. But now things have changed. Thanks to the canteen, Sifa eats twice a day (noon and evening). She comes every morning to review her lessons while waiting for the meal to be ready and goes to school.
At the family level, things have improved. Before, her little sister, Rachel, cried a lot at midday because of hunger and her father bought her a donut to calm her down but unfortunately, in the evening they ate dishes prepared without oil because their father said that the money was spent on the donut Rachel ate for lunch.
“Before this meal plan, I had trouble concentrating at school. I often slept on the bench at school and the teacher kept telling me to stay awake to no avail. Now it’s not the same. I follow the lessons perfectly, I am more concentrated and I stopped sleeping in class,” Sifa shared with us.
