Filling Silos, Fueling Dreams

Something powerful is happening in Zimbabwe.

The Hope Factory (what a perfect name!) is our incredible food manufacturing plant. Last year, it produced millions of meals for children, meals that satisfy a large percentage of their dietary needs. Meals that can help them reach for their dreams. Those meals begin with something simple: grain.

Two massive silos, one for corn and one for soya, must be filled to keep meals flowing to the children who depend on them.

More than 55,000 children are fed every school day through these programs. Because of these meals, they wake up with hope. They are healthy and strong, and it allows them to pay attention in school and have the freedom to just be kids.

 

Nothabo was one of those children at the feeding program, before the Hope Factory existed, and has since graduated. She told us how her single mother wasn’t able to regularly put food on the table. So, when Nothabo heard about our program coming to her school, she had her doubts. “They told us, ‘Bring plates and spoons!’ [But] it was not easy to believe that someone is going to offer you food,” she remembered. “Then the meals finally came and it really changed my life. That motivated me to attend school, and it also improved my academic performance.”

Today, Nothabo is a social worker, because she was determined to help others the way she was helped.

And now, because of the Hope Factory, stories like Nothabo’s can reach even further. This life-changing work is more sustainable and more cost effective than ever before. That means the same programs can continue to reach thousands of children every school day, with greater consistency, efficiency, and hope for the future.