Smiley is a gorgeous three-year-old boy. His health used to be extremely poor, making him lethargic and inactive. He used to have a protruding belly, skinny arms and legs and spotty red hair, all signs of malnutrition.
He spent most of his days sleeping, but always woke up in time for the feeding programme.
He was one of the first in line, and stood there with a sad and painful look on his dirty little face…until he had eaten. Then, we saw how he got his nickname – he wouldn’t stop smiling!
Smiley’s mother leaves him all day long to go and search for food with his sister. On a good day, they will be able to eat an evening meal. On a bad day, they will go to bed hungry.
The lunch we give Smiley makes a big difference to his health, and is probably the only reason he is still alive today.
Our Slums Feeding Programme is achieving astonishing results. When we first started to feed the 128 severely malnourished children some two years ago, 80 per cent of these were not in education; now that they receive a regular meal from us, they are in much better health and 80 per cent do go to school.
