10 May 2018

It was a dream come true six years ago when Ms Julia Pelser was granted permission to feed under nourished children in Maun.

For Ms Pelser, who runs Feed a Child, a Maun based non-profit organisation, feeding under nourished children has now become a lifetime commitment.

The mandate of the organisation is to address nutritional needs of communities that the government’s poverty eradication programme is focused on such as orphans and vulnerable children, elderly persons with ailing health and those with no proper shelter.

In an interview with BOPA, Ms Pelser said since September 2012, they have distributed over 30 000 meals a year, and that it was their aim to double the figure in the future.  “We are feeding an average of 110 individuals daily.”
She said currently they provided meals at Tshutshubega settlement, Kgosing and Boyei wards, revealing that they would soon open a new feeding point at Boseja ward.

She said it was their wish to one day be able to feed children in every ward in Maun, adding that their latest focus was to provide meals to pregnant mothers in need of extra nutrition. She said the benefits of good nutrition started from conception and were vital in the first five years of life.

Ms Pelser also explained that children needed proper development before they go to school otherwise they would be disadvantaged.

“We are giving them the advantage so that they can be stronger when they start school,” she said, lamenting, however, that it was not easy to feed the children as they first had to seek permission from the local leadership.

She also stated that they worked with the Department of Social Welfare and the Village Development Committee (VDC) to identify possible beneficiaries.

She further stated that for children to qualify to be fed, they must be pre-schoolers under the age of five, and should be registered as a  destitute, orphan or identified as under nourished by the clinic.

Ms Pelser stated that they also continued to feed some children who had graduated from the feeding scheme because they were in need of nutrition.

She said they depended on donations and urged the organisation’s benefactors to continue with the philanthropic gesture.

“We have faithful donations and recently we received a donation of P50 000 from Mascom,” she said, adding that if there was a shortage, she took from her pocket because she could not stop feeding the children, as it was her lifetime commitment.

She also stated that they have an objective of helping to improve the livelihoods of the general community through economic empowerment projects tailored to equip economically disadvantaged members with skills that could help them earn a living.

“Currently we are running crotchet classes, bracelets and reed straw making for women. We then look for a market to sell their products and then give them the profits,” she said. Ends