Why World Food Programme food isn’t getting to school children, and why I’ve decided not to complain
on Mischa in Cameroon (Cameroon), 21/Jul/2010 13:42, 34 days ago
I have used no names in this blog post because I have promised not to. My promise was made to the people who fear (with justification) that if the flaws of the WFP’s programme to give food to malnourished children in their area are made known the programme will be suspended. The information presented in this post was gathered with difficulty because everyone I spoke to (parents, school children, teachers, officials from the ministry of education, workers from the WFP) has told me a different story.A few background facts:1)The north of Cameroon has the most severe rates of child malnutrition in the country. 110,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition and 25,000 from severe acute malnutrition in these regions. The figures are higher than those of countries such as Liberia, Mauritania or Central African Republic.2)The WFP runs a programme where it provides food so that rural communities can run cantines at their primary schools. On it’s website the WFP claims thata total of 53 000 students each year receive daily meals.3)In one case the food was not getting to the target schools because it had to be transported across a lake and he lorry drivers hired to transport the food would leave it at the edge of the lake. When the communities raised this issue the programme was halted in their schools.In the cases I became involved with the food delivered for the first term of the school year were only sufficient for the children to have one small meal a week, not the daily meal being promised on the WFP’s website. In the second term of the school year no food was delivered at all. Finally the food for the second term arrived at the beginning of the third term. As far as I know the food for the third term was never delivered. The shortage of food means that people are accusing their colleagues and neighbours of stealing it once it arrives at the villages. Certainly less food than promised is arriving at destination, but it is definitely possible it is being stolen after it arrives as well.The food is not delivered right to the schools because the state of the road is bad; instead the lorries stop at the nearest large village and leave the food there. Officials I spoke to claimed that money is provided to pay for the food to get out into the smaller villages. In reality the lorry drivers are demanding money and gifts from community members to take the food as far as the large villages. The community members pay up, as otherwise they fear they will receive no food at all.I went to see an important civil servant at the Province’s delegation for primary education about these problems, as the ministry for primary education is responsible for the distribution of the food. He first blamed the head teachers of the schools for mismanaging the food, but eventually agreed that the lorry drivers shouldn’t be asking for money.He then asked me if he could come and visit me in my village or if I would come and see him in his house. He then asked if I was married. Then he told me he loved me. I left as quickly as possible. I have no doubts that this official, seeing that I needed his help, decided to find out what he’d beable to get in return.Eventually I was told to stop asking questions about the WFP’s programme by someone I respect greatly. He told me that there was ultimately a choice between the situation continuing as it is now (not much food being delivered, communities having to pay for some of the transportation costs, corruption running through the system) or complaining about these problems, in which case the programme would almost certainly be stopped. I see that children are benefiting from their one free school meal a week, so I shut up.