Welcome to breakfast for hundreds

The sun creeps over the horizon in Farchana, Chad, where some 50,000 war refugees from Sudan have found shelter. As the breeze shifts, a fragrant smell of savoury food reaches the nostrils of thousands of children.

It heralds the most anticipated moment of the day. “The children know exactly when breakfast will be ready,” smiles schoolteacher Dahapay who works in the camp.

Breakfast sounds like a small thing. But even here in Canada, we know that school breakfast programs can change the course of children’s school days and alter the path for their lives.

Just imagine what they can do in a refugee camp.

For millions of children in the world’s toughest places, simple school meals are a proven way to combat hunger, improve educational outcomes and strengthen local food systems.

World Vision supports 68 school feeding programs across Chad. Children arrive early, excited for breakfast. “After they eat, they focus,” shares Dahapay, with the warmth of a teacher who cares.

“Sometimes we dance”

Halima is the head cook for our program in Farchana camp. She bends over a giant pot designed to distribute heat with less firewood. Though she’s sixty-five years old—the age when many Canadians aim to retire—her arms are strong as she stirs the bubbling beans.

As the ten women in her team cook breakfast, their memories bind them close. “Sometimes we sing traditional songs while we cook, sometimes we joke, sometimes we dance,” grins Halima.

Everything must be ready on time and in volume. With the sun climbing in the sky, the steaming pots travel by vehicle from Halima’s kitchen to schools like Dahapay’s, where children wait eagerly for their morning meal.

The cleaned plates at the end of breakfast speak for themselves. The food may not be fancy, but it’s made with care. For children who’ve lost so much, it’s a daily gift of comfort and consistency.

Halima’s former life

Like so many refugees in Farchana, Halima didn’t plan to be here. Her first choice would have been to remain at home, in Sudan.

She was a farmer in Gedaref, a major agricultural region. Her harvests were abundant, yielding onions, garlic, carrots and fruit from her trees. Three times a day, her family savoured flavourful meals.

Then, during Ramadan in April 2023, word came to her home that armed men would attack their community at dawn. “We escaped at midnight,” Halima says. She was safe, but the violence in Sudan had torn away several dear ones.

Better than war

“We lost four people in our family,” she says. “They killed my brother in front of me.” The male children of her siblings were also killed. Everything they owned was looted.

Halima and her surviving family members crossed into Chad, where the attackers couldn’t chase them. They lived under a tree initially, surviving on next to nothing. “It had us suffering a lot,” she says. “But it was better than war.”

They made their way to Farchana, where World Vision staff offered Halima the position of head cook in our school feeding program. She was grieving, yes. But now she could care for children who were also suffering.

“Comfortable and happy”

Halima’s tent sits next to her son’s family tent. Her four-year-old grandson loves staying over with her. By night, she watches over the little boy. By day, she nourishes hundreds of children who, like her, carry memories of home and the hope of returning.

She knows she’s needed here. “I’m comfortable and happy,” Halima says of her work. “If there’s food in school, the children don’t have to worry at home.”

Halima wakes with purpose each morning, knowing that she’s feeding children and fueling literacy. She’s helping safeguard the futures of the children of war.

On World Literacy Day each September 8, we celebrate more than books. We honour the people who clear the path for learning. Halima is one of them. In every bowl she serves, there is resilience, love, and the belief that tomorrow will be better.