A second chance at education: how school feeding changed Aschila’s life
At just 11 years old, Aschila’s life was turned upside down when conflict erupted in her village in northwestern Ethiopia. Forced to flee with her family, she left her home, her friends, and her education behind. Aschila and her family sought safety in a new village, but survival was a daily struggle. With little means to support themselves, sending Aschila to school seemed impossible. Instead of learning in a classroom, she spent her days tending cattle to help her family earn a meager income.
Despite losing hope of continuing her education, Aschila’s life took a positive turn when World Vision Ethiopia introduced a school feeding programme through the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) project. After learning about the programme, Aschila’s parents embraced it with relief, as it eased their burden of providing food and educational materials. Her father shared: “It was difficult to feed my child and purchase educational materials because we lost everything as a displaced family, but this project helped very much, not just me, but other community members as well, to send our children to school." In addition to meals, World Vision’s cash support helped strengthen their livelihood, ensuring Aschila could pursue her education with fewer financial worries.
For Aschila and thousands of children like her, the school feeding program is not just providing meals—it serves as a lifeline. Beyond her individual story, the programme is a critical advocacy tool in World Vision's global efforts to address child hunger and malnutrition.
By ensuring that children receive nutritious meals and the education they deserve, programmes like ECW contribute directly to the objectives of the global ENOUGH campaign, which calls on governments and partners to scale up proven solutions to end child hunger and malnutrition.
"The school feeding programme was a game-changer for me," Aschila says. "It provided me with a nutritious meal every day, which gave me the energy and focus I needed to succeed in my studies." Now back in school and enrolled in an accelerated learning programme, Aschila is thriving. The homegrown school feeding initiative, which uses locally sourced ingredients to provide meals, ensures that students like her receive bread, tea, and rice every school day. It’s not just food, though. Aschila is now receiving the education she once thought was beyond her reach.
As Aschila thrives, her story mirrors the transformation that the ECW project has brought to countless schools. World Vision’s efforts, through ECW and the ENOUGH campaign, ensure that vulnerable, displaced children like Aschila receive both the nutrition and the education they deserve. Since the ECW project began, over 34,000 children, including 16,428 girls, have benefited from the school feeding programme, which has restored not only their education but also their sense of hope and normalcy.
As World Vision continues its advocacy, the lessons learned from programmes like ECW are vital in shaping national and global policies. By advocating for stronger investment in school feeding programmes, the ENOUGH campaign is pushing for a future where no child goes hungry and every child has the opportunity to thrive—just as Aschila is now.
By Daniel Kefela, Communication Manager (NECR), World Vision Ethiopia