Food means life for starving children, and gives them hope. Cold facts can quantify the impact of hunger. But to truly fathom its ravages, and the sustenance and promise a meal can give to a hungry child, there is no substitute to being there.
This spring, in collaboration with ORPHANetwork, our in-country partner in Nicaragua, Stop Hunger Now sponsored a vision trip by staff and friends to the capital city of Managua.
For the eight staff members and six friends on the service trip team, the trip opened their eyes to the poverty that afflicts vulnerable, orphaned and refugee children. It also opened the visitors’ hearts to the difference that meals packaged by Stop Hunger Now volunteers is making in the lives and future of those children.
“Nothing is more welcoming than to enter a school or orphanage and a small child reaches up to take your hand and lead the way,” says team member Linda Hyles from First Baptist Church in Columbus, Ga. “They have great courage to live the life they lead.”
The team visited a home for orphans, a former refugee camp, and a community school. Team members prepared and served lunch to children. They visited a sewing facility that teaches young women how to sew. They helped distribute shoes and ice cream to kids.
“There is no doubt that the meals make a difference each and every day in the lives of the children that we spent our time with,” says Beth Watkins, a new member at Stop Hunger Now. “We saw children eat their small meal but take a portion home to share with other family members or save for another meal. They had beautiful smiles, were happy that we were there, and enjoyed the activities that we did with them.”