Dear Seibo Supporters,
This year on February 11th Seibo celebrated its 4th year in existence. As we all know the first years of life set the stage for all future growth. Children need protection, stimulation & nutrition. Too many children miss out on the basics- 'eat, play & love' ! At 4 we have eventually found our feet and in addition to providing vital school meals for almost 15,000 children in Malawi we also support after-school feeding for vulnerable children in Tokyo. To all our supporters we thank you for ensuring we reached this milestone together. Eat, play & love from all of us at Seibo in Japan & Malawi.
Double Helpings- Twins go to Nursery!
6 small children received a free place in nursery school at the end of 2019 thanks to the Japan-funded Seibo Kids programme.
The above cuddly pair- Chimwemwe & Chikondi born in May 2017 began nursery in October. Their mom- a charcoal seller- a job that demands long hours had problems meeting the small stipend required for nursery.
Emergency Food Packages
The period from January to April is known as 'hungry season' in Malawi. Seibo conducted a nutrition assessment on children attending nursery school in conjunction with growth monitoring. Some Seibo Kids were deemed to be underweight and with maize reserves falling typically at this time of year we provided emergency food packs to the families of Seibo Kids deemed most at risk. Typical Food packs include 25Kgs of Maize, Cooking Oil, Powdered Milk, Soy Pieces, Beans, Phala, Toothpaste & Toothbrushes.
Seibo Kids Parental Forum
Seibo continues to conduct meetings with beneficiary parents to help them with necessary parenting skills. The 3rd meeting was held on Oct 18th at the MTCC Training Room on the topic of 'child abuse prevention'. The meeting aimed to sensitize parents about different kinds of child abuse as well as signs and symptoms of abuse that help notify parents if their children have been abused & appropriate forums to report child abuse cases.
Seibo Nursery Directors Meeting
On the 1st of November held a meeting with nursery school directors with a focus on the need for proper record-keeping relating to attendance & food stocks.
We are particularly conscious of the need to hold regular meetings as 2 out 40 nursery schools closed their doors at the end of the year- Ebenezer & Chilomoni Private- and it is essential we re-school the affected children as soon as possible.
Monthly Milestones
Emergency Food Packs issued to families of malnourished Seibo Kids
14,724 children in Malawi & 4 children in Tokyo now receiving meals at school/after-school programme
58 kids now availing of free nursery as Seibo Kids
Feeding Tokyo
Our mission is to provide every hungry child a hot meal at school. Japan is not an obvious place to start our mission or even a country in great need of help. However when we were approached to assist an existing after-school programme providing food aid to needy children in a Tokyo suburb we secured funding from a corporate donor and the agreement of our Directors and are just happy to be able to assist. For more details check our website: www.seibojapan.or.jp/news
Mzimba Trip
5th-29th Nov 2019
13,276 meals for primary schools in October
13,573 meals for primary schools in November & December
Growth Monitoring
Seibo is a Japanese-registered NPO with an aim to feed every hungry child in the world a hot meal at school.
