Today we took a trip to a Dhenkanal village about 2 hours away from SOVA’s headquarters to visit the local high school. The purpose of the visit was to learn about SOVA’s involvement in the World Food Program’s implementation of the Mid-Day Meal at schools in Dhenkanal. We learned about SOVA’s partnership with the World Food Program and were impressed, yet again, by the number of thriving programs SOVA is involved in. We met with the local head of the World Food Program (WFP) as well as the village’s head of education and asked questions about their Mid-Day Meal program. We learned that the WFP is providing fortified rice as a meal for students in school everyday. The idea for fortified rice came from the need to combat the rising anemia crisis in Dhenkanal. Basically, the rice is fortified with iron supplements as well as vitamins such as B1 and D12 that are lacking in the everyday diet of working class individuals. We learned that the rice is fortified right here in Dhenkanal with the help of a local rice mill and we were invited to take a trip later this week to see the process ourselves. We also got to ask students and teachers how the intake of fortified rice had affected their daily lives. Students in class 8 told us that it had significantly increased their “memory power” which allowed them to perform better in school. Alongside this, the physical education teacher told us that he had seen a dramatic increase in the energy levels of his students and in their ability to play. It was great to see first-hand yet another successful SOVA program in action.
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authorsAntoinette Nguyen |