Father Jakub Szałek speaks about the everyday reality of children for whom a school meal is often the only meal of the day. Thanks to the support of the Dehonian Missionary Family, it is possible not only to provide meals for students in schools within the mission in Lai, Chad, but also to fight malnutrition among younger children who still remain at home.
Chad, April 2026
Dear Friends of the Missions,
Warm greetings to all of you from distant Chad. For some time now, I have been thinking about writing this letter to share with you my reflections on feeding children in Chad.
In the Parish of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe in Lai, Chad – where I serve – we benefit from the help coming from Poland. The funds dedicated to feeding children in Chad, which we receive from the Dehonian Fathers, go directly to the children in my mission area. Most of this assistance supports children from our primary school and kindergarten. We also provide nourishment for infants and small children in our missionary health center.
Saint Dominic Savio Primary School in Lai
I truly enjoy watching the children as they eat their meals at our school. We usually prepare rice soup or local pastries (something similar to Polish sweet rolls or sandwiches). For most of these children, this is the first substantial meal of the day… Some time ago, the parent of one child told me that since meals have been provided, his daughter has been very eager to attend school – it motivates her greatly to go.
I smile as I watch the youngest kindergarten pupils, who are in no hurry at all to leave school and return home! After finishing their meal, they need to be reminded that it is already time to go home because classes are over… Not all of them are happy about this. They would probably gladly eat a second meal in the afternoon and stay at school until evening.
Before meals were introduced in the kindergarten, children were not very willing to attend. Often they would arrive crying because they were hungry. Here where I serve, very few children eat breakfast at home… Usually, when they wake up, they wash themselves, drink some water, and quickly run to school.
But thanks to the support coming from Poland, the children attending our school are no longer hungry!!!
Health Center
At my mission, we also provide nourishment to children who come to our health center for treatment. Usually, these are children around 2–3 years old who have just been weaned because another baby has been born and the mother is now nursing the youngest child. A child who has been weaned quickly loses weight when there are no nutritious meals at home. In addition, tropical diseases further weaken our youngest patients.
Whenever I visit villages in the mission area and notice a malnourished child, I encourage the parents to come with their little one to our health center and make use of the help coming from Poland, so that their child can receive proper nourishment. A few days ago, in one of my villages, I met a woman who had suddenly lost her breast milk and had no way to feed her child. The baby had already become severely undernourished because for several days it had been drinking only water and eating a little rice soup. I informed her that our health center provides nourishment for infants. The very next morning, the mother arrived at our mission with her child. She received appropriate powdered milk for her baby. She no longer has to worry about food for her child…
Without our help, a mother who has difficulty breastfeeding is unable to provide proper nutrition for her child. Formula milk is extremely expensive, and parents simply cannot afford to buy it.
Therefore, once again, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who supports the campaign to feed children in my mission here in Chad! May God bless all of you and reward your generosity a hundredfold. I keep all of you in my prayers.
With priestly blessings, from the very heart of Africa,
Fr. Jakub
The feeding program for children in the mission area of Lai in Chad, led by Father Jakub Szałek, is supported through the project “Donation for missions where it is most needed.”
