The year 2024 was one of the most difficult in Zambia’s recent history. Rainfall reached a record low, and the parched fields yielded almost no crops. People lost everything - their harvests, seeds, and food supplies. In many regions, especially in the eastern and southern provinces, hunger became a daily reality.

Thanks to the generosity of Donors, a tragedy was prevented in 2025. Five thousand children were able to eat a hot meal at school every day - often the only one they had.

Without your help, many people would have died of starvation. The last harvest was better, but still too small to consider the situation good. At the end of the rainy season, in early 2026, I want to help children in particular, to protect them from hunger-related diseases and even death,

– wrote Father Andrzej Leśniara SJ, a missionary working in Zambia since 1994.

Zambia is a country in southern Africa whose inhabitants mostly make a living from agriculture, growing corn, sweet potatoes, and beans - mainly for their own needs. The fate of farmers depends entirely on nature, or more precisely, on the rainy season.

The year in Zambia is divided into two main seasons:
- the rainy season - from November to April, when crops grow,
- the dry season - from May to October, when the ground hardens and water disappears from the fields and rivers.

If there is no rain during the rainy season, all food is lost. People have no reserves or irrigation systems, so crop failure almost immediately leads to malnutrition and starvation. Children suffer the most - their bodies are weaker, and they lose strength and immunity more quickly. In 2024, the drought was exceptionally long. Corn, the staple food, withered in the fields. In 2025, the harvest was better, but still too small to ensure families’ survival until the next rainy season in 2026.

My name is Maambo Fridah. I am in sixth grade at Nakabwe Luangwa School. Thank you very much for the food that my friends and I received. Thanks to the food you gave us, we were able to go to school. If you hadn’t helped us, we would have starved to death. We don’t know you, but you helped us, so God will bless you,

– writes Maambo, a student at a school for children with disabilities in Nakawa, in a letter to Donors from Poland.

The staple food in Zambia is nshima, a thick paste made from corn flour. To increase its nutritional value, peanuts, a little sugar, and moringa leaves - rich in vitamins and minerals - are added. These simple ingredients are used to prepare a warm, nutritious meal similar to porridge. For many students, this is the only meal they receive during the day.

The cost of one school meal for a child is only PLN 0.78. For PLN 17, you can provide food for an entire month, and PLN 162 is enough to ensure that a child eats a hot nshima meal at school every day for nine months of the school year.

In response to the missionary’s request, in 2026 we want to continue the school feeding program in the Chikuni mission area. Our goal is not only to relieve hunger, but also to give children the opportunity to learn and develop. Together, we can stop hunger and give the children of Zambia the future they deserve.

Bank account numbers for money transfers are:

For $: PL 52 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0009; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK
For €: PL 41 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0013; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK
For others: IBAN: PL 79 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0008; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK