Many of you will have heard of Mary's Meals but, for those of you who haven't, it is a fantastic organisation that provides school lunches for very poor children in countries throughout the world. Now, we are copying this idea to set up the Kids' Kitchen in order to carry out the same type of work in a village in Kenya.

The concept is very clever because foodstuffs and cooking utensils have been bought with funds raised through donations, and then the grandmothers and widows do the cooking to ensure that the school children have a cooked lunch. This is a wonderful idea for a number of reasons; in particular, if children have food in their stomachs at midday they will be more likely to work hard at school. Also, if the children have had one good meal at lunchtime, there is less pressure on the grandmothers to provide a full evening meal, something that is almost impossible for them to do, for financial reasons and because many of them are sick or very old. Also, it gives a wonderful opportunity for the grandmothers and widows to participate in the provision of the meals for the children, which will be a source of pride for them.

Direct Link has already bought the cooking pots and utensils, and the Kids' Kitchen is up and running in term time. The grannies and widows are happy to cook the food, in rotation, to provide lunches for the orphans in the project. Look in The Kids' Kitchen Gallery to see photographs of the Spring term 2009 food distribution to the primary school children.