Ana Laffont has been on the board at Mary’s Meals since 2011 and currently serves as USA Board Chair. She has taken an active role in the organization and spends time on the ground working with the incredible volunteers and children that allow Mary’s Meals to make a difference.

What was it that first drew you to Mary’s Meals and made you want to be a part of the organization?

Its simplicity and that disarming quality of basic human justice: kids have a right to live and be educated.

Why is it important that these meals are offered in a school setting?

Is there a way to escape poverty that doesn’t start with an education?

How have you seen the meal program impact education in developing countries?

It simply transforms lives, families and communities. The best part of what I do is when I am able to travel with Mary’s Meals to the program countries and witness this first hand.

Tell us about the Mary’s Meals volunteers, who are they?

Mothers, grandmothers, fathers, aunts – people who care about the kids in their lives. They are so eager to do it, and they make the program theirs. In Malawi alone we have 65,000 volunteers. They are exactly like you and me. In fact, it should be you and me…Care to join?

How are you sourcing food for the meals in various countries?

As much as possible, we are using locally sourced food. It encourages their own economy and infrastructures, a virtuous circle of sorts.

How does Mary’s Meals impact communities as a whole?

Immediately. It literally saves lives. But we have seen over and over that the seeds of education and nourishment bear fruits in generations to come.

Whatdoes it cost to feed one child through Mary’s Meals for one year?

Less than $20 per child, per YEAR, on average. No, it’s not a typo. I didn’t believe it myself when I first heard.

What have you learned from the children who are being fed by Mary’s Meals?

That all kids are capable of joy, however difficult their surrounding world is.
Also, to make do with what you have. I brought Spanish soccer balls to a school once and watched fascinated as a group of tall girls instantly transformed them into volleyballs. They played beautifully!

How have you talked to your own children about world hunger?

It’s hard to shut me up… but I also bring them with me when they are old enough. I tell them mostly that there is joy in doing. Wishing or complaining aren’t allowed if you’re not doing.

What was it like bringing your daughter with you to Malawi to see the program in action?

Simply beautiful. Again, the seeds of that will hopefully bear fruits for years to come.

What do you think is the most important thing you have taught your children through this experience?

Do we teach our kids, or do we truly only leave them with ways that were once ours? I don’t think of it as “teaching” them. Simply because I’m the one doing the learning here. I learn that the only life worth living is giving yourself to others. “Till it hurts,” said Mother Teresa.
That a little can be a lot. To never, ever give up. I can’t leave my children anything more valuable than that.

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