You’ll probably remember the story of the Magic Porridge Pot, a fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, and its potential to transform the lives of hungry villagers in a village in German folklore. Here in Faringdon, wrapped in the guise of an ordinary shop, we have something very similar. Intrigued? Well, read on…
In these days when the green agenda encourages an ethos of make-do-mend, reuse and repurpose, we’re very lucky to have, in the heart of the town, two welcoming charity shops that seem to be doing a brisk trade, helping us to redistribute pre-loved books, toys bric-a-brac and clothes within the community. How many of us, however, know who else we’re helping further afield, and what projects we are helping to fund? This month I talked to Dee Tyrer about the work of the African Children’s Fund, the charity supported by the shop on Market Place, outside of which, there’s a sign “Home of the Porridge Club.” So first, I asked, what is the Porridge Club?
“The Porridge Club,” says Dee, “is the charity’s flagship programme and something we’ve been running for more than fifteen years. Working through a local partner, African’s Children’s Fund has provided ten primary schools in Kenya with a basic kitchen, water, and cooking utensils and now we keep these schools supplied with a vitamin-enriched porridge – so the children can have a daily mug of porridge. For less than ten pence per mug, we can feed a child a healthy portion of porridge on a daily basis and we’ve seen amazing results. 2,000 children now go to school every day instead of working or scavenging for food on the street. Because of this regular meal, the children are less ill and more active. Absenteeism has reduced by more than 80%, and they are more than 50% more likely to go to secondary school.
It’s wonderful to see the difference this porridge has made to the lives of the children we started helping back in 2006. One young woman, Brenda, was attending a school which drew most of its student population from the neighbouring slums where she and most of her schoolmates would come to school hungry. When it got too much, they would stop coming to school and disappear into the streets to beg for food or turn to violence and crime.”
Brenda explained “[Having a mug of porridge] was a game-changer, as it meant that those who had gone to bed hungry the previous night or had nothing to eat for breakfast now had something to look forward to. Every day, when the bell rang for the 10am break, hundreds of kids would line up with cups ready to get their cup of the delicious and nutritious porridge. The smiles on their faces told it all. The students stayed in school and gave education a chance. Most important of all, children who had a hard start at life felt like somebody cared and supported them.”
Brenda went on to study law and is now an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and is clear that the provision of porridge changed her life profoundly. “A little support goes a long way” Brenda added.
“Another reason why children skip school is the unaffordability of sanitary protection for girls, forcing them to miss a week of school each month.” continues Dee. “Providing sanitary towels is a very effective way to give the poorest children their best chance of a decent education – otherwise the girls miss so much school over each academic year they find it difficult to pass the end of year exams. In 2022 we are hoping to really expand this programme.”
Dee and her husband with whom she set up the charity became interested in helping Africa at a grassroots level when they were both working for Oxfam and visiting East African countries as part of that. “I still support Oxfam,” says Dee, “and they do great things. However, we could see there were also lots of much smaller initiatives which would make a real difference to the lives of the local population and, through our time there, we’d met lots of people who could help deliver these smaller projects and so that’s how the African Children’s Fund came about. Other initiatives include a nursery school and a project for teenage girls in Tanzania; resources and counselling for children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe; and holding slum dweller education forums in Uganda to promote children’s rights.
Despite COVID, we were still able to do some great things last year,” Dee continues, “including the provision of playground equipment for a Transit Home in Uganda, a temporary home for children who have been neglected or abandoned and rescued from the streets. Another project that made a big difference was the donation of rechargeable solar lights to Zimbabwean children in 300 homes to help them study during Lockdown: when the schools closed, children were expected to work in the daytime on commercial farms or caring for the household and younger siblings so having these lights meant they could keep up with their school work during the dark evenings, and they will be able to keep using them for homework in the future.”
Back in the UK, the charity has shops in Faringdon, Grove and Witney, as well as online shops on eBay and Amazon, and would love to hear from anyone who could volunteer some of their time and skills. Pop in to see Polly in the shop or email info@africanchildrensfund.org.
For more information see africanchildrensfund.org or on Facebook africanchildrensfund
The tale of the Magic Porridge Pot
Once upon a time, a poor girl lived with her mother in a little house in a village and although they were hungry, they had nothing to eat. The girl went into the countryside to look for mushrooms and berries to eat and on the way, she met an old woman who said, “Take this pot. When you say to the pot: ‘Pot cook!’ then it will cook tasty porridge for you and change your life. When you say: ‘Pot stop!’ then it will stop cooking.”
The girl was delighted. She thanked the old lady and hurried back to the village.
Back home, the girl tried out the magic pot, saying “Pot cook!” and the porridge was sweet and tasty. Soon mother and daughter were both full up. ‘Pot stop!’ said the girl, and the pot gave no more porridge.
One day when the girl was out, her mother felt hungry, so she said, “Pot cook!” The mother ate and ate, but when she’d had enough porridge, she realised she had forgotten the correct word to stop the pot overflowing. Soon the kitchen was full porridge, then the house and the street! At last, the girl returned home and saw hot porridge flowing through the village. ‘Pot stop!’ shouted the girl.
From then on, the villages all shared in the girl’s good fortune. They were never hungry, and the girl’s mother never forgot the words Pot stop ever again.
(The Grimm moral of this tale is that you can have too much of a good thing, but we won’t dwell on that.)
