New GPM Village Kitchen Feeds over 500 Children

As part of the GPM Love2Learn Program in under-served tribal rural villages in India, a new central kitchen was opened in the village of Ashte, Palghar. The kitchen serves 20 surrounding villages (over 500 children) with healthy meals on a daily basis. During the months of January to June, the villages suffer with a severe drought, making food very scarce. Consequently, many of the village residents are malnourished. The children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition, so it is vital that the village has a stable supply of food for the young students.

Children eating the meals that the women prepared for them

Women preparing the food for the young students

The central kitchen in the village was modeled after the GPM central kitchen in the Kalwa slums in Mumbai.The Ashte kitchen provides employment to women who live in the village by hiring them to cook the meals for the children. This kitchen is a place where women can come to talk, laugh, and prepare meals all while receiving a stable salary for the first time. It brings a sense of pride and empowerment to these special women who know that their hard work will keep the village children in school.

The nutrition program supplied by the women in the Ashte kitchen and distributed to 20 village GPM classes is an important way to maintain overall health, increase attendance and cut down of child labor.

A big thanks to our partners Sundara and Humble Smile who support an overall hygiene program for the children in the GPM Love2Learn system; quality nutrition and good hygiene go hand-in-hand to foster good health for 500 children.