The children's home is located in the middle of a region called Barani, in the Kilifi South district, with around 50 children. This is a rather rural region where there is a lot of poverty.

The nearby local Barani elementary school is about a five-minute walk away and the younger children from our children's home also go there. Our children come back to the children's home during the lunch break and receive their lunch from us. Many other children are not doing so well. They are too far away from home, or in many cases the household at home is so poor that there is no lunch anyway. These children are then hungry all day long and the teachers report numerous children who can hardly follow the lessons in the afternoon, when school usually lasts until 4 p.m., because they are hungry and have low blood sugar levels. Unfortunately, the school itself cannot provide a lunch program.

In addition, there are some very poor people in the area around the children's home who, regardless of their age, live on the brink of starvation. Many of them are also old and sick.

This is why we have created our "Foodpoint" as a children's home association.

The concept:

Our social workers draw up a list of special hardship cases in the region. A special focus is placed on elementary school children, but other cases of hardship can also be included in our program regardless of age. In future, we will then increase our daily lunch from around 50 meals in stages to 200 meals and distribute the additional 150 or so meals to these poorest of the poor as a social benefit via our Foodpoint.

Every member of our program receives an ID card to prove their identity and can then receive a meal at lunchtime using a plate they have brought with them. Practically an "out-of-home meal", for which we have built stone benches on the outside wall of the children's home so that people can sit down while eating. We also built sinks so that our 150 or so guests can wash the plates they have brought with them after the meal.

We see the program as an extension of our activities to support the community around the children's home. The idea was put forward by Mr. Dominik Obermeier from Berlin, who is TERTIANUM's kitchen director and an experienced top chef. He calculated the relatively low additional costs for our kitchen and supported the project in its development.