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Farhan’s Dream of Becoming a Doctor Starts With a Meal

on  September 28, 2022

With dreams of becoming a doctor, 15-year-old Farhan walks more than 3.5 miles every day to and from his school, where he not only receives an education, but also a meal to support his nutritional needs. Farhan lives in Dilla, Somaliland. Dilla’s semi-arid climate leads to food and water insecurity for many in the community. Farhan, his nine siblings and his parents often struggle to get food and water. There is a lack of rainwater, which is needed not only for his family, but also for their livestock. Without livestock, they cannot sell milk to make money and, in turn, buy food for themselves. The COVID-19 pandemic also caused inflation, further exacerbating food and water insecurity in the community.To alleviate food insecurity for children and families in the community, Sh Xasan Taani, the school that Farhan attends, feeds 918 students through a school feeding program. Rise Against Hunger provides cash grants to partner ARAHA, which are used to purchase food locally for school meals. Many students are also able to bring food home to their families, which helps to nourish more people in the community. 

In addition to providing nourishment, the local food procurement stimulates the economy because the food is purchased locally. This was especially important during the pandemic. Mohamoud, the school principal, shares, “This pandemic caused inflation and… the community didn’t get rainwater, which worsened the situation because, if rain comes, the community can get milk to sell and local food to sell and what they get from this they use to fulfill their needs.” The school meals have helped make Farhan’s journey to and from school easier, which supports his education and future dreams of becoming a doctor. He shares “[The school feeding program] makes life and travel easier for us as students. Before it was hard to travel back with an empty stomach, and after this activity, it’s easy to go back and travel with a full stomach.”As Farhan continues attending school and receiving nutritious meals, Mohamoud is hopeful for Farhan’s future, saying, “In the future, I hope that Farhan will be a doctor who will help his community… I hope he will reach his dream one day.”Join the It Starts With a Meal™️ movement by donating today to support education and nutrition for children — like Farhan — around the world.

About the Author

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.