Anastasia Chacon peeked up through her large pink hat as she gratefully took the bowl of rice and egg from her schoolteacher. About 30 other boys and girls were in line behind her under the morning sun, waiting for their turn.

Anastasia had walked for half an hour on an empty stomach that day in Chucanaqui, Bolivia. But like the rest of the children in her class, the 11-year-old girl could look forward to a good meal when she arrived at school, thanks to a Samaritan’s Purse feeding program.




“There’s not much food in the house in the morning, so I really look forward to going to school,” she said. “I like all of the food Samaritan’s Purse gives us.”

Families in the mountains of Bolivia struggle to grow crops because of the high elevation and extreme temperatures. Felix Mendoza, leader of the program, said that 30 percent of the kids in Chucananqui don’t get milk, eggs, or meat at home. Mostly, they eat dried potatoes.

The school feeding program provides needed nutrition, not only filling stomachs but preparing minds to learn.

“It really helps out my family that the kids can eat here,” said Claudino Aspilupa, a mother of two boys. “I used to send my kids to school hungry, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I only had a little bit of food at home to give them. I was really happy when Samaritan’s Purse came because I knew this could help them learn better. It’s really important to me that my children are learning how to read and write so that they can get a profession one day.”

To fight the widespread chronic malnutrition and to encourage kids to stay in school, the government committed to funding school breakfast programs across the country. But some of the local authorities were corrupt and began pocketing the money. Two mayors were sent to jail for stealing $15,000. Samaritan’s Purse came in 2008 to continue the program when the municipal government stopped funding it.

“Before, I felt like we were abandoned,” said Paulito Mamani, an elementary school teacher. “With Samaritan’s Purse I feel like they care about the children and their well-being, not just eating a nutritious meal, but if they go to school and learn.”

Samaritan’s Purse is currently feeding 2,800 children under the age of 14 in 72 rural schools. Most of the food is purchased from local businesses, including two processing centers we built.

At the Andean Grains Processing Center in Kasillunca, Aureliano Huchani, the pastor of the church next door, leads a staff of 10 men and women who process and package quinoa and canahua, the local grains. Hundreds of families participate by bringing in the locally grown crops.




The walls of the center are covered with signs not only proclaiming business principles, but also Christian values such as honesty and integrity.




“First and foremost, we are children of God and we reflect principles of Christ,” Pastor Huchani said. “This processing center is to honor and glorify Him. Christ worked hard, and this center reflects His values. Everything produced here is a blessing from God.”

Samaritan’s Purse helps support the center by purchasing the grains for our child-feeding program, providing food that is high in protein, fiber, and essential vitamins.

About an hour away from the Andean Grains Processing Center, members of the Llama Association make llama jerky and sausage in a building we finished constructing in March. Llama meat is low in fat, so it is healthier to eat than other animals in the area like lamb and beef.

Before the center was built, local llama herders would ride the bus for hours to try and sell the meat at the market in La Paz. These poor families were often taken advantage of. Now they can process and package the meat to create a high-quality product and earn an income.

Tiofelo Suntura, the president of the association, dreamed of having the meat processing center for 15 years.

“I lacked everything before Samaritan’s Purse came,” he said. “I never thought I’d get a beautiful place like this. I’m so grateful for everything they have done for the community and me. They have made an investment here that we can pass on from generation to generation.”

Along with feeding children in schools and helping local farmers process their goods for the community, Samaritan’s Purse is teaching families how to prepare healthy meals and monitor their children’s health at home.

We have trained more than 580 local volunteers, called “mother nutritionists,” in Bolivia, who record the children’s height and weight every month.




In Camiaco, near the Amazon Basin, mothers bring their children to the health center in town once a month to get check ups. Each child is measured and weighed then tracked on a chart to determine where they are on the growth scale.




If they are in the red, one of our nutritionists meet with the family to see what they have been feeding the child.




“The children grew rapidly when I knew what to feed them,” said Raquel Pedraza, one of the mother nutritionists. “I felt so much better when I knew I could raise healthy children. I felt more confident as a mother and saw immediate results.

“I want to thank Samaritan’s Purse because we are saving children’s lives in this community.”

Along with the height and weight sessions, our nutritionists lead workshops to teach women how to prepare healthy meals using cookbooks we created. The recipes incorporate local foods they can easily find.

Some of the dishes in the book include bean cookies, pancakes made with yucca flour, and fruit smoothies.

Jaqueline Estindola was one of the mothers who benefited greatly from the nutrition workshops. Her children were always sick with diarrhea and respiratory infections. But after she started feeding them more fruits and vegetables, they stopped getting sick. Jaqueline was so grateful to Samaritan’s Purse that she decided to become a volunteer mother nutritionist.




Since nutrition and health was taught alongside the Word of God, Jaqueline also started attending church in her town of San Andres. She learned about the unconditional love of God and began raising her family based on Christian values.

“I’m so grateful that Samaritan’s Purse has come here because before you came here we didn’t know how to raise our children,” she said. “No one had taught us. I’m in better health mentally, physically, and spiritually now.”

Samaritan's Purse , Bolivia , Food and Water , Strengthening Bodies and Souls