• 37% of parents failed to provide the food needed by the family or bought it only partially, according to data collected by World Vision Romania from vulnerable communities; 

• According to studies conducted by the Foundation, children in rural areas were much more affected by the pandemic than their peers in urban areas; 

• The poorest children in rural areas eat less, less often, consume cheaper food and study in difficult conditions, their situation worsening in the past year; 

• This Easter, World Vision Romania launches the "Food for Good" fundraising campaign, part of the program "Bread and Tomorrow", through which the organization offers a hot meal and help with homework, provided by a teacher, for over 1,250 children from vulnerable backgrounds, from villages. 

This is the second year in which the most vulnerable children from rural areas will not enjoy Easter the same way as they did before. Now they have to fight hunger and poverty, which forces them to drop out of school. For them, any help matters, and going to school is the only chance for a better future. Thus, World Vision Romania launches the "Food for Good" campaign, through which all those who want to do a good deed as an Easter gift can make a donation for children from the organization’s "Bread for Tomorrow" project, via an SMS to 8844 with the text PAINE (2 euros/month), or on World Vision's website: https://bit.ly/3a9MHb4. These donations will turn into hot meals and help with homework through a remedial education program, after a year in which many children did not have access to education, and the situation of rural families became critical. 

The pandemic has severely affected the financial situation of families living in vulnerable rural communities. 60% of parents did not work during the pandemic, and 19% saw their income diminished due to dismissal, technical unemployment and the impossibility of working during the day. 

Almost one in ten children from villages sometimes or always falls asleep hungry. Even before 2020, according to data collected by World Vision, in over 11% of households in rural areas, children only had two meals a day. Their proportion increased from 5% in 2016 to 9% in 2018, reaching 11% in 2020. This share rises to 30% for the families most in need. 

About three-quarters of rural families purchase cheaper food, less food or both combined. An increasing number of children from rural areas are eating less. 

Rural children have to work harder than their peers in the city to keep up with school. Spending hours online has resulted in great learning losses. Those who lack material possibilities, internet access, equipment and remedial education programs, without qualified teachers in the methodology of digital teaching were the most affected. 40% of the most disadvantaged pupils have not attended school online at all and have so far lost about 24 weeks of school - almost two-thirds of a semester. 

Children in rural areas need help at school. A quarter of them do not receive any help when they have difficulties, because they do not have anyone around who knows or has time for them. Almost a million children go to school in the countryside. 

„World Vision Romania’s Bread for Tomorrow program is one of the most impactful programs of our organization. Initially, it was designed as a remedial intervention for cases of children who risked dropping out of school due to poverty, not having anything to eat at school or a place to do their homework. With the pandemic, however, the program gained critical importance. For many children, it is practically the only chance for them not to drop out of school. A hot meal and two hours of help with homework every day, provided by a qualified teacher, keep alive the chance of these children finishing education, for a better future, ”claims Mihaela Nabăr, the Foundation’s Executive Director. 

So far, 1250 pupils in the project have received hot food at school, homework help, clothes and other resources for basic needs. 

This Easter, World Vision Romania launches an appeal to all those who can help, through an SMS donation with the text PAINE to 8844 (cost 2 euro / month) or on World Vision Romania’s website (https://bit.ly/3a9MHb4), where you can also read the stories of children who need our help. Each donation will put goodness in more plates and joy in more children's hearts.