Meet School Feeding Officer - Maneva

Meet Maneva, one of our School Feeding Officers. She focuses on ensuring the children in six of the schools in her district are given a healthy meal every school day. Here she tells us a little about herself and describes the work she undertakes.

Maneva, a School Feeding Officer on the way to Ambonimahatsara Primary School

My name is Rabarijaona Onitiana Maneva Arisoa, known as Maneva. I’m 25 years old. I am a single mother and have a little boy. I am a School Feeding Officer in Ambatofotsy, Ikongo district, I have worked for Feedback Madagascar for 1 year and 4 months. My work focuses on the education field specifically the School Feeding Programme. This programme is about giving lunch to children every day at school.

The main tasks are monitoring the management of the school feeding in six schools in the  Ambatofotsy Municipality so I need to visit these schools every week. Three of the schools are across the river, so I cannot visit when it rains a lot because the high river level makes it impossible to cross. 

Maneva crossing a river to get to Tandrokomby Primary School

During my visit to these schools, I also look at how the school garden is progressing, as well as ensuring the kitchen and toilet are up to standard, as well as raising awareness about sanitation, hygiene, and environmental protection. The newest task is delivering a book for children, the book is called “Diary Nofy”, the aim is to make children love reading. 

Other big tasks are distributing vegetables to all the school beneficiaries every weekend and other foods every month. 

I work closely with the headteacher and the School Feeding Committee to manage the  project and with the parents who cook the children’s food every day, and of course with children.

What I like the most about my job is seeing the beautiful landscape I visit schools, also seeing the effort made by the school beneficiaries, and sharing my experience with them.

My biggest concern about Madagascar is the environment. Now many disasters hit Madagascar that have a big impact on the economy. For example, when there drought and farmers can’t produce enough and if there are floods farming is destroyed so I think it is a big problem for us. In addition to that, education is a huge problem also, what I see in the area I work in is that the quality of education is bad so it may destroy the future of our children, which is why the work I do, alongside our partner Mary’s Meals, is so important.

Maneva reading ‘Diary Nof’ to the children of Tsarakianja Primary School