INTERVIEW

Interview: Leo van der Velden, United Nations World Food Programme, Bhutan

Written by William Lambers
Published July 25, 2008
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Is there anything else you'd like to add about why you think school feeding is important for people to support?

The WFP Country Office in Bhutan has national staff members that participated in school feeding programs when they attended school. They benefited from WFP during their school days and now they are with WFP working for school feeding. What more can I say regarding the importance of school feeding? Below is one staff member's personal story:

Story worth Telling
As a student in Punakha, WFP Programme Officer Tashi Doma was a beneficiary of WFP's school feeding program throughout her childhood years. She remembers trucks rolling into her school bringing bags marked with the WFP logo and the names of the various donor nations such as Japan, Australia, and Norway. She also fondly remembers the breakfast of bulgur wheat and milk, and dry fish on Wednesdays, back in the days when it was served once a week as a special lunch.

After graduating from college, Tashi became an employee of WFP's School Feeding Program in Thimphu, and is now the most long-term and senior staff member in the entire office. According to Tashi, working for WFP comes natural for her; she can think and relate to the situations faced by WFP beneficiaries and the various schools it serves.

As a former beneficiary, WFP's school feeding program is close to Tashi's heart. She feels very fortunate to have the chance to repay WFP for giving her the opportunity to complete her education. National employees like Tashi have helped improve the implementation of school feeding in Bhutan. They enable students, especially girls, to receive an education and improve the quality of their lives.

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William Lambers is the author of several books including "Nuclear Weapons" and "The Road to Peace: From the Disarming of the Great Lakes to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty." His articles have been published by the San Diego Union-Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Miami Herald (FL), the Wichita Eagle (KS), the Bakersfield Californian, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the History News Network. He has also published a book titled "The Spirit of the Marshall Plan: Taking Action Against World Hunger, School Lunches For Kids Around the World."
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Interview: Leo van der Velden, United Nations World Food Programme, Bhutan
Published: July 25, 2008
Type: Interview
Section: Culture
Filed Under: Culture: Society, Interviews
Part of a feature: Ending World Hunger
Writer: William Lambers
William Lambers's BC Writer page
William Lambers's personal site
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