At a Holt-supported daycare in India, just steps from local work sites, Holt sponsors and donors are providing warm, nutritious meals to children who need them most. Because every child, no matter where they’re born, deserves to grow up healthy and nourished.
Inside the kitchen of a Holt-supported daycare in Bangalore, India, pots bubble with steam as the aroma of spices fills the air.
Six women in brightly colored kurtas move with practiced rhythm as they prepare the day’s meals.
This busy kitchen is where hundreds of nutritious breakfasts and lunches are prepared — all thanks to the generosity of Holt sponsors and donors.
A Daycare for Migrant Families
Many of the children who attend this daycare come from migrant families who work long hours at nearby construction and industrial sites or in homes as domestic helpers.
An estimated 600 million internal migrants live in India, driven from rural villages to crowded cities like Bangalore in search of work. Many struggle to secure stable jobs, often due to language barriers. And for those who do find work, there is rarely a safe place to bring their young children during the long hours away from home.
As a result, some parents must leave their children with a neighbor while they work, which can expose young children to unsafe situations in dense slum or migrant communities. In the most desperate situations, parents face an impossible choice: leave their children home alone or forgo the day’s wages.
These same families often struggle to provide consistent meals. Some nights, parents have no choice but to put their children to bed hungry. With income stretched so thin, the cost of preschool or daycare is far beyond their means.
But thanks to Holt donors, families living in the migrant communities near Holt’s partner, Vathsalya Charitable Trust (VCT), don’t have to worry about where their kids will go during the day. In 2013, VCT started a free Child Development Center. Since opening, the center — now in several neighborhoods — has served nearly 17,000 children, offering a safe place for children to go while their parents work.
And because of Food Every Day donors, children eat warm and nourishing meals here every day.
Warm, Nourishing Meals Every Day
At small colorful tables, children gather eagerly for lunchtime. Some feed themselves, while others are gently helped by their mothers or by volunteers assisting in the kitchen that day.
Many mothers who work nearby return during their lunch breaks, offering comfort as their children adjust to the daycare. They also see firsthand the nourishing meals their children receive — meals they simply cannot make with the limited resources they have at home.
For many migrant families, access to nutritious food is limited. Preparing balanced meals at home is often difficult, as many families have only very basic means to cook.
“Migrant families primarily eat rice at home,” says Shalu Singh, program manager of VCT. “It is impossible for them to cook a variety of foods like what we have here at the center in their individual homes.”
The meals provided through donor support bring that missing variety. Breakfast often includes porridge, soup or fruit. For lunch, children are served a variety of foods like dal, curry, eggs and vegetables. VCT even has its own garden, where children can learn how vegetables and herbs grow.
All the meals at the center follow guidance from Holt’s Child Nutrition Program, which helps ensure children receive the balanced nutrition they need to grow. Menus rotate regularly so children experience a variety of foods — something most migrant families cannot provide at home.
“We make sure to give them all the food they need for the day while they’re here,” says Sharmila Hepzibah, executive director of VCT, “because they might not be eating anything else at home.”
“We make sure to give them all the food they need for the day while they’re here, because they might not be eating anything else at home.”
Malnutrition is common among migrant families, often leaving children too weak to play or learn. But thanks to Holt sponsors and donors, every child at the daycare program starts the day with the nourishment needed to grow and thrive.
A Haven for Children to Grow
Upstairs in the Pupa classroom, giggles and music float through the doorway.
Children ages 2-6 are grouped into four classrooms — Caterpillars, Pupa, Butterflies and Bunnies — with Bunnies “hopping” into formal school when ready.
Because several languages are spoken among the children and their families, teachers use music, movement and play-based learning to communicate in ways that every child can understand. Puzzles, books and educational toys — which the children can also take home — help support their language development and motor skills.
From the warm meals prepared downstairs to the colorful, welcoming classrooms above, every part of this center is filled with care. The daily nourishment provided here helps children grow healthier, learn better and take their first steps into school with a strong foundation.
These children are nurtured and growing every day — all because of Holt sponsors and donors like you. Join Food Every Day to ensure that nothing keeps a child from growing healthy and strong.
You Can Help a Hungry Child
When you give Food Every Day, you not only help a child learn, play and grow — you help keep their family together.
