Food for People Program (FFP)

Since The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) opened its first Food for People facility in 2006, the signature program has provided clean water and more than 5.2 million healthy meals to children and elderly adults in poverty-stricken areas of India, Ghana, and Nepal. Health has improved, school enrollment and achievement have skyrocketed, crime has dropped, and local economies have started to bloom.

In the Spring of 2003, Prem Rawat arrived by helicopter to speak to a large crowd gathered for an outdoor event near the village of Bantoli in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorest states. When he landed, Prem was greeted by a number of curious children. Although the children appeared underfed and destitute, their cheerfulness and spirit touched him deeply.

As he inquired about their situation, he learned that some were so destitute that they resorted to scavenging food scraps from rat’s nests.  These local children had twice the mortality rate of those in the rest of India. Often, there was so little clean water or food available that the adults became sick and couldn’t work. No work meant no food. It was a setup for a cycle of poverty with no end.

In 2009 in partnership with Premsagar Foundation Nepal, a second FFP facility opened in the village of Tasarpu, high in the rugged mountains near Katmandu. In this steep area, subsistence farming rarely provides enough food for nine months. Historically, families had to migrate to find work in order to survive. The local school offered grades kindergarten through seven. After that, most children opted to work with their parents.

After each of the first three years of FFP operation, the local school added another year of schooling to accommodate increased demand. Enrollment and attendance  increased dramatically once students had healthy daily meals.

As tenth graders began to take the national School Leaving Exam, required for enrolling in secondary school, their passing scores exceeded the national average. The Social Welfare Council (SWC), a government body that regulates nonprofit organizations in Nepal, recognized Food for People as an “innovative intervention” and an “exemplary model” in literacy programs.

In 2012, TPRF opened a new FFP facility in the village of Otinibi, on the outskirts of Accra, the capital of Ghana. Otinibi was chosen partly because of the hardship of its 1,500 residents. Most are farmers by trade, but due to poor soil conditions and unpredictable weather patterns, there is rarely enough food grown to sell. The strongest residents often work for food by breaking up rocks for road building.

The FFP facility is located near  two Otinibi schools, on land donated by Chief Nii Adjei Kweidzamansah III.  This facility, in partnership with the local Prembaf Ghana Foundation, serves an average of almost 13,000 meals per month, including meals delivered to the homes of up to fifty disabled or elderly adults in the community.  Students from two local schools come for daily meals. The Otinibi Basic school has doubled enrollment, recently reaching its capacity. As a result of strength and good health derived from the nutritious meals, students have begun to compete on a national level in sports like soccer (football) and volleyball for the first time.

As in Bantoli and Tasarpu, school enrollment is on the rise, and teachers report increased attention from their students.

“This FFP project has saved people from poor homes. Now the children can focus on learning and have become active. The project has helped many children to attend school, but it has also helped some old folks to survive,” says local parent Kate Nagetey.