DepEd-ARMM continues halal feeding program
- Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/deped-armm-continues-halal-feeding-program/359029/
- Friday, October 27, 2017
- By JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL (TMT)
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao: The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) continued its feeding program by providing halal foods to Marawi schoolchildren as classes opened recently.
At least four re-opened schools in Marawi City have benefited from the feeding program where schoolchildren are provided with nutritious meals regularly to hasten their recovery from trauma from the five months siege in this capital city of Lanao del Sur, officials said on Friday.
DepEd-ARMM secretary John Amil Magno said the feeding program caters to thousands of school children from Marawi City now grouped in temporary learning sites in nearby towns.
Magno said the project is a joint initiative of the office of DepEd-ARMM, Gawad Kalinga and the World Food Program, a humanitarian agency of the United Nations.
Ana Zenaida Unte, assistant schools superintendent for Marawi City, said pupils in Mipaga, Bito, Rorogagus and Pendolonan Elementary Schools where classes resumed on Monday were initially supplied with halal foods prepared by teachers and volunteers.
At least 800 pupils benefited from the initial feeding activity.
Halal is an Arabic term for permissible. Hence, halal food is one that adheres to Islamic law as defined in the Holy Qur’an that Muslims are allowed to eat.
“We will complement this feeding of children in re-opened Marawi schools with activities to heal them from mental pain and tension caused by the five-month conflict that displaced them for months,” Magno said.
Meanwhile, on Friday hundreds of schoolchildren from conflict-affected barangay (villages) in Marawi City also joined the Global Handwashing Day in Lanao del Sur last week.
“The atmosphere in some schools is now returning to normal. Children are again in school uniforms and classes are back to regular mode,” Magno added.