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Marita Wyson is a 14-year-old orphan from Malawi. She used to miss school regularly because she was too hungry to concentrate in class or was working to earn money to buy food for her frail grandmother and younger sister.

Marita said: 鈥淲hen you feel hungry, it can be difficult just to stand up in the morning.鈥澛�

But now she is going to school at Chirimba in the country鈥檚 Machinga district and is feeling stronger 鈥� thanks to the global charity .

The Scottish-based organisation began by feeding just 200 children in Malawi in 2002. Today is has announced聽it is now providing one million of the world鈥檚 poorest children with a nutritious meal every day they attend school 鈥� keeping them in education and helping them to escape poverty in the future.

We are thrilled to announce that Mary鈥檚 Meals is now feeding ONE MILLION children every school day!

鈥� Mary鈥檚 Meals (@MarysMeals)

Mary鈥檚 Meals works in 12 countries across four continents, setting up community-run school feeding programmes. It encourages children 鈥� who may otherwise be forced to work, beg or forage for food 鈥� to go to school, where they can receive a nutritious meal that helps them to concentrate on their studies.

In Malawi, where the expansion of the programme enabled it to reach the million mark, celebrations are being held at Chirimba Primary School, one of the latest schools to benefit from the generosity of Mary鈥檚 Meals鈥� supporters.

Marita lives with her grandmother Doris and sister Maria. After the children鈥檚 mother died in childbirth a few years ago, Doris found it increasingly difficult to provide for them.

But Mary鈥檚 Meals is now helping Marita 鈥� one of 1,035,637 children being fed daily in countries that also include Liberia, Kenya, Zambia, Haiti and India. In Malawi, enrolment at schools in the Mary鈥檚 Meals programme rises by an average 24% in the first six months.

Marita said: 鈥淲e are so happy to be receiving this food in school. The phala [the vitamin-enriched maize porridge Mary鈥檚 Meals serves in Malawi] is making a huge difference.

鈥淚t makes me feel strong and I am able to understand what my teachers are telling me. My grandmother doesn鈥檛 have to worry so much about how she will provide food for me and my sister.

鈥淚 am determined to do well at school because I know how important getting an education is. I have promised my family that I will not fail.鈥�

Today鈥檚 celebration in Marita鈥檚 home town includes聽speeches, songs and theatre pieces, all written and performed by the school pupils and community volunteers. Mary鈥檚 Meals鈥� founder and CEO, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, joined invited guests including government education officials and village chiefs to mark the occasion.

He said: 鈥淚t is quite remarkable to think that a million children are now eating Mary鈥檚 Meals every school day in some of the world鈥檚 poorest countries. The extraordinary ways in which this work has grown and developed have continually surprised me and filled me with a sense of mystery and awe.

鈥淚t would not be true, though, to say that I never expected our work to grow so big. I have long felt that the vision of Mary鈥檚 Meals 鈥� that every child receives a daily meal in their place of education 鈥� is so compelling, and people of goodwill so numerous, that it must be fulfilled.

鈥淚 am struck by the fact that this landmark can be regarded as no more than just 鈥榯he first million鈥�. With 58 million children out of school today and many millions more around the world chronically hungry, it is clear that our work has only just begun.鈥�

It costs just 拢12.20 to feed a child with Mary鈥檚 Meals for a whole school year. The nutritious daily meal draws chronically hungry children into the classroom, where they can receive an education that can help them escape poverty in the future.

The charity now has support from fundraising groups across the globe 鈥� in Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UAE, UK and USA 鈥� as well as from celebrities such as film star Gerard Butler and singer Celine Dion.