The program centers around the four most impoverished provinces of Laos, wherein more than half the population of the children have never been inside a classroom.

"A child in school cannot concentrate if his stomach is empty," said Malcolm Duthie, WFP Country Director for Laos, at a signing ceremony for the official agreement with the government. Under this program, the children will receive a nutritious meal at school made from blended corn and soy.

Just over 5000 children, whose homes are too far away from school for them to return there at the end of the day, will receive supplementary rations to keep them from going to bed hungry.

According to the WFP, the number of schoolchildren getting food will rise to approximately 70,000 by the third year of the project.

"Food is the bridge to learning," Duthie pronounced. "By giving children in school a meal--and in many cases it is the most substantial thing they will eat all day...they will have the means to get the most out of their education."

Another problem the WFP hopes to alleviate with the project is the substandard situation for girls in Laos. A "take home rations for girls" initiative aims to promote education for girls by providing a girl's family with food in exchange for letting her attend school. Fifteen thousand girls, WFP reported, will be given monthly rations of rice and fish to give to their parents, provided that they attend school for at least 20 days each month.

"Girls can face almost insurmountable obstacles, both economic and cultural, on the path to education," Duthie observed. He also alleged that WFP has instituted similar projects in 30 other countries, and the results were great -attendance rates soared.

"In countries where the price of education is beyond the reach of many families, the daughters would be the last in the family to be allowed to go to school," Duthie said. "That's why WFP puts so much priority on giving girls education in the early years of their lives. When they are learning academic lessons, they are also absorbing the qualities of social awareness and responsibility. Girls in school today are the future of a more self-reliant society."

The program will hardly eradicate the country's struggle against poverty, but it is a small step in promoting awareness about the generation with the potential to play a part in its future. That potential is even greater with the promise of education, for those who are able to reap the benefits of the program--particularly the nation’s poorest.

Duthie further emphasized that the best part about the school feeding program is the attempt to allay two of the country's biggest problems-- nutrition and education. "A nutritious meal is what a child needs today to be healthy tomorrow," he said. "Education is what a child needs to become a productive and responsible member of their society."