Etwatwa residents give back to their community
Their soup kitchen is growing by the day with more and more people coming daily and they need help from any communities and organisations that have the means to assist them.
Six Etwatwa residents saw the need for a soup kitchen to aid their community during these hard times of unemployment mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their project was opened under Bacha Ba Dichaba, an NPO based in Daveyton that assists the youth, schools and communities in any way possible, and is situated in Etwatwa.
The six women who not only organised the soup kitchen but also run it daily feeding 90 to 100 people every day are Catherine Mahamba, Nomvula Gama, Khabo Hlophe, Duduzile Moshoaliba, Zanele Mndebele and Ntombi Mphahlela.
“We started the soup kitchen because we saw that a lot of people within our community are unemployed due to the coronavirus and have no income in their families,” said Moshoaliba.
“We decided to open the soup kitchen to help our community.
“We provide food, such as soup, vegetables, maize meal, samp and rice.”
The soup kitchen is open from Monday to Friday and they only serve the Mandela, Etwatwa area extensions 21, 24 and 8 as they don’t have the means to reach out to more areas.
“We get our ingredients from our local tuck shop, the 100% Foundation and sometimes we purchase from our own pocket,” said Moshoaliba.
Their soup kitchen is growing daily with more and more people coming. They are appealing to organisations that have the means to assist them.
Their wish list is as follows:
• Container/zozo: They need a container to operate from as currently, they are operating in one of their homes.
• Wood: They cook everything they give on an open fire with massive traditional pots, called driepoot.
• Plastic/affordable table and chairs: They currently only have two chairs and one table to not only prepare the food but to also set everything up to dish out to those they feed.
• Pots: They currently only have three traditional pots they use to cook in and would like to have more to be able to provide more portions and other food alternatives.
• Gazebo: These women are working in the boiling hot sun, outside in their garden all day every day with no shade.
• Gas stove: They are currently cooking on an open fire, which uses plenty of wood and would appreciate a second-hand gas stove and gas bottle.
• Groceries and vegetables: Any donations of grocery items will help towards their project.
• Sanitiser and masks: Many in the community cannot afford these items, so they would like to donate these items to assist in continuing Covid-19 protocols.
• Cash sponsors/donations: Any money that can be donated will assist them in buying the groceries and expanding their project to hopefully feed more people in the long run.
If you would like to assist this project in any way, contact the chairperson, Zanele Mndebele, on 083 569 3904/073 057 8482 or deputy chairperson Catherine Mahamba on 063 966 6263 or 078 856 9786.
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