Siphiwe Solomons becomes a new Mama Afrika

Mama Sipiwe Solomons of Hazyview was recently joined by others from Keiskammahoek, Seshego, Botshabelo, Soweto and Roodewal when she attended a training session by Prof Elain Vlok, manager of corporate services at Clover SA.

They cooked and baked up a storm, learning valuable tips with each new recipe.

Mama Sipiwe Solomons, from the Hosanna Community Church and Projects, is a registered nurse and midwife, who together with her husband Solly, sold their home to fund their dream: providing for the various needs of the community.

They started Hosanna Community Church and Projects in 2008. Here she provides a feeding scheme for orphans, a hospice, and home-based care for 140 children between the ages of eight and 14.

Mama Sipiwe takes a holistic approach by providing those in her care with the correct nutrition and offers life skills programmes so that they may reach their full potential.

She also leads a team of highly dedicated professional nurses who reach out to the community to educate and administer injections to people who are living with multi-drug-resistant TB.

Clover Mama Afrika is a sustainable corporate social investment project that has been in existence since 2004. Over the years the project has hosted 353 training sessions with more than 2 066 beneficiaries.

Strong women (called “Mamas” due to their standing in their neighbourhoods) in communities all over the country are taught and guided in order to build their skills and sustain and improve their own community projects.

Only the most committed are enrolled. These include women looking after orphans, the elderly and those suffering from HIV/Aids.

In true Clover Mama Afrika spirit, the recent training programme was dedicated to five Clover Mama Afrikas and one lucky young man representing his Clover Mama Afrika to learn the basics of cooking and baking under Vlok’s guidance.

This skills training was made possible with the support of Clover Mama Afrika’s project partner, HFR Transport.

“This training session focused on providing the trainees with the basic platform of creating hearty dishes and baked food that are cost-effective and most importantly, quality products that they can be proud to serve at any of their functions.

“We also covered the basics of table setting and etiquette. It was an absolute pleasure to share a skill with those who want to learn,” Vlok said.

The Mamas concurred that they were grateful for Vlok’s time to teach them “like a true mother”.

Afterwards they said that they had learned a lot and would make her proud with the progress that they would make with their own cooking and baking projects.