With its porridge feeding scheme, FEED, a local NPO, once again tried to bring some relief to the community by donating five kg of Vitality Booster porridge to the learners of Jane Letsapa Primary School in Ikageng.
Due to a lack of food, the upcoming school holiday and the festive season are not joyous occasions for many households. Besides receiving porridge at school, children previously got porridge containing 100 instant meals to take home.
The school management reports that most parents cannot afford food. For Jane Letsapa, as with many other departmental schools, this is a major problem. During school terms, learners receive a daily meal at school, provided by the Department of Education’s feeding scheme. During school holidays, there is no assistance for the learners. Besides the five-kg porridge bag contributions, for the past eight months, FEED also provided Jane Letsapa Primary School with the highly nutritious Vitality Booster porridge as a breakfast meal.
This instant porridge is nutritious, high in vitamins and contains a locally-produced herb, artemisia, blended into the porridge, which acts as an immune booster. FEED also supports 230 learners from Matlaung Village, with a breakfast meal three times a week and educates learners on the importance of self-sustainability.
“We recently started a programme with a few learners at Jane Letsapa, teaching them vegetable gardening,” Henriette Schoeman, FEED project manager, said.
“As the December holidays approach, the learners are eager to learn and start vegetable gardens with their families.” The aim is to teach learners the skill of vegetable gardening and educate them about the importance of the environment from an early age.
“We hope to get as many learners and their families involved with gardening activities to better their lives by providing for their families.” For more information on this initiative, visit www.feed-ngo.co.za or contact Henriette Schoeman, FEED project manager at h.schoeman@sunfarming.co.za
