From food parcels to backyard gardens in Ward 93
Residents completed training to start their own backyard gardens to improve food security and earn an income.
A local organisation has started a food gardening programme initiative aimed at fighting poverty and helping families feed themselves at Baviaanspoort Plot 124 in Ward 93.
Anastasia Mosetlha, founder and director of Stacey Care Centre, said the organisation empowers women, men and children, while supporting GBV survivors and orphaned and vulnerable children through education, community engagement and collaboration.
Mosetlha said the centre has partnered with the Department of Agriculture to help alleviate poverty by giving a helping hand to those in need.
“Most of our clients at the centre were on a six-month food parcel programme but we thought of starting a food gardening programme that will sustain them forever,” she said.
“Our motto at the centre is ‘giving a man a fish will benefit the man in the short term, but teaching him how to fish will benefit all the generations that come after’.”
Twenty residents underwent training and received garden tools and seeds to start their own backyard gardens.
“We later found out most of the participants could not start their own backyard food gardens due to a lack of space and others were tenants at Ward 93.”
They secured temporary use of land privately owned by a resident to run the programme.
She added that they desperately need Jojo tanks for water, nets and a fence.
The Stacey Care Centre is a non-profit company founded in 2024 and is situated at the Hope Resurrection Worship Centre in Baviaanspoort Plot 124.
“Our services include psychosocial support, intake and case management, parental skills training, edutainment programmes, awareness campaigns and alternative temporary care,” she added.
They are also currently running the ECD 12-month programme, where they have partnered with the Department of Education and the security guard training.
Anyone who wishes to help with donations towards the gardening programme can contact Mosetlha on 068 0196374 or Tebogo Langa on 066 021 6615.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok or WhatsApp Channel
