Watch: Help avert a crisis with Noah CAN
NORWOOD – During the months of lockdown, Noah Can has stepped up and provided for the needs of local residents who have been affected by it.
Stepping up to provide for those in need during Covid-19 and lockdown has been the motivation behind Noah Can’s existence. In a recent video shared by the Norwood Orange Grove and Houghton Community Action Network (Noah Can), they highlighted the work they have achieved so far.
Noah Can coordinator Emily Wellman said that if one looks at Orange Grove as a suburb, it has beautiful old Johannesburg streets, trees and houses. But behind those suburban walls, are properties that have up to 20 families living within them. She added that when the hard lockdown began in March overnight, domestic workers lost their jobs, spaza shops were unable to trade, shops that weren’t selling food were unable to trade. “For weeks and weeks, people who had small car space businesses stopped trading including waiters and restaurant staff; and that is very much the workforce of Orange Grove.”
Wellman added, “When their ability to earn was removed, they had no savings to use or family members to leverage off of and couldn’t afford food.”
Orange Grove resident Gloria Qabaza said what made things worse was the fact that you cannot go to your neighbour because none can help you. “Mealie meal was finished. It has become a survival of the fittest. When I go there [to the Noah Can food parcel handover] I must go early, the queue is very long. Without Noah Can, I don’t know what would have become of us.”
Wellman added that it was absolutely an emergency which required a relief operation. She said, “We came together at the end of March and have about 20 volunteers and they’re currently feeding about 2 000 families. If you run out of money, what do you do? Where do you go?
“The Sassa R350 grant hasn’t materialised for many of the recipients I have spoken to. So, if the Noah Can hadn’t been formed, and done the job of government, I do believe there would be starvation and a medical crisis in our area.”
Details: To donate to Noah Can, visit: https://www.walletdoc.com/pay/LOW001 for safe and secure card payments.
Related articles:
Noah’s first food parcel drop was well-received by those in need
