A group of remarkable ladies in Mpumalanga is working to keep the most vulnerable members of their community healthy and well nourished.
Back in 2005
These local heroes – including Minah Ndlovu, Lonny Mathebula, Flora Mashilini and Florence Mnisi – initially set up the Lillydale Home-Based Care Centre near the Sabi Sands Game Reserve to care for families ravaged by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Soon their mission expanded
But their home visits to bedridden community members soon brought them face-to-face with hundreds of starving children whose carers were too sick or impoverished to feed them.
Responding to the need ... out of their own pocket
The women responded by baking bread and delivering food parcels to as many vulnerable families as they could reach. But without an income of their own, they realised they need a self-sustaining solution to beat hunger in their community.
Then they decided to create a food garden from scratch.
Support from the Shoprite Group
We have since lent our support to secure the food garden’s sustainability. Among other steps, this involved building and preparing new beds to optimise production, repairing boreholes and providing seeds, fertilizer, equipment and other plant materials.
“Our work is very stressful and there are so many mouths to feed. But with help from partners such as Shoprite, we are determined to keep growing and selling our own produce so we can look after the children with nutritious food.”
- Minah Ndlovu
