IKHAYA LETHU,

Zintle  lives with her mom and two brothers (18 and 13 years old). At the moment, she is unemployed. Her mom sells archaar to earn a little money, but it’s nowhere near enough to keep the family going. They were going hungry, so in desperation, Zintle applied for a food voucher from Ikhaya Lethu.

Zintle  purchased the family's necessities using her food voucher to start her own vegetable garden, she also added spinach and onion seeds to her basket, taking Ikhaya Lethu's inspiration.

“ I never thought that I could start something so amazing,” she says. Seeing the first little shoots push up through the soil, and grow day by day into healthy vegetables, was so exciting.

At the moment we are unable to sell or share with neighbours because the veggie garden is still small," she says. "But in future, we hope to grow more.”

For desperate mom, Nandipha, receiving a food voucher not only meant being able to feed her two young children. It enabled her to start her own small business. She started selling her baked products at a nearby school after using some of the cash to purchase flour, sugar, and other ingredients.

She now makes enough money to provide food for her family and even cover the rent on her modest one-room home in Duncan Village. In the past, Nandipha had to rely on her mother to help with the rent, feed the kids, and take care of them while she looked for job in vain.

Not being able to provide for her own children made Nandipha feel small and useless. In creating her own little business, she not only found a way to earn a living, she also regained her self respect.

“I cannot say I have a lot,” she says. “But I am happy I am doing well in my business. I appreciate your help and hope you can continue helping others like me. You are making a positive impact on our lives.”

These resourceful women have learned techniques to assure they won't go hungry again thanks to our food voucher program and the exceptional people who support us. They deserve praise for their spirit of entrepreneurship.

DREAM BIG, BECAUSE WHY NOT?

It's amazing how some people can grab the smallest opportunity with both hands, and use it to turn their lives around. Alizwa Ndzobana is one of these people.

Alizwa, a young man from a poor background who grew up in the nearby community of Amalinda, completed our baking course in June 2021. After that, he performed unpaid labor as a volunteer at a nearby pizzeria in order to expand his expertise and skills.

In exchange, the proprietor of the pizza restaurant gave him permission to bake cakes, biscuits, and vetkoek in the kitchen starting at 4.45 am, before the store opened. He sold them to make a little money for himself.

Alizwa wakes up very early in the morning, eager to start baking. His mantra is: "I can, I will, and I must". So impressed were we by his attitude and hard work, that we gave Alizwa  a brand new electric fryer, and additional training to help him set up his own business.

When you go to Amalinda, keep an eye out for the Handyman Bakery, where you can purchase Alizwa’s delicious, freshly baked goods.

The best thing about my little business," he says, "is that it has made me believe in myself."

We also have faith in individuals like Alizwa. individuals who are driven, devoted, and willing to learn. people who are DESPERATELY looking for a job and WHO WANT TO WORK. We work at the local level to find people in underserved communities who have what it takes to be "agents of change."

OVER THE PAST YEAR, GRACE HAS TRANSFORMED FROM A SHY LADY WITH LITTLE SELF CONFIDENCE TO A SELF ASSURED, SECURE WOMAN WHO KNOWS WHERE SHE IS GOING.

Grace, a single mother of an 11-year-old boy with learning challenges, joined our Street to Feet program after leaving an abusive relationship in the hopes of finding a secure environment where she could care for her son and pick up new skills that would enable her to live independently.

Grace participated in a variety of activities and courses during the length of her 12-month stay with us, including classes on job preparedness, personal counseling, computer literacy, and life skills. Through our strong governmental relationships, we were able to get money for Grace's urgent dental care, which helped to boost both her confidence and her beauty.

She found work as a cashier and is now a permanent employee. Grace and her son moved into their own house at the end of July, and she is eager to begin a new life free from deprivation, abuse, and loneliness.