THE Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT) recently launched a new Home Garden project as part of its local Covid -19 relief efforts.
The project, which involves supplying gogo-headed households with vegetable seedlings to start a home vegetable garden, has already benefited 158 grannies and their families living in Molweni, KwaNyusuwa and Inchanga.
Irene Nduli (65) lives in Molweni with her three children and five grandchildren and said the project has given her hope for the future.
“The past few months have been very difficult,” said Irene. “My garden has helped to ease my worries.”
The need for the project was identified by local grandmothers from HACT’s Gogo Support Groups programme, many of whom have several young grandchildren who currently miss out on their daily school meals.
ALSO READ: Meet Freddie Kruger: No nightmares just food for people in Seaview
“The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in enormous food security risks for many vulnerable households in our communities and, while HACT and many other organisations are working hard to provide emergency food parcels to these families, the reality is they are very costly and it will not be easy to keep going in the long-run,” said HACT’s Phindiwe Mashiloane.
HACT’s Home Garden project aims to give needy families a sustainable source of nutrition that will help prevent hunger in the coming months of ongoing employment disruptions and loss.
“The supply of fresh, seasonal vegetables will also help to keep their immune systems strong and healthy,” said Phindiwe.
She noted that this was an important factor for many of the gogos and their young families who are at high risk of infection as a result of HIV/AIDS, TB, heart disease and a myriad of other prevailing health issues.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.
