The garden of life
ZANDSPRUIT - He saw the challenges in his community and acted upon them.
It was just three years ago when Alpheus Mashile of Zandspruit saw the dire need of food in his community.
Working as a volunteer in the home-based care project of the local clinic exposed Mashile to some of the challenges faced by the sick people they visited.
“We wondered why some of the people were not getting any better, then it came out that those people did not have any food,” explained Mashile.
“You cannot have medication on an empty stomach, you will not get any better,” he added.
With that said, he felt he could do something to change the situation.
“I knew that with my hands, I can make a difference and not expect the government to do everything for us.”
That prompted the birth of The Best of Mapulaneng – a community project aimed at making a difference in the community of Zandspruit.
Mashile started a vegetable garden, that he believes changed a lot of resident’s lives for the better.
“Within six months of the project running, those who were very sick got better because they took their medication on full stomachs now.”
He mentioned that at the beginning of the project, he gave the sick people vegetables from his garden but with that he experienced other challenges.
“Some people were too sick to even get out of bed to cook the vegetables as some of them lived on their own.”
Another challenge was that some of them didn’t have pots to cook the vegetables.
He then decided to start a soup kitchen with the help of two women from the community, where they are able to cook and serve 77 elderly and sick people in his community.
“We cook three meals a day for them, just to make sure that they have their medication on full stomachs and they fetch the food here.”
He said all this was made possible by help from different stakeholders.
“The City Council (City of Joburg, Region C) allowed us to use their 11 hectares of land to grow the vegetable garden,” said Mashile.
Local businesses also contribute to their daily running.
“New Leaf donates seeds to us, the butcher down the road also gives us meat from time to time so the people we feed definitely have nutritious food daily.”
A local businessman also donated building material, which made it possible for them to build a proper soup kitchen where they serve the food.”
A church from Weltevreden Park also donated water pipes to help with irrigating the garden.
Though it all looks good, Mashile said he needs donations to fence and secure the garden.
“At the moment, people just walk through the garden and I fear that because this is just on an open veld, some might even steal the vegetables.”
Jerry Dzimande, one of the people fed through the programme, said the beneficiaries are pleased to have people like Mashile in their community.
“I don’t know where would we be without his assistance, food is one less thing to worry about ever since he started feeding us.”
Details: Alpheus Mashile 084 585 0752, 082 551 4604.
