HACT recently launched a new “Home Garden” project as part of its local COVID-19 relief efforts. The project, which involves supplying gogo (granny) headed households with vegetable seedlings to start a home vegetable garden, has already benefitted 220 grannies and their families living in Molweni, KwaNyusuwa and Inchanga.
65 year-old, Irene Nduli who lives in Molweni with her three children and five grandchildren says the project has given her hope for the future. “The past few months have been very difficult” says Mngadi, “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 are currently missing out on their daily school meals as HACT’s Phindiwe Mashiloane explains; “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 will not be easy to keep going in the long-run.”
HACT’s Home Garden project therefore aims to give needy families a sustainable source of nutrition that will help prevent hunger over 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,” says Mashiloane, 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.
Want to help? Click here to make a donation towards HACT’s Home Garden project.
Or donate via EFT:
Bank: Nedbank
Bank Acc No: 1147961433
Acc Name: Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust
Branch: Hillcrest – 133826
Ref: Please use your full name and send an email to fundraising@hillaids.org.za confirming your donation is for the home gardens project.
All donations are tax deductible.