NomondeSoup Kitchen

Coronavirus. Food shortages. Soup kitchens. These three words strike a chord within the hearts of many residents in Makana. The pandemic outbreak in 2020 left many people in Makana without jobs or the necessary resources to support themselves and their families. With limited or no income, people couldn’t afford necessities like food. 

Ms Nomonde Waka-Caliber, who has been a Makana resident since the 1980s and had worked as a volunteer in Masifunde Education and Development Trust until its closure, saw the need to support the people in straitened circumstances. In May 2020, the opportunity to open up soup kitchens arose. Ms Nomonde, along with other volunteers, were more than willing to engage in the project. “Some people were losing jobs, some were getting less money for salaries, some didn’t have food to put on the table, so we decided that there’s a need to volunteer ourselves to do that,” Ms Nomonde shared her sentiment.

With the support of Tim Bull, a member of the Makana Residents’ Association, and ward councillors, 25 soup kitchens were made operational in 2020, receiving support from old pensioners, businesses around the town and Gift of the Givers. With this support kitchens got monthly groceries, fortnightly vegetables and gas cylinders, enabling the kitchens to be fully operational until February 2021. 

Ms Nomonde, now operating a soup kitchen in Extension 9, said that despite the prevailing pandemic, no one who visited her kitchen got the virus. Necessary measures were taken to raise awareness and protect the people who worked and got food from there. Beyond February 2021, it was difficult for the kitchens to remain operational due to the shortage of funding. However, Ms Nomonde is still pushing for her kitchen to stay active as it supports the livelihood of many people in her area.