How many of has the ability to be able to be our children’s nurturer and protector. Unfortunately some children grow up at different ages not having that parental figure in their lives. According to statistics in 2018, there were 2.7 million orphans in South Africa. This includes children without a living biological mother, father or both parents, which is equivalent to 14% of all children in South Africa. The poorest households in our country carry the greatest burden of care for orphans with close to half of all orphans residing in the poorest of households in our country. Each year the amount of children that become orphaned increases around 4%.

We have had the honour of dealing with orphanages and the foster mothers and fathers that have taken on this responsibility of nurturing and caring for these children. These include Ghafoor Charity, Orphans of Surrey Estate and Vision amongst others. The sacrifices that these special people make to care for these orphaned children overwhelms us as they shared their stories of their journey with these kids.

In a beautiful verse of the Quran, the Almighty indicates that orphans should be honoured and respected. Over the past few days we managed to distribute Eid gift boxes to 100 orphaned children. Not only does this small gesture provide hope to the orphaned but it eliminates the feeling of loneliness as they feel loved. It is amazing how these little faces light up and are filled with joy upon receiving a gift.

We would like to thank the sponsors that donated towards this initiative, may you be rewarded for honouring, caring and respecting the rights of those orphaned children.

Everything in life has a beginning and an end, created by the Almighty for a purpose. Similarly, the Almighty created everything in pairs or opposites, whether night and day, hot and cold, happiness and sadness or male and female . The purpose of this is for us to reflect and ponder regarding the Creator and his creation.

We look at the growth of a seed, how the ground is generous taking in compost and allow the seed to grow beautifully. Not only is there lessons to be learnt from ground, but for us to understand the growth of the seed into a plant. In our daily lives growth is important, whether for self development, for our spirituality, the growth of our children or even our business and career. In many instances in our lives we need to continue to move forward, learn from things that happened in the past and find our way to grow in all aspects of our lives.

As an organisation, 15 months ago we were able to feed 10% being 250 people in one sitting, today we feed 2,500 people. This growth has been exponential in this short time frame, however this growth is not by mere chance, it is a result of each one of us working together to provide for those suffering from hunger and most importantly the assistance from the Almighty God. Although growth may seem uncomfortable at first, the main reason for this is that we have not been in this position before. Our children are the future of tomorrow, in a country facing challenges of gangsterism, drugs, kidnapping amongst other things we need to nurture our children to become better human beings which may have a positive effect on society. They should be taught to love all of creation, to always show acts of kindness despite this not being reciprocated and to be compassionate and care for those faced with adversities.

Today we fed the communities of Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Lavender Hill, Lotus River, Grassy Park and Vrygrond. Many people in these communities suffer from poverty and hunger. In winter months when it is cold hunger becomes even more challenging as people seek food amongst other things to provide warmth.

May we all be a means to assist those in need, even if it be in the form of providing hope and warmth with a plate a food. We would like to thank all our sponsors and the team for your continuous support to make this possible, may we continue to grow together on this journey to allow those in need to benefit from our actions. As Nelson Mandela said, “It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences and that if people can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

See below some pictures of todays feeding:

Poverty in our country has become extreme as we witness many more people homeless, people living in tents alongside our roads and an increase in people begging at robots. In a report from the UN Human Development Index and Human Development it states that, “South Africa is grappling with great inequalities, which contribute to extreme poverty. The United Nations’ 17 Global Goals together work towards ending extreme poverty and its systemic causes. Yet these goals can only be achieved if unequal countries like South Africa come to terms with serious inequalities and work towards sustainable solutions to eradicate poverty. In our country we have less than 10% of people possessing more than 50% of the countries income, whereas approximately 20% of people in our country lives on R28 a day, less than R1,000 a month.

Just imagine that one in five people suffers from extreme poverty! Yes our country requires investment in infrastructure to sustainably assist our communities to provide education and create job opportunities, but this remains a challenge as government officials spend billions on wasteful expenditure. This has resulted an increased activity whereby communities are taking the law into their own hands, whether it be to fight crime or assist with providing food to people. Since covid many more organisations were started to assist in poverty relief, but we each can play a role in the interim to assist in the alleviation of poverty in our country, whether it be with shelter, food or another means.

What you can do to make a difference is to contribute in anyway towards these initiatives with the aim of alleviating poverty. In our holy scriptures, our Creator asks us, “Were you not created for a purpose?” Yes that purpose is to worship him, but have we considered our role in being of assistance to his creation? As humans we all want to make a difference and at times we feel empty, but let’s strive to fill our emptiness with serving humanity. May our efforts allow us to remain humble, make us more generous and allow us to be the means to the impoverished, orphaned and destitute.

Today we managed to feed 2,500 people of Khayelitsha, Vrygrond, Lavender Hill, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Parkwood and Egoli informal settlement taking the total mouths fed to 42,550. These are communities where many people are unemployed and high criminal activity due to gangsterism and drugs.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank the team and all our sponsors for your support and generosity, together we can make a difference.

Below are some pictures:

How many of us aim to accomplish certain things in our lives, we have goals but many times we end up not achieving the objectives we set out to achieve. After being in and out of our minds reflecting how we failed or could have done better, we end up giving up. Many of us feel as though we lived this story thousands of times and yet we end up not having a solution. In life we have many setbacks, we go through many trials and tribulations, but as human beings these are lessons we need to learn from and reflect on where we went wrong.

The key to achieving anything is to persevere and this requires consistency. Every success in our lives, everything that has a value is a product of consistency. Todays feeding with the feedings in Belhar this week has allowed us to feed 40,050 people to date, this would not have been achieved without a pure intention, perseverance and consistency.

Today we fed 2,500 people from the communities of Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Lavender Hill, Vrygrond and Ottery. How much need is there in our communities and despite the little resources and funds available we all strive towards making a difference of instilling hope in the lives of the impoverished, orphaned and destitute. Lessons we learnt on our journey is taking small steps to achieving our objectives and no matter how small the initiative being consistent and perseverance has made this possible with the mercy of our Creator.

There are many signs that we see on a daily basis but how many of us are blinded by things that will not benefit us and humanity. Have you ever reflected at the suns beauty in the early morning and how the trees and everything is at peace. Surely we want this for ourselves, to obtain inner peace, even just for a single moment. So why do we keep chasing things that does not matter and in the end we end up where we started? Should we not rather focus on the little things which seem trivial such as being generous, having patience in both good and bad times and know that we were created for a purpose. Is part of our purpose not to serve the creation of the Almighty and being consistent and having patience whilst on our journey?

We would like to that all our sponsors, the team and all those that strive to assist, we are forever grateful and your reward lies with the Almighty in being of service to humanity. Without your support all this would not be possible.

Below are some pictures of this weeks feeding:

Belhar feedings:

Khayelitsha feeding:

Other pictures of today:

As we bid farewell to the holy month of Ramadan, we wanted to end the month off on a high. Today we were fortunate to cook nine pots of food feeding 2,500 people and tomorrow we will be able to put a smile on 100 orphans faces with Eid party packs.

Today we fed the communities of Ottery, Lotus River, Manenberg, Egoli and Parkwood. How grateful we are to our sponsors for allowing us to cook 800kg rice, 150kg soya and 100kg meat for the impoverished and destitute.

May the lessons of this month benefit us throughout the year and be the reason for changing our lives to benefit humanity.

We wish to send our prayers to the families which contributed a pot for their deceased love ones. May the feeding be a benefit for them in the hereafter. To all our sponsors, all those assisting in preparation, contribution in cash and kind and to the team, we are eternally grateful for your assistance as the feeding today would not have been possible without your support.

Few pics of todays feeding:

Zakaah is one of the five pillars of Islam, which is obligatory on every muslim which meets the necessary criteria calculated as 2,5% of their wealth to help the needy. The basis of Zakaah is in order to prevent the widespread of poverty, which aligns with our key objective. When we have in our hands that someone else needs, the Almighty is answering their prayers through us. When we accept this opportunity, we say yes to being an instrument of the Almighty. Our gratitude to the Almighty is therefore not merely based on words of praise but also based on charitable acts of service to his creation.
Zakaah is thus a blessing from the Almighty, because it is through the purification of our worldly attachments that we expand and progress in our spiritual life.

Today we managed to provide 150 families with food parcels from Parkwood, Lentegeur, Vrygrond, Ottery and surrounding areas. With your Zakaah we are able to nourish and sustain a family with food for at least a week or two.

We would like to thank everyone for trusting us with your Zakaah and we hope we met or exceeded your expectations. May the Almighty increase your wealth and grant you and everyone the best of health. It is important to note that we draw closer to the Almighty not through what we have, but through what we give. Since everything that is in our hands is perishing, it is only what we give for the sake of God that we ever really hold on to.

Below are some pictures of todays food parcels distribution:

Just under a year we embarked on this journey to assist people within our communities suffering due from poverty. Our goal within the 12 months was to feed 30,000 mouths and today we managed to achieve that goal. We managed to feed 1,700 mouths, taking the total mouths fed to date to 31,050. Distribution points for today were Lavender Hill, Manenberg. Egoli Informal Settlement and Parkwood.

These areas are filled with gangsterism and drugs. The scars of the apartheid-forced removals run deep in these areas within the Cape Flats, historically designated for people of colour and referred to as ‘apartheid’s dumping ground’. These forced removals of black individuals meant that they had to relocate to the surrounding areas of Cape Town, namely the Cape Flats. People in these areas fed today were cut off from the city, with no regular public transport and very little infrastructure. This led to very little development with regards to job opportunities thus suffering due to unemployment. Today, poverty and drugs now feed into entrenched and sophisticated gang structures that infect these communities.

People in these communities should not be looked down upon for the circumstances they find themselves in, as it could have been anyone of us facing the same adversity of poverty. How grateful should we be for all the blessings we have been granted? The best way to show our gratefulness to the Almighty is to love humanity. This entails striving through ones actions to help humanity.

Lastly to end off, the following story was conveyed to me:

It is highly recommended during the month of Ramadan to eat as late as possible in the morning when commencing fast and to break fast as quick as possible in the evening. A man then asked whether he is able to fast for two consecutive days. Confused the people asked the man, why would you want to fast for two consecutive days? The man responded, the reason he asked the question was due to him only being able to provide a meal for his family ever second day.

How many of our fridges are filled, cupboards stocked up and yet we say we have nothing to eat. May the Almighty grant us the understanding to be grateful for all the favours bestowed upon us and to serve humanity for many years.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank our sponsors, the team and everyone that contributed in cash or otherwise, without your assistance we would never have achieve our goal. Together we can achieve more.

As the blessed month of Ramadan commences this evening we would like to firstly thank the Almighty for affording us the opportunity to reach this holy month in order to reap the blessings it brings. Ramadan (the month the Quran was revealed) is but one month of the twelve months of a year, but this month has many benefits which allows us to evaluate our relationship with our creator, as well as our sincerity in our intentions and our actions. It’s a time for introspection, as well as a time to increase our good deeds and charities allowing us to recondition ourselves for the next 11 months of the year. Fasting is not about losing body weight, but it’s about losing the weight of our sins and learning to detach from the ego that weighs us down.

Today we managed to feed approximately 2,000 mouths in Khayelitsha, Vrygrond and Hazendal taking the total mouths fed to date to 29,350 mouths fed to date. We would like to thank everyone who contributed in cash, with ingredients, in time preparing, cooking and cleaning, we are grateful for your contributions. May your lives be filled with many blessings, good health and increased wealth.

Let us not forget those in our communities in need of food due to the adversity of poverty. May we assist them to be able to eradicate poverty in their lives, even by providing a plate of food to remove them from a state of hopelessness. Just as we empty our stomachs of food and feeling what it is to be hungry, we should empty our senses from everything that does not bring us closer to the Almighty. Just as it takes a baby nine months in the belly of its mother to develop, the moon many nights to become full, the caterpillar weeks in a cocoon to become a butterfly, through the days of Ramadan and fasting, we will transform our faith. By bettering ourselves, we are able to better assist humanity and make a difference in our communities.

Few pics of today’s feeding initiative below:

Our Human Rights initiative was established to assist the elderly and children with much needed essentials such as food and water. Many questions were asked why we would provide a hotdog due to its nutritious value and water that does not provide a sustainable solution. When one has nothing, this creates a sense of hopelessness and our aim of this initiative was to create excitement and hope to people in informal settlements letting them know people do care.

Today we managed to feed 1,300 people taking the total mouths fed to 27,350 and provided 1,000 people with a 5 litre clean drinkable water. Additionally we managed to receive further donations of candles and masks which we also provided to the informal settlements. The informal settlements we served today was Valhalla Park, Pooke Road, The Vlei and Egoli.

It is said they water is life, which is true as everything requires water to survive. Although we are dependent on water, there are many lessons we can learn. As you know “Life is like water, if you block one side, it takes another turn to continue its journey.” This is extremely important as we learn that throughout our lives we might experience failure, however we should continue our journey to achieve of goals like water continues its journey despite the obstacles. We hope that the people fed today was given hope and allows them to look at life in a positive manner despite the challenges they face.

We would like to thank the Almighty, the team, volunteers and all our sponsors that made this possible.

Preparation pictures:

Valhalla Park distribution

Pooke Road and The Vlei distribution

Egoli distribution