Hearty meal warms needy souls

A GROUP of Nompumelelo residents who started an organisation called Thuma-mna to care for vulnerable and underprivileged people in the community yesterday cooked a hearty meal for about 20 people as part of giving back on national Women’s Day.

After recognising the need to help out in the poverty-stricken area, Thuma-mna attends to sick and bedridden people, and often visits the nearby clinic to get medication for residents who are unable to do so.

The seven-member group yesterday prepared a healthy meal for a bedridden man, Headman Zekevu, 44, who suffered a stroke last year and lost the use of both his legs.

The rest of the residents for whom the group cooked also came to Zekevu’s house for the meal.

“I am very excited that they are here helping me because sometimes when my wife is not around I have to crawl from the bed to the front door to ask someone for help.

“The shops nearby have also reached out and provided me with some goods which helps a lot,” Zekevu said.

One Thuma-mna member, Zoliswa Tsonono, said when they take Zekevu to the nearby clinic they have to carry him because he does not have a wheelchair to use.

When he goes to Mdantsane for medical attention, he pays a taxi R150 to assist him in getting there.

“It gets hard sometimes but I am very grateful that there are people out there who still care enough to help people like me,” he said.

Tsonono said they started the organisation last month trying to make a difference in the community because there were many people who needed their help.

“We don’t have a lot to give but the little we have, we give away freely from our hearts and we feel that we needed to share it.

“People like Headman are in desperate need of our help . . . but we also need assistance to carry out our work here,” she said.

Last month Thuma-mna cleaned the home of a disabled man which looked inhabitable.

“We needed to help him clean up his house because he cannot do it anymore. When he goes to the clinic, we have to carry him with our hands because he doesn’t have a wheelchair,” Tsonono said yesterday.

Another member, Lebisa Tsolo, said she wanted to be a part of a group which was making a difference in her community.

“We live in a poverty-stricken area and we also don’t have the means to help out as far and wide as we would like to because we are unemployed, but we need to help those in a worse position than ourselves.” —