We want people to earn our free veg
With generosity in their hearts, two young men are feeding impoverished – but not the lazy – households in Inchanga
SPURRED on by a spirit of generosity, two young men have restored hope to hundreds of Inchanga residents who were going to bed on empty stomachs – but now have lush vegetables delivered to their homes for free.
The Fredville area, which is home to former ethekwini mayor James Nxumalo, made headlines after it was plagued by political violence which claimed lives.
However, the ever zealous Inchanga agricultural youth project co-founders, Sifezile Dladla and Velemseni Raula, did not despair of their goal of feeding the poor.
The duo sacrificed their jobs two years ago to start crop-growing to realise their dream of feeding the needy by targeting pensioners and child-headed households.
These Good Samaritans, Dladla, 25, and Raula, 26, said they started the project without expecting to be paid.
“We started crops ‘out of love’ and to also show the youth that it was possible to feed their families despite their unemployment status. We are happy with the progress made in terms of encouraging people to start vegetable crops,” Raula said.
They said although there were no financial benefits for them, they were happy to provide fresh produce for their families and neighbours at no cost.
With a large rate of youth unemployment, the young men have become a beacon of hope to the impoverished community which mainly relied on government support grants.
“We do not sell our produce because our mandate is not to make a profit but to feed the poor. We know one day our hard work will be recognised. Money is not the only source of joy, it is about the goodness in each of us that makes the change in the community.
“We also do not want to betray our core purpose of this concept which is to feed while encouraging the youth to follow in our footsteps.
“Our love for this community is deeply rooted in our hearts. It breaks our hearts to see families struggling to find food because of ridiculous prices in the markets while people are not employed.
“We collaborate with schools and clinics to identify poor families. We use pupils as our ambassadors to identify those needing food since they are the ones coming from these families and experiencing hunger,” said Dladla, who runs a crop garden in his backyard.
Although many organisations running feeding schemes have been lauded for providing food to the poor, Dladla said their concept differed slightly from others because it discouraged laziness.
“We only give food to people who cannot help themselves. We do not encourage giving food to people who are lazy. If a person is young and fit to start his own crop we teach him the basics and give him seed to start his crop. The dependency syndrome should come to an end; we do not support it,” he said.
Dladla added that when they started, others did not give them a chance, but now they have earned respect from the community.
They use organic methods to grow spinach, turnips, green beans, beetroot, cabbage, chillies, green pepper, onions, tomatoes, strawberries, butternut, and potatoes.
Dladla and Raula advised tobacco smokers to boil turnips and drink its juice to avoid contracting lung cancer.