Gertrude a beacon of hope for poor, hungry in Nemato
Woman helps feed those left destitute after lockdown
Asolid meal was always part of the day at Sikhulise Skills Development. The project, based in a building opposite the Port Alfred Police Station, came to a halt when hard lockdown restrictions were implemented in 2020.
With any form of gathering banned, Gertrude Sigonyela was also forced to stop the meals she had been providing there.
So hungry people simply followed her to her house.
“My phone never stopped ringing,” she said.
Desperate people whom she used to feed at Sikhulise Skills Development would ask, “Mama, where are you”?
Soon, her house in Nemato became a beacon of hope for the needy.
Sigonyela said at Sikhulise Development Centre, not only men had come for food at her house, they came with their children and other family members.
“The numbers of the people have increased because it’s closer.
“It’s much easier for people to come with their kids and family and you cannot turn them away,” Sigonyela said.
“Sometimes they do not only come on Tuesdays and Fridays; they come any day of the week to ask if I have something.
“I end up sharing with them everything I have.
“Others just come to help me with washing or house chores, then I know that they need something to eat,” she said.
Sigonyela said she was grateful for support from the Port Alfred Soup Kitchen and individual donors, but the numbers of hungry people coming to her was growing every day. She has now turned to gardening to try and meet the huge need.
“I am about to start planting veggies in my yard, but I am a bit concerned about goats wandering in the township,” she said.
If someone out there has an old fence that he or she is about to get rid of, Sigonyela would make good use of it to protect the fledgling food garden. “I am doing this for the people. I know God is watching over me,” she said.
If you’d like to support Sigonyela’s work in the community, and a goat-proofing fence is not within your means, please consider donating non-perishable food, or fuel. Here are some suggestions:
Ingredients for soup such as split peas, beans, samp and soup powder;
Firewood for cooking;
Gas to cook on when it rains.
Any donations can be dropped off at the Talk of the Town office, 29 Miles Street, Port Alfred.