ANSA International Program Blog

In Khayalitsha, South Africa, Johanna walks from shack to shack identifying orphans and vulnerable families in some of the poorest areas in the Western Cape.  She walks slowly and gingerly side to side in unbuckled black sandals, her feet swollen and sore from complications of diabetes.  In her 60's, Johanna is one of the youngest of Ikamva Labantu's "door to door mamas", a feisty and determined group of grannies taking care of their community one step, one household at a time.

With a long history of poor access to healthy foods, diabetes is common among township residents, so it was an appropriate focus for the first nutrition workshop given for the mamas this month by Ikamva Labantu's fabulous new Health and Nutrition Manager, Lulama Sigasana. 

Global agency Community Servings' Director of Operations (fabulous guy shown here assembling food parcels) and I attended the workshop and witnessed Lulama's brilliance in delivering culturally-appropriate nutrition and health information.  The mamas first got an overview of how various food groups benefit younger and older bodies, using only realistic, locally available food options as examples.  The women then received excellent information about their own health, including what exactly is going on inside the body when a person - like Johanna - has diabetes.  The women also received valuable knowledge to share with vulnerable individuals they encounter every day.  Eager for more information, they asked if Lulama could return every fortnight!  

The workshop was the ideal first step in an extensive nutrition education and enhancement program now being rolled out in 17 townships served by Ikamva Labantu.  This work is made possible by a partnership between ANSA international partners and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), enabling the strategic integration of nutrition into the continuum of care for individuals and families living with or affected by HIV and other health concerns at both the community and the provincial service levels in South Africa.  And anyone who has been to South Africa recently can tell you that if you want to make a real impact on health issues in the townships, the best place to start is with the caregivers, the foster mothers, the creche coordinators and the community angels...in other words, the grannies.

Peace to all...Mary

In late February, Doug Gosling of ANSA global agency Food for Thought and Steve Bolinger of ANSA supporting partner Development in Gardening (DIG) stood in a rarely-visited informal settlement in central Namibia studying a hopelessly rocky, slanted plot of land.  Looking out over the grounds of ANSA's Namibian partner Hope Initiatives' new home, the two garden gurus saw what no one else could imagine: fresh food, and lots of it. 

Over the next two weeks Doug and Steve inspired nearly two dozen staff and volunteers to dig, rake, till and sew until the seemingly impossible patch of earth was made into a welcome space to grow fresh produce and offer education and income opportunities for the local community.  The garden was designed to be not only functional but beautiful, working with the natural slope of the land and making use of the rocks for pathways, row markers, shading and even benches.  Fourteen plastic-lined, in-ground beds were dug and planted, and an array of "garbage to garden" seedling nurseries were made out of plastic bottles, bags and tires.

Jonathan Norton from Operation Lionheart added a wonderful container garden element with a generous donation of six Earthboxes, and another 122 boxes are due to be added in April. 

Four Hope Initiatives staff - nutritionist Amkelani, gardener Petros, support group facilitator Cecilia and youth mentor Lucas Sem - and a community team of 14 men and women were trained on all key aspects of gardening, including plant selection and placement, fertilization, composting, irrigation and use of area grasses and plants.

The garden will be used to feed the hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children cared for by Hope Initiatives and to teach community members in-ground and container garden techniques.  Eventually the garden will also provide a local market option for fresh foods within the settlements.

Doug and Steve generously donated their time to share their years of expertise with the Hope Initiatives community.  We are deeply grateful to them and to Jonathan for their extraordinary contributions and we look forward to their return visits to Hope Initiatives over the years to see - literally - the fruits of their labor.  

This unique collaboration between ANSA, Food for Thought, Hope Initiatives, DIG and Operation Lionheart provided more than just an opportunity to create something useful and beautiful for people in severe need in Namibia.  It provided an opportunity for all of us to increase and strengthen our own capacity and expand our network of valuable partnerships with people and organizations doing outstanding work in Africa.  Together we and the informal settlement communities will be reaping what we've all sewn for many years to come.

Peace to all...Mary