The community in Concordia, Knysna will soon have a sustainable food garden to help meet the needs of the local soup kitchen.
Knysna, South Africa (29 May 2020) – The way forward in South Africa is to create sustainable projects for food security. The lockdown has put a spotlight on just how fragile the food system is and how many youths are going without nourishing food.
Joshua Buchalter and friend Raphaël Ceillier joined forces to make a difference in Knysna. Raphaël started a non-profit organisation, Sparking Minds, three years ago and has been working in Concordia, helping boost child welfare through various projects.
Raphaël started collecting funds for food parcels, and they got busy helping as many people in the community as possible! The thing that bugged the guys though was seeing just how great the need was and not knowing how to make the food parcels sustainable.
Sparking Minds was supporting a soup kitchen in the community, and after a visit with the owner, they knew a long-term solution was needed. The soup kitchen was being overwhelmed by the need of the community.
“So it goes back to that well-known saying… if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for life! And then it was clear, this soup kitchen didn’t just need the immediate support of food packages, they needed to become more sustainable but lacked the resources to achieve this.”
It was through this process that the guys learned the “dump” across the road, was land owned by Rob, who was frustrated that it had become a dump. They had identified the space as the perfect place to start a garden that would supply the soup kitchen with fresh vegetables. This was discussed with Rob and he was happy to finally have a real purpose for the land.
“We went to visit the soup kitchen and discovered that the owner of a piece of land right in front of the soup kitchen coincidentally also had the idea to do something sustainable with the land. However, since nothing was being done with this land, it had been used as a rubbish dump for the past several years.
Raphaël and I teamed up with Rob (owner of the land) as well as two other gentlemen, Khaya and Ntshebe along with a few other members of the community. Since teaming up over two weeks ago, our vision has been quite simple…. transform the rubbish dump into a vegetable garden to provide for the soup kitchen long term!”
The team worked tirelessly to clear the area and have been successful. Now they start the process of setting up the garden. They are hoping the entire Knysna community will help them make the project a reality. The guys reached out to spread the word of their project.
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So if you would like to find our more or get involved, you can find them on Facebook here. They are currently raising funds for more materials for the garden. If you would like to support the non-profit, you can find their details below.
Sparking Minds Bank Account
First National Bank
Branch Code: 210214
Account Number: 62715030087
Swift Code: FIRNZAJJXXX
41 Main Street, 6571, Knysna
Tel: 0718776623
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