Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU) student Francisca Darkoh, who runs a food business called FoodbyFranniDee, recently partnered with the GreenPeace Foundation SA to organise a soup kitchen on campus for Mandela Day.
Darkoh, who is pursuing an MSc in Physiological Sciences, has made it her mission to tackle one of the Sustainable Development Goals, #ZeroHunger, by assisting students with meals during tough periods of the year. These include during registration and at exam time when many students with funding difficulties find it even more challenging to afford food.
While the plan is to run the soup kitchen as frequently as possible, it is currently only feasible for it to be held once a month. So far, two soup kitchens have been held, both coinciding with commemorative days – Youth Day in June and then Mandela Day in July.
As a Mandela Rhodes scholar who has served in various student leadership positions, Darkoh is able to apply her skills and leverage her access to resources and funding to organise the soup kitchen. A team of volunteers, including Darkoh's sister and other students from the Senior Living Spaces (SLS) Cluster, helped with the preparation and cooking for the Youth Day offering. “It was good to see people that I've never even met before come together and be like, Fran, we are here to assist you," she said.
“I have always wanted to give back, because I did not get this far just by myself. It has been people chipping in here and there, inviting me to places. I have had this desire to say thank you." Speaking from her own experience as a student, Darkoh added: “I know that around this time, people struggle with some going home and others staying in residence. If people are sitting around on campus, it often means they don't have money to go home and they don't have money for food."
Liyabona George, a BA Honours French student who was at the Youth Day soup kitchen, shared her appreciation. “It was a good way to bond with people, sit down and break bread. Overall, it was a positive experience and I feel like more of them should be done at periods like these to help make a dent in the food security challenge that many students face."
These sentiments were echoed by Siyabonga Masango, a student leader in the SLS cluster and a volunteer who assisted with the preparation. “This was a great initiative, especially during this time as students struggle with food security. This project helped where it could, and hundreds of students were served."
“I decided to cook food that my friends and I would also want to eat," said Darkoh of her meal preparation for the soup kitchen. It was important to respect the dignity of the students by serving good-quality food. She was able to provide over 200 meals, with some food still left over for students to enjoy later.
Beyond building community, the Youth Day Soup Kitchen exemplifies three of SU's values, equity, compassion and respect, in action. “This initiative is particularly important for senior students who are less likely to get bursaries and financial support. We noticed that many senior students showed up for the soup kitchen, which suggests that if we unite over such initiatives, it will be of great benefit to the SLS community," Masango concluded.
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