"You always want an event to be successful not just in terms of reach but also in touching people's lives."
These were the words of Francisca Darkoh, a postgraduate student who runs a food business, FoodbyFrannieDee, and makes a point of using South Africa's public holidays to organise soup kitchens for students who are hungry.
To date, she's organised three soup kitchens this year - on Youth Day in June, Mandela Day in July, and on Heritage Day 0n 24 September. While most were enjoying Heritage Day with a braai or taking a rest from academics, Darkoh and a team of volunteers were hard at work with the planning and preparations for the soup kitchen.
She's particularly thankful to those individuals, organisations and businesses that made it possible for her to host a soup kitchen in the first place.
“I had one Resident Head give some money. I had one lady from Development and Alumni Relations give some money as well, and a couple of friends contributed, but the biggest donations were from the non-profit organisation GreenPeace Foundation SA, Spar Constantia, and WholeSun Breads," she explained.
Darkoh says that hosting soup kitchens, has helped her learn new skills and a few lessons along the way. Following the soup kitchens in June and July, she was “better prepared this time" and ensured that there were enough containers and extra food, just in case, for the more than 200 students who came.
“I was also glad that we were able to host our last soup kitchen on Heritage Day, because people were celebrating their culture through dance, and it was so beautiful to see."
Thasmae Gowraki, a BCom (Management Sciences) student, said that she found it significant that the soup kitchen was held on Heritage Day as “it's also a day [where] different cultures and everyone gets to celebrate together". This year, the celebration also included a plate of food that created a sense of community amongst students as they enjoyed a meal together.
“Heritage Day provided us to with an opportunity to celebrate the diverse food cultures of South Africa through what we served."
John Hingle, a postgraduate student and one of the volunteers, agreed that Heritage Day was the perfect day for such a “good initiative", as it brought people of different cultures together over a meal.
“It was very interesting to see the different foods from different cultures. I told the one person that was also helping that you'll never see someone eating chicken feet, quiche and cheesecake all in one dish."
The soup kitchen was held outside Huis Russel Botman House (HRBH), with the varied music playlist and the diverse menu creating a welcoming and familiar atmosphere for the students in attendance. Beyond the food, the soup kitchen provided an opportunity for South Africa's diverse cultures to be celebrated as some students dressed up in their traditional attire.
The food that was prepared and served is also testament to Darkoh's insistence that the meals were delicious and filling.
“We must ensure that we uphold and respect the dignity of the students who attend."
Regalo Dube, a BSc (Computer Science) student, shared his appreciation.
“The soup kitchen is a great initiative, [because] food is always a good way to bring people together and the servings were quite large," he added.
“It's definitely an initiative that was well run and well put together and something I'd like to see continue even when I'm not here."
At the heart of the soup kitchens that have been organised throughout the year is the very real issue of food insecurity, which affects thousands of students at higher education institutions across South Africa each year, and the same is true at Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU).
“I know that registration period is super tough for students who do not have accommodation. In terms of the accommodation and the registration crisis, the last thing you should be thinking about is how you will get food. So, if I can get donors, sponsors and the manpower, the idea is to hopefully have this every day of a tough registration period before classes start. The same with the recess period," said Darkoh.
Darkoh is a Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF) scholar and a member of the Listen Liven and Learn (LLL) programme at SU. Her hope is to start a collaboration between MRF and the LLL programme to realise Sustainable Development Goal 7, ensuring #ZeroHunger, and providing a more sustainable solution to food insecurity at SU.
“Now that I am in the LLL programme, I want to initiate the #ZeroHunger SDG and see how my second year with the MRF and the LLL programme can work together to achieve this common goal that we have."
