Lebogang Mokoena, a 32-year-old woman from Zandspruit, has 3 children aged 13, 9 and 5 years. She has raised them on her own because their father walked out on them. They faced hunger on a daily basis. Then things changed.
Her kids were malnourished and unwell. “You’re hungry and then you are sick, it is all too sad,” she says. They spent many days hungry, scared and not knowing where their next meal would come from. “Hunger limits you in a way that is difficult to describe, where there are more days in the month than there is food in our mouths, it felt like sometimes the world had forgotten about us, but then we met people from HOPE worldwide who treated us with respect, and provided us with meals, the kindness that was shown to me and my children cannot be overstated,” Lebogang says.
“My kids and I are healthier and happier now, and we owe our new found joy to HOPE worldwide,” she adds. When you feed the hungry you not only help nourish their minds and bodies but you give hope. That is why, we at HOPE worldwide SA, through our nutrition programme and our partnership with KFC’s Add Hope initiative, are committed to giving poor and disadvantaged children the nutritional needs they deserve.
Let’s not forget that full tummies mean better growth and learning. Please continue to Add a little Hope this world hunger month.
By Thato Mosikare and Percy Matshoba – Media and Marketing