When asked, “Why do you love school? “, Nomvula answered, “I love to play with my friends and I love the jungle gym and I love to paint pictures with my teacher”. Nomvula’s mother is a cashier at a local store and she has a beautiful little home. At night, she cooks Nomvula a warm supper of pap, pilchards, and spinach, thereafter tucking her into her bed safely. Nomvula is so blessed.
We asked little Buhle the same question, yet his answer was in such contrast to that of Nomvula’s. He looked up with a sparkle in his eyes and, without hesitation, exclaimed “I eat food at school!”.
Buhle and his family, like another 752 000 households in KwaZulu Natal, face hunger daily. Buhle arrives at school with sunken eyes all too often. His clothes are disheveled, his stomach is rumbling, and he is eerily quiet. His teacher quickly serves him a warm bowl of porridge, and as his tummy begins to fill, his face begins to light up again.
When the holidays come around though……no school means no food.
This has been Buhle’s life for the past three years.
Project Hope put out a plea for help on social media recently. We needed to support Buhle’s family and another twenty-three families like his.
Beautiful individuals came forward with donations of food. One, a local pastor who took from his personal food budget in faith. And then, City Hope heard our plea and called to bless us with 626 kgs of food.
Buhle and his little family have not had to face hunger this holiday. Buhle has been blessed with three meals a day. Buhle has had the best holiday!
Coming to a Project Hope preschool means so much more than just an education.
Project Hope is the answer to prayer and the rainbow after the storm.
