Mustadafin Food Drive Performs “Miracles”

On Saturday the 2^nd of June, the Mustadafin Foundation, in collaboration with Cape Talk and Pick and Pay, successfully ran its Winter Warmth food drive, cooking large pots of hot food in one of their centres in Bridgetown before distributing them to 14 underprivileged areas around Cape Town. These areas included Khayelitsha, Parkwood, Delve and Mitchells Plain.

The event had been promoted over the airwaves on Cape Talk 573, who also set up stalls outside certain Pick and Pay centres to encourage shoppers to contribute. Over seven tonnes of food were donated for the cause in roughly two days, mostly from individuals who had added a few tins or packets to their own shopping. Cape Talk presenter and event coordinator Afrika Melane said that “it’s on days like these that you realise how unbelievably generous Capetonians can be”.

Mustadafin Health and Hygiene coordinator Marishia Fortuin added that many Capetonians needed to know “that there are a lot of people out there who don’t have food”.

Mustadafin, which means ‘destitute deprived and oppressed’ in Arabic, was established in 1986 in response to political unrest and violence in Crossroads. Today it is recognized as one of the top five welfare and relief organizations in South Africa. Present on Saturday were both current director Ghairunisa Johnstone, who has been there since the very beginning, and the incredible Ma Silvia, who, despite having suffered three strokes in recent years, continues to get up at 4am every morning to collect children from all over the Cape Flats and make sure they get to school on time.

Aside from providing food for 15,000 people in the Western Cape on a daily basis, Mustadafin also does extensive work in education, disaster relief and community development. During the xenophobic violence in 2008, Mustadafin provided relief for 28,500 victims. As general secretary Faieza Lee says, “We do everything. You don’t have a set job here, and you must be on standby 24 hours a day.” But for all the hard work, Lee insists that she “loves every minute of it” and often coerces her husband into volunteering his services too.

By 1pm, the Mustadafin staff, along with a couple of Supernews interns, a small group of Cape Talk listeners and Afrika Melane himself, had prepared 10 huge pots of samp and beans and 4 of biryani. According to Maraisha Fortuin, Mustadafin performed “miracles” out of these pots. As Lee says, “you can’t afford to waste anything”.

Yasmine Abrahams, a local resident of Parkwood, has been distributing food in the area for nine years and knows every local standing in line with  their buckets or tupperware by name. The respect the locals have for her is quickly apparent.

Abrahams says she wants to buy an empty grass plot strewn with rubbish (adjacent to the distribution centre and behind the mosque) and turn it into a vegetable garden so she can provide more food for the area.

Recently, she approached the City Council and is awaiting a response. Although she says that she “couldn’t do anything without Mustadafin”, the fact remains that too many people are still going hungry. “We always have to turn people away” she says, “there just isn’t enough”.

To find out more about Mustadafin Foundation, visit www.mustadafin.com