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When I received the opportunity to speak to Sinanziwe Ndlovu, a beneficiary of the Add Hope Hunger Campaign, I felt humbled. We are exactly the same age - born just three days a part-but Sinanziwe’s life took a very different road to mine.
Sinanziwe’s mother had just given birth and so had Sinanziwe’s older sister. unfortunately, her mother died soon thereafter. They did not know their father and the responsibility of raising her four siblings as well as her own newborn baby fell upon her 26-year-old sister.
But the responsibility quickly overwhelmed the family.
In grade 9, Sinanziwe (15) often went to school without lunch or lunch money and she describes just how difficult that was.
“It’s difficult to grasp what is being taught when you are hungry. I would come up with excuses to skip lunchtime so that I would not have to watch my friends while they ate because I could not afford what they were eating,” says Sinanziwe.
As I continued listening to her story, I realised that we were both born in a year when so-called freedom and equality was to become a foundation in everyone’s life. But equality was yet to take up its role in Sinanziwe’s life.
Based on her experience, Sinanziwe understands just how important it is for a child to be fed and to get an education. This led her to Afrika Tikkun-the lead/hub foundation for Add Hope where children are providede with a nutritious meal and after-school tutoring. Here, she further saw what a great difference a meal makes in the lives of over a hundred thousand children.
“A day at school becomes useless for a hungry child. If a child is hungry, they are not going to be able to think about how to solve a mathematical problem and they’re not going to be able to grasp what is being taught in the classroom because they’re thinking about how hungry they are and not about what more they can do with their life,” explains Sinanziwe. “The body needs food, especially the body of a child that is still so fragile and very sensitive.”
The last thing Sinanziwe asked me was to see donating a R2 to Add Hope as more than just a R2 and what she said gave me a new perspective:
“It’s more than just a R2, look at it as a seed you are planting to change another child’s life.”
I often wonder if we’ll ever eradicate poverty. But this seems an impossible question to answer. What I do believe is if charitable movements such as Add Hope continue lending a hand and if each of us does the same then we’ll always be one step closer.
