THE founder of Kouga Social and Rural Development, Joabin Saffier, recently established a community garden, in a bid to sustain his various soup kitchens in Humansdorp and to teach community members how to sustain their households with fresh produce.
Saffier established his non-profit organisation in May last year, to help feed those in need in his community.
To continue feeding the many people at their various food points in Humansdorp, the organisation established their project, “Garden of Hope,” to grow their own vegetables which will be used for their soup kitchen.
“We had to think of ways to sustain our kitchens and projects, which are helping our community. Our organisation is committed to serving the community and continuously striving to grow and sustain our projects, thus improving our community,” said Saffier.
In addition to becoming self-sustaining, Saffier said they also hoped to teach the youth how to start their own gardens and sustain their households with fresh vegetables or sell their produce to generate an income.
“We want to move away from always begging and asking people for fresh produce and we want to break that mindset in our community as well,” said Saffier.
He said the community was filled with drugs, gangsterism and unemployment and he, therefore, believed that teaching young people about gardening at their newly established community garden would make a great impact in the lives of various individuals and households.
Earlier this month, the organisation planted seeds at one of their food points in Arcadia and are hoping to harvest herbs, peppers, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, butternut, and pumpkin, as well as provide seedlings to the community.
“Our forefathers worked the land, and it is in our DNA. Our youth have lost their identity and have become restless. They have nothing to keep themselves occupied with and this will be a good opportunity to teach them about responsibility and relieve some of their financial burdens,” said Saffier.
He said the community garden had brought much needed excitement within the community, as it kept young people busy and out of harm’s way.
Since the garden was in its early stages, Saffier said they still needed a great amount of help for it to flourish.
He said they would appreciate any donations such as cash donations, wood, seeds or water tanks.
For more information contact Joabin Saffier on 078 125 4357.
