The Bonteheuwel Walking Ladies, a community group from Bonteheuwel, believes that charity starts at home and for this reason they partnered with the Vanguard Community Health Centre for Mandela Day.
Soraya Salie from the Walking Ladies says they have been making bed socks for the elderly since 2016 through their Knitting for Peace project.
“We are proud for what we achieved over the years, and we later branched into knitting clothes for premature babies. Recently we found out that some mothers that give birth at the center arrive with nothing. They don’t even have clothes for the newborn and that is why we decided to donate our knitting to the center to help those mothers in need. Every child deserves to have warm clothes when they leave to go home,” says Salie.
The knitwear included little caps, boots, vests and socks. Salie says the Walking Ladies did not just pitch up and dropped off the knitwear at the hospital, but made a day of it. “We brought pots of akni and soup and served the patients and staff at the hospital. We are aware that we come from a less privileged community but we believe that we don’t have to always wait for the government to do things if we can do it for ourselves,” she says.
