Khanyisa Trust

Khanyisa is a soup kitchen sponsored by five or six of the Edenvale congregations (Edenvale being the suburb of Jo-Burg where I am staying). The chair of the trust is a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church (where I work) and he took me through there on a Friday morning.

Local grocery stores permit volunteers from the congregations to come in twice a week and, after employees, take everything past the sell-by date. They then sort out what is still useable, which is most of the food, prepare it for a stew, and then freeze it until it is used. This allows them to serve all who arrive (anywhere from 30 to 150) five days a week. The meal consists of a stew, rich in vegetables and some sort of meat, and maize meal (or pap- the regional dietary equivalent of rice). With donated food and volunteers, this is a very cheap way to feed the hungry. There is one full time employee and a few part time workers. One would think that, between 5 or 6 congregations, there would be ample volunteers, but as with most things a small number of people do all of the work.

The chair of the trust would like to open a shelter. All that slows him is financial considerations. While I am sure that such money could be found somewhere, I doubt the energy and number of people necessary will be rallied to do the finding any time soon.