Pantry Partners NPO (307-709) and Food4Good NPO (307-440) are two registered Tulbagh NPO’s working together to build a permanent community feeding and upliftment hub.
In a nutshell
When Jacques and Charlotta Steyn moved to Tulbagh in 2022 the poverty of the community made an immediate impact on them. They decided to do something about the situation.
Jacques began researching to find the best solution. The research considered projects in 18 different countries. His experience in development lead to a systems approach that integrates varies aspects of community life.
Food schemes, such as soup kitchens, are not sustainable without developing the self-esteem and capabilities of the poor and hungry. It is important to equip them with life-skills to be reintegrated into contributing members of society. This might be achievable by involving the desperate into some or other forms of activities.
A systems approach also requires integrated plans for social and economic growth, so Jacques decided to focus on that, while Charlotta would be the feet on the ground, so to speak.
No free lunch…
Give someone a fish. Tomorrow they want another
Teach someone to fish, and they become self-sufficient
We firmly believe that there is no such thing as a “free lunch,” and for this reason Food4Good includes meaningful upliftment and entrepreneurial development programmes to empower beneficiaries toward self-sufficiency.
Our goal is to reintegrate the poor and destitute back into society. The first thing to do is to see to it they are not hungry. Then they can begin to live. But we cannot stop there. We must give hope for a better self-created life. Many (if not most) of the poor do not have well-developed capabilities, or even basic psychological or sociological skills. We need to help them find and develop themselves so that they can empower themselves.
We have found a surprising number of the poor who do not even have national IDs – which means they do not qualify for government basic income, and nor can they be employed. Their reading and writing skills, as well as basic life skills are also generally very poor.
To address the development of the whole person, we cannot stop at feeding them. We need to assist them to find their own way in life.
