Durban — The Chinmaya Mission of South Africa has offered a lifeline to the community of Chatsworth amid the widespread hunger as scores of residents faced a grim struggle against grinding poverty.
This is after the launch of the Nourish to Flourish feeding project on Saturday at the Natal Rajput Hall in Chatsworth, which aims to tackle hunger in poverty-stricken communities in the country.
With a capacity to feed more than 10 000 people daily, the state-of-the-art kitchen, equipped with cooking and packing facilities, will feed more than 2000 impoverished people daily – including school children from underprivileged homes.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli praised the initiative.
“Today marks not just the beginning of a project but represents an important moment in our collective mission to combat hunger and malnutrition in our beloved KwaZulu-Natal,” said Ntuli during his address at the launch.
Calling for a united front against hunger, he emphasised the project’s goal of creating a future where no child goes to bed hungry and where all citizens have access to nutritious food.
“This project is a step towards realising a vision where our communities thrive on the principles of good health and well-being,” he added. Ntuli added that the Nourish to Flourish project would “kill two birds with one stone”.
“It has a dual aim of addressing immediate nutritional needs and establishing sustainable solutions for food security. This is a reflection of our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Goals, particularly Goal No. 2, which talks about Zero Hunger. This project will kill two birds with one stone.”
With a dynamic blend of ethnic groups, Ntuli said Chatsworth was a perfect place to launch the project.
“This project reaches out to the hearts of our communities, planting seeds of change that will grow into the foundations of healthier and stronger societies,” remarked Ntuli.
His Holiness Sri Swami Abhedananda graced the launch with his presence.
According to data from the Children Institute at the University of Cape Town released in 2020, around 10 million children experience hunger daily, a crisis that stifles their growth due to malnutrition.
Narend Singh, the Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, expressed optimism that the Nourish to Flourish project would have a positive impact on the lives of many in Chatsworth and surrounding areas.
“It is with a great depth of gratitude that we congratulate the Chinmaya Mission of South Africa for this great project, which will benefit a lot of people in Chatsworth and other areas. We need more such projects to alleviate the issue of poverty in our country,” Singh stated, echoing sentiments shared by other speakers at the event.
This marked a significant effort to combat food insecurity in the country’s most vulnerable communities – including Chatsworth, added Singh.
The Sivananda World Peace Foundation founder, Ishwar Ramlutchman Mabheka Zulu, heaped praises on the Chinmaya Mission of South Africa for the “groundbreaking” project.
“We pay tribute to the Chinmaya Mission of South Africa for launching the Nourish to Flourish feeding project in Chatsworth,” he said.
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