Ahead of the Freedom Day weekend, we spent a day in the field. We loaded up the minibus with both our programme and marketing teams, with the intention of finding new ways to report back and share authentic stories with you, our supporters.
Walking this journey with us means that together, we are committed to creating a better world for all our children and leaving no child behind. You deserve to know how the principals, caregivers and children are faring, and most importantly, what community living truly looks like in areas of abject poverty.
We visited three preschools across three very different communities in Cape Town: Du Noon, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha. While the people are diverse and their shelters and structures vary, the reality is that financially their situations are sadly similar. This reflects both the richness of our people and the stark challenges we faced, a lack of infrastructure, housing and basic services, alongside the devastating impact of unemployment.
The good news is how the children are flourishing on our new nutrition programme. We saw it with our own eyes, and it is truly life – changing. One principal shared how it took a few meals for children to begin eating vegetables and to understand the goodness in them. Fast forward a couple of months, and parents were telling similar stories with children refusing to eat meals without veggies, or asking why their weekend breakfasts were not oats. The knock-on effect was parents asking how the food was prepared so they could cook the same meals at home.
We are determined for our Nourish Our Children programme to do nutrition so brilliantly that it becomes a way of life. Seeing really is believing. Good food has the power to change how communities think and behave when it comes to buying, cooking and eating. All three principals we visited were adamant that the attendance of both children and teachers has improved, with noticeably less illness. This is huge. In environments where colds, flu and tummy bugs spread quickly, they are seeing firsthand that good nutrition makes a profound difference to healthy bodies and minds.
We know that we still have a long walk to freedom because, for us, freedom means access to healthy food for all, especially for our future leaders. It means understanding that training and education are fundamental to changing the narrative around nutrition. We have learnt that providing food alone is not enough. We need to shift mindsets, upskill communities, and monitor, measure, record, and review our impact, so that the proof of the pudding is in the data. When principals see the facts, they become advocates, championing good nutrition in their schools and neighbourhoods.
Thank you for supporting us, for believing in our work, for investing in and uplifting communities, and most of all, for walking this journey with us, as we work towards a better country for all.
Danny Diliberto
Danny and the Ladles of Love Team ❤️
