The reports are devastating - more than two dozen children starved to death in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province over the past year.
“Children are dying – quietly, in hospitals, in townships, in homes,” reported Daily Maverick Baywatch in late July.
This is happening in one of South Africa’s most prosperous metros – Nelson Mandela Bay – named in honour of the former president and humanitarian.
Twenty-five children under the age of five died from severe acute malnutrition in the past year, according to state institutions and media reports. Hundreds more are starving. Diagnoses of malnutrition have surged, and child deaths have nearly doubled since 2023.
Two years ago, the South African Human Rights Commission called the situation a disaster and urged the government to declare a state of emergency.
Nothing has been done.
Yet just a short distance away, an IRFF-supported soup kitchen is providing a lifelinein the poverty-stricken Walmer Township in Port Elizabeth.
But it’s not nearly enough.
The soup kitchen is one of four run by the Walmer Angel Project which currently feeds around 2,000 people. Every weekday, volunteers cook and serve hot, nutritious meals – mostly to children and the elderly. In a community where unemployment is high and many families live in overcrowded shacks, these soup kitchens are often the only source of food for the day.
“There is so much unemployment in the township, so we do what we can to alleviate many unbearable situations,” says Glenda Brunette, founder of the
Walmer Angel Project.
“It breaks our hearts to see people in this community going hungry,” wrote Cecilia Adams in a message to IRFF UK.
“Any contribution, no matter how small, would make a significant difference in our ability to continue providing meals.”
IRFF UK currently sends £200 a month to support the kitchen that feeds 500 mouths.
But with your help, we can feed more children. We want to ensure that no child suffers in silence.
Please consider making a donation today.
Even a small gift can help us buy food, keep the soup kitchens running, and provide vital nourishment to those who need it most.
Just £10 can help provide 200 hot meals – enough to feed 200 people for a day.
Thank you for your
compassion and support.
The IRFF UK team
