“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” according to singer Andy Williams, and there’s nothing that gets everyone into the festive spirit more than helping out your fellow humans. There are some amazing people in the world, including two beautiful souls from Level Two informal settlement in Khayelitsha.
They say the couple that does charity work together, stays together, and that’s exactly what Xolani Mbokodi and his wife Vuyokazi Vapi appear to be doing. The couple, who live with their five children, have rolled up their sleeves and cleared the former dump site next to their home, transforming it into something special – a community garden that feeds their family and a local soup kitchen, reports GroundUp.
The couple’s story is quite similar to that of many South Africans who have had to survive during the pandemic. After moving to the settlement during hard lockdown in 2020 and being unable to find permanent jobs, the pair decided to use their time productively and plant an array of vegetables, including spinach, covo, onion, beetroot and potato.
Along with feeding themselves and supplying a soup kitchen, they also sell bunches of their vegetables for R10 to residents who can afford it. Thankfully, Mbokodi has managed to find work as a security guard in Stellenbosch. However, spending time in their vegetable garden brings them joy.
“It feels good to plant veggies and watch them grow,” said Vapi.
However, Vapi doesn’t stop at tending to her own garden but does what she can to teach her fellow gardners how to make seedbeds, giving them seeds to plant.
“I visit the new gardeners to check how their gardens come along and explain to them how to look after germinating seeds,” she said.
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Picture: Unsplash