Hundreds of people braved the cold Cape Town weather to witness an incredible act of kindness that was participated by hundreds more. 155 pots of food were prepared on the day of Eidul Fitr to feed over 70 000 of Cape Town’s less fortunate. The ingredients consisted of five tons of meet, five tons of rice, three tons of potatoes, one ton of onions and 400kg’s of spices.
The event was attended by hundreds of people that came to support the event, families of all ethnicities and religions were jovial at the sight of what a community can do when they all come together regardless of race or religious backgrounds.
A community funded organisation called Nakhlistan which is a Persian word, translates to ‘Oasis’ was founded 29-years ago by a few members of the community when they cooked two pots of food to be served to the community on the day of Eid.
The event was also attended by the City’s mayor Patricia De Lille which too braved the chill of the night. The event kicked off with a prayer and a few words from our mayor who thanked the organisation for their good work. Pot number 29 was the first pot to be lit, in commemoration of the organisation’s 29th birthday.
Organisations such as Shoprite took part too, with a few of their own pots added to the donation. The rest of the pots were then lit after the formalities. The food would then take four hours to be cooked, meaning the volunteers would only be finished by the morning of Eid. A great spiritual start to the Muslim Holy day.
The areas of distribution include: Atlantis, Ocean View, Mitchells Plain, Hanover Park, Bonteheuwel, Bridgetown and many other underprivileged areas.
More community projects need to be brought to the light, not just in Cape Town, but all over South Africa. If we all put our differences and perceptions aside, we could accomplish so much more in the war against poverty, we just have to find common ground.
Acts like these also shows us that we don’t have to rely on our government to solve all our problems, we can take it upon ourselves as South Africans to achieve the better world that we all envision.
