by KRISTIN ENGEL
Cape Town - The spirit of giving was in the air on Sunday at the Jabulani Feeding & Learning Centre’s Boek-A-Pot campaign in Lansdowne, where 99 pots of food for the 99 names of Allah was cooked and served to people from disadvantaged communities from around Cape Town for the 26th day of Ramadaan.
The founder and chief executive of Jabulani, Yasmine Abrahams, said that growing up she knew what it was to go hungry, to go to sleep without food and to go to school without shoes.
“That is what inspires me to organise feeding schemes such as this one, especially since moving to Cape Town and seeing the children in our own Parkwood neighbourhood go hungry.”
Abrahams said donors and sponsors came from as far as Australia to Johannesburg, Durban and from Cape Town.
“We are so grateful for the overwhelmingly positive response. Our vision is now to make this annual tradition for Jabulani,” said Abrahams.
With one pot feeding 250 mouths, Jabulani managed to exceed their 99 mark and produce 110 pots, providing a total of 27 500 with a warm plate of food.
Sponsor Yusuf Pillay said that most of the sponsors come from these communities on the Cape Flats and they feel it's time to give back to their community, which is why they contribute wherever they can to the charity work Jabulani does.
Sponsor Waheed Khan from Li’ghib ullah hujjaj said that each and everyone working yesterday was sacrificing to make a difference in someone else’s life and home.
“As a Muslim, it’s not just about putting our head on to the ground and worshipping Allah, but also to make a positive contribution to society, and alhamdulillah (praise be to God) that is what we are doing here today,” said Khan.
The PRO for Jabulani Feeding & Learning Centre, Salama Davids, said the site, Jabulani Junction, where the food was prepared and sent off was created six weeks ago and acts as a weekly flea market that promotes small businesses recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown.
“The vendors pay a small fee that is used to fund Jabulani’s daily feeding scheme that provides food to communities in Parkwood, Manenberg, Hanover Park, Phillipi, Athlone and other disadvantaged communities,” said Davids.