A famous African proverb says “it takes a village to raise a child” a group of prayerful Lusikisiki women have acted on this saying by becoming mothers to the motherless. Most of these women are unemployed while some were once employed but have since retired.
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Without any funding from any organisation, these women take from their own pockets to feed, clothe and accommodate families with needs.
“We have just recently started with this task, we do not want to call this a project and we have no rules or a constitution on how we do this. We are being instructed by God to and we follow the instructions. We visit the families to access the situation and then we help where we can.” Said Mrs Mthwazi.
These mothers to the needy and motherless say they always hear about heart-breaking stories about families that need help. They say whenever one of them comes with a situation they cannot just sit and do nothing.
“I am a born again child of God I have compassion and consideration for people and I love people. I have been blessed by God and so I share my blessings with others. Whenever I see a person in trouble I can’t just sit and do nothing I am always willing to help” said Miss Mbelebele.
These women are united by God and their love for helping the poor and destitute. “I call myself a born again child of God and the word of God requires me to act as one. Now we have a task to win the souls of the people unto God. We do that by being kind to people by visiting the sick, being mothers to the motherless, comforting those in distress and all acts of kindness. We have always been helping different families as individuals but now we are doing it as this group of mothers.” said Mrs Madyibhi.
Some of the recent acts of kindness these women have done is to help a child headed family from Newrest in Lusikisiki. The ages of this family ranges from 21 to 13 and they are all still in school. Their mother who was unemployed died of cancer in 2022. Their only source of income was the SASSA grant which has been cancelled since the passing away of the mother. One of the children Zizipho was in grade 12 when her mother passed away, she stayed in another village where she rented a flat so she could be closer to school. Because of the lack of food and rent money Zizipho had to drop out of school. When these mothers heard of this story they did not hesitate to step in and help this girl by taking her back to school and paying for everything she needs.
“My mother died last year and all my dreams and hopes for a bright future were over because I couldn’t afford to finish school. I dropped out of grade 12 but these mothers who I have never met before visited my family and they came with food for all of us. On top of that they are paying for my rent and groceries every month. I can now focus on my studies without worrying about what I’m going to eat or wear. I feel like any other kid at school who has her parents.” Said happy grade 12 leaner
Noxolo Bangani who has also been assisted by these women cannot contain her gratitude. Noxolo is a 51 year old unemployed woman who has been raising an infant that was abandoned by his mother. Since she has no income and the baby has no grant, these God fearing women have stepped in to help her raise this baby. The women bought clothes and food for the baby and are continuing to buy monthly groceries for Noxolo as well.
Mrs Madyibhi added that this is not a project but is just a group of women doing the Lord’s work. They say they will continue helping more people as long as they are able to.
