Can you imagine not being able to feed yourself, whilst having a new baby?
Unfortunately, this is the reality for many women in South Africa right now. The Covid-19 Lockdown has left many families with no way to earn money. On top of this, thousands of pregnant women and mothers of new-borns do not quality for any support from the state because they are undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. These women are some of the most vulnerable in our society.
In partnership with The Zoe Project we set up the Mothers In Need campaign to provide interim relief to some of these mothers affected by the pandemic. (link: https://fixforward.com/mothers-in-need/).
About Patience
“I can’t go anywhere else to ask for help”, says Patience, one of the soon to be moms supported by our campaign. “This is the only home I know.”
Patience finds herself in a difficult situation where despite living here for most of her life, she still does not qualify for government aid.
“It’s very complicated for me, there’s no money, no food, nothing” added Matunda.
About Matunda
Like Patience, Matunda is also not receiving any aid during this difficult time. Both Matunda and her husband are without work and are struggling to provide for their newborn, who is only three weeks old. Matunda says the R400 a month will allow her to buy some food for her family.
Thanks to the wonderful support that our Mothers In Need campaign has received, we have been able to provide support to over 250 women like Patience and Matunda. In the past two months we have raised over R600 000 to support these women.
Over and above the monthly allowance of R400, The Zoe Project (Link: https://thezoeproject.co.za/) has created an amazing a support structure for these mothers. They offer individual counselling as well as a safe space for the women supported by this campaign to come together and support one another.
“It’s awesome speaking to people where we can speak about the same stuff, people like me who are experiencing the same problems during the lockdown”, says Patience.
Watch the video here to find out more.
Please share our campaign as far as possible as the more people we reach, the more women we can support. Every bit helps.
