In a pleasant red-brick building, at the corner of two streets, is where you will find Dorah’s Ark, a soup kitchen in Roodepoort. Here Dorah Mazibuko (69) and her husband David feed more than 100 people daily, helping communities from informal settlements, particularly those from the nearby squatter camp Mathole.
The soup kitchen consists of a large room where people quietly sit in rows, devouring their meal. Today’s meal comprises bread, salad and a meat soup. In one corner are the machines used for knitting and beading material. In another, which is hidden with cupboards, is where Mazibuko allows people to sleep if she cannot find them a shelter. The building also houses a small kitchen, and next door is Mazibuko’s office, where she keeps donated clothing and food.
The backyard is bare and neat, except for three rubbish bins and a few chairs for kids. Next door is a piece of land that Mazibuko has received permission to use. The Mail & Guardian approached Syntell to remove all the rubble from the land and to put up fencing.
From her humble beginnings, Mazibuko now dreams of opening an orphanage.
The M&G became involved in Dorah’s Ark last year. Lelanie Lindenberg, who organises many of the events the M&G is involved in, commented: ‘The moment we met Dorah, we fell in love with her, and when we heard and saw how she helps her community, we decided this was an initiative we needed to get involved in.”
Over the past year, the company has donated clothes and toys to Dorah’s Ark and has organised fun and educational days for the children and people who are part of this brave community.
Dorah’s Ark is far from just being a soup kitchen. People are always coming to Mazibuko for help and advice, sharing with her their desperate situations as well as their joyful ones, such as finally receiving their ID documents.
‘What encourages me is to see the results when I help somebody,” says Mazibuko. Each night and early in the morning, almost 80 lunch boxes are prepared for schoolchildren, who pick them up on their way to school. Each lunch box contains a sandwich and a fruit and, if lucky, a fruit juice. The soup kitchen relies on donations for food and volunteers for help with the cooking and other activities.
People come to Mazibuko when they do not have a place to sleep, have lost a parent or are from a child-headed home or HIV-infected family. Those who have no one to confide in have found a parent and a counsellor in Mazibuko, who never stops caring. ‘God can still do something for you,” she believes.
Last year, the M&G together with Pick ‘n Pay collected and donated 160 blankets to Dorah’s Ark. The M&G organised a fun day for more than 100 children at the soup kitchen. This consisted of screening a children’s movie and supplying snacks and goodie packs, which were given to the children to take home.
In the spirit of Christmas, last December the M&G invited 63 children from Dorah’s Ark to the Spur in Randpark Ridge, where they ate, played and had their faces painted. ‘The whole year is frustrating for them, maybe at school they shout at them for [not paying] school fees, so for them to go out once in a while, it says there are other people who care for us,” says Mbali Mazibuko, Dorah’s granddaughter.
‘We were very happy,” says Dorah Mazibuko, who plays the role of grandmother, mother and counsellor.
Recently the M&G had a Colgate dental hygienist visit the children to teach them about oral hygiene with posters, banners and colouring books. The children also received toothbrushes and toothpastes. The M&G will continue this year with special educational days for the kids on various topics.
Plans the M&G has for Dorah’s Ark for this year include growing the soup kitchen into a self-sustainable organisation. To achieve this, the M&G will provide training in knitting, woodwork, growing vegetables and developing business skills.
Mazibuko’s outstanding work was recently recognised when she was nominated for this year’s Shoprite Checkers Woman of the Year Award in the social welfare category.