Gogo Milcah Masilamba (65) always looks forward to her Tuesdays.
Report by Jennifer Dube
On this day, she leaves her house at 11am and slowly walks to a church in the suburb, where she meets with several other needy people from across Mbare.
“That is the only day when my six orphaned grandchildren and I have lunch,” Masilamba said.
“We thank God for these girls [With Love Foundation] who give us soup and bread every Tuesday.
“At my house, we only have meals in the mornings and evenings due to lack of money, so Tuesday is a special day for us.”
Three young women — Tendai Mufunda (28), Chenaimoyo Mudede (29) and Lynnett Mahlaba (27) — are the co-founders of the soup kitchen project from which hundreds of needy Mbare residents benefit every week.
They sometimes feed as many as 600 people from the wholesome soup they prepare.
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They use their own money to buy ingredients for the thick soup. They sometimes get donations from companies.
On Tuesday last week, each beneficiary received a cup full of soup and two slices of bread.
The thick soup also had average-sized chicken pieces in it. Ingredients also included beans.
Mufunda said some farmers sometimes donated such ingredients as meat, cabbages, potatoes, peas and other vegetables.
Another company previously donated chicken bangers, which were also used as ingredients.
“We try to make the soup as nutritious as possible,” Mufunda said. “Farmers, companies and individuals have extremely helped us cook a fulfilling soup for our beneficiaries.”
On Tuesday, each beneficiary was also given four noodles’ sachets to take home.
Gogo Masilamba said she was going to make lunch for her bedridden husband who suffered a stroke three years ago.
“These girls are my helpers from God,” she said.
“All my daughters died and left me with six orphans to care for. I do not know the children’s fathers and I have no one to help me care for them together with my sick husband.”
A number of elderly people who had brought their grandchildren had an almost similar story.
