by Donna Katzin
Meet Vusle 'Malombo' Dlamini and Sinegugu Zukulu of the Sigidi Development Enterprise who coordinate the 100+ farmers across four villages who are collectively farming Sweet Potatoes and Madumbes (yams) on the northern edge of the beautiful Eastern Cape's Wild Coast in South Africa. The Amadiba Farmers of the Sigidi Development Enterprise normally sell their produce to informal vendors in Durban. With the start of COVID-19 lockdown collapsing this market, FoodFlow stepped in to purchase this harvest and redirect it to Food for Life in Port Shepstone to be distributed to townships and villages along the KZN South Coast to assist with the hunger crisis.
They stand as one in their fields,
holding sweet potatoes the size of their hearts,
to sustain life
while the hungry wait.
Holding sweet potatoes the size of their hearts,
they harvest for comrades
while the hungry wait.
Virus and violence stalk shacks like stray dogs.
They harvest for comrades
to cook so all can eat.
Virus and violence stalk shacks like stray dogs.
Old wounds run deep.
To cook so all can eat
they fill the communal pot with amadumbe and beans.
Old wounds run deep
in the land whose strong man has fallen.
They fill the communal pot with amadumbe and beans,
nurturing their neighbors
refusing to die.
Nurturing their neighbors,
they rekindle generations of hope
refusing to die—
honor every seed.
They rekindle generations of hope,
stand as one in their fields,
honor every seed
to sustain life.
Donna Katzin is the founding executive director of Shared Interest, a fund that mobilizes the human and financial resources of low-income communities of color in South and Southern Africa. A board member of Community Change in the U.S., and co-coordinator of Tipitapa Partners working in Nicaragua, she has written extensively about South Africa, community development and impact investing. Published in journals and sites including The New Verse News and The Mom Egg, she is the author of With the Hands, a book of poems and photographs about post-apartheid South Africa’s process of giving birth to itself.