WARMTH
[War against Malnutrition, Tuberculosis and Hunger]

Mapeto Nkhahle operates a WARMTH kitchen at the Naluxolo Primary School in Samora Machel settlement.

On a normal school day, she serves an average of 80 cups of soup, 60 plates of soya and rice and about 60 packets of hot chips to the school children and staff, as well as others in the community.

The majority of the meals are sold for about R1 [the equivalent of 7p or 14 cents].

Vulnerable needy people – such as children, pregnant and nursing mothers, those affected by HIV and AIDS, and the elderly – who cannot afford even these low prices, 'pay' for their meals with food vouchers issued by the CDC, clinic or other accredited centres.

The kitchen is not only self-sustaining, it also provides Mapeto with a regular income that allows her to care for herself and her family. At the same time, it is making a real impact on the health of the community by preventing malnutrition and disease.

This is the success of the WARMTH model – our first and longest running CWD programme. In fact, the first WARMTH kitchen opened in the tented community of Greenpoint, Khayelitsha, in 1968. Over the past 38 years, the programme has grown to a network of 72 kitchens throughout the Cape Metropolitan Area.

Although each kitchen starts off as a welfare response in desperate communities, they gradually progress to the point where they become sustainable, and ultimately economically viable.

Specialised feeding scheme for babies
Infants between birth and one year in these impoverished communities are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition, hunger and disease. Those who are unable to benefit from breast milk, and who are too small to eat solid food from the WARMTH kitchen attend special clinics where mothers receive baby milk formula and vitamin enhanced cereals.

WARMTH goes mobile!
Our dream for the future is to establish mobile kitchens that will go from area to area bringing nutrition and health to far-flung communities where static kitchens have yet to be established.

If you would like to contribute towards making this dream a reality, please click here. Or visit www.warmth.org.za for more information.