Fort Hare student cooks up plan to help the needy

Nangamso Simayile, a Fort Hare psychology student, was so moved by the plight of homeless people begging for food on the streets of East London that she prepared a substantial stew for them in Oxford Street on Thursday.

Simayile, 23, has been saving her NSFAS money during the year to help change the lives of the needy.

Simayile’s kindness was lauded by several young men who were walking the streets, unsure where their next meal would come from.

Simayile had been horrified when she saw her old roommate struggle until she collapsed from hunger, and vowed one day to do something to help people in similar situations.

“I have always wanted to help the less fortunate since my first year, when I observed how my roommate battled at school and at home, and I felt compelled to reach out to people who are vulnerable.”

Simayile was aided by mothers from the neighbourhood who volunteered to lend her utensils and a stove for the day, when she described her idea.

“I was planning to start my own non-profit organisation, but I was aware that if I had to wait to be ultimately registered to accomplish something, I would be waiting forever, so I opted to act without any contributions.”

Simayile made a commitment to herself that she would never touch the money she had set aside to help others in need, despite her own financial problems during the year.

“I had to follow through on my pledge to change people’s lives.”

By catering for the underprivileged she is hoping to bring about positive change and is confident that one day she will have many initiatives of this nature.

“I would love to do something for the homeless on Christmas Day.

“My heart advocates for change and reaching out to people is a way of practising my psychology, hoping that through my interaction with the needy they will be able to open up about their problems.

“Ideally, I will be able to breathe reason into their lives.”

A 50-year-old woman from the area near Oxford Street told DispatchLIVE that she travelled to town every day to seek work to feed her family.  She had not eaten anything all morning before Simayile’s meal, which consisted of chicken stew served with bread and juice.

“The meal was my breakfast, I am overjoyed.”

Eight young men sitting on the street expressed their thanks for the opportunity to eat.

A man in his 30s said, said they lived in expectation every day that something good would happen, that a good Samaritan would offer them work so they could purchase food.

“We had no idea what we were going to eat this morning; this is our daily existence,” he said.

“We’re out on the streets looking for work. We did not imagine ourselves enjoying a meal like this today.

“We sit here all day trying to receive money for food; a day or even a week might go by without us finding a job to feed ourselves.

“But despite this, we remain hopeful that someone like this girl will come to our rescue” he said.

DispatchLIVE