By: Anele Gcwabe

The outbreak of Covid19 lead to a difficult four months for a lot of people in South Africa. Having to go under lockdown, meant that a lot of economic activities had to be put on hold. The greatest shame is that even those who struggle to make ends meet under normal circumstances, had to find alternative ways to put food on the table during this time. The Clau Clau Youth Development and their facilitator, Nkosinathi Ndlovu, could not stand by and watch as people went hungry. They stood up, got sponsors, and that is how they managed to get enough to distribute food parcels around the community of Ehlanzeni, Mbombela Municipality, Mpumalanga.

As if being a social entrepreneur in his daily life wasn’t enough, Nkosinathi saw an emergency situation and offered a helping hand. In 2015, Activator, Nkosinathi Ndlovu and his peers opened the Clau Clau Youth Development Forum to assist with the day to day needs of young people in his community. This 2017 Activator saw a need and they took action. This initiative usually assists young people to make the environment favourable for the youth in Mpumalnga. They do this by connecting and exposing them to opportunities. They assist young people with their day to day needs, whether that is to start their businesses, fix and submit their CVs to potential employers, or simply to expose them to opportunities of development. No task is too big or too mediocre for The Clau Clau Youth Forum to assist with. This is part of the reason why it was easy for this forum to pick up arms, and help to fight the battle against poverty during the covid19 national lockdown.

“Most of our people rely on income that can only afford them to live hand to mouth. Some work in construction sites, some depend on the informal economy such as small businesses for example, street hawkers and vendors etc. Industries which were severely affected. Studies had shown that how and what we eat affect our well-being, which eventually has an effect on our immune system. Therefore, the organization aims to create better access to food for the poor as it is very critical during these scourges of the covid-19 epidemic.” Says Ndlovu as he explains the need for the food parcel initiative that they started.

“Clau Clau youth development forum took an initiative to develop the food parcels relief programme to contend the impact of covid 19 that will undoubtedly unleash a food security crisis that will be deeply felt in communities for months to come,” continues Ndlovu.

Their beneficiaries include  families that do not receive any form of income during the difficult period of Cov-19 pandemic and child headed families in the Their local partners include Kabokweni Constituency office and the Sisonke Foundation.

In their quest to achieve a poverty free society during lockdown, Clau Clau Youth Forum accepts help from other Activators and other people. Anyone who is willing to help can assist with finding more of sponsorships to expand the project so that it can run cov-19 workshops, assisting young people to apply for relief grant.

This is a story of influence that will save many lives. May Nkosinathi Ndlovu and the Clau Calu Youth Development Forum achieve all that they have set out to do.