Covid 19 Responses: #CaretoAct 3

More stories are emerging that tell of the power struggles over resources amassed and centralised for Covid-19 relief. Sometimes the help needed does not come. Shining a light on ‘non-centralised’ ways of providing tangible and effective relief seems super important right now. Thanks to Talent Talks, we have a channel to do this.

Small, local players have long been building wellness into communities at root level through their hands-on support and care. Their established networks operate at a frequency that resonates with on-the-ground needs, and they are well-placed and usually well-informed to meet people at their place of hardship. There are a great many of these players rolling up their sleeves in response to Covid-19.

The Care to Act posts are about ways to act, about shining a light in places where good work is being carried out. If you feel you want to do something, there are many ways to act. Raise your levels of awareness on a wide range of issues, be brave in putting questions out on how we’re stewarding our natural capital and building our social capital, support local businesses and initiatives doing excellent work, share what they do. And you can tell me about what inspires you so that I can share that too.

Here are a few ideas for the week:

1. The Viva Foundation
   

The Viva Foundation’s strategy is to address community needs through secure hubs in informal settlements. Their project work focuses on children, poverty alleviation, art and sexual violence.

Pre-Covid-19, Viva was feeding two cooked meals daily to around 300 children, and delivering food parcels to the homes of 15 families. With lockdown in place and schools closing, the situation has changed dramatically. 272 families are now on their list of beneficiaries (approx. 1 000 individuals). Providing food parcels is turning out 10-fold more expensive than cooking meals at the centre. In the face of increasing numbers of hungry people, Viva is starting to make more parcels available, including to students who would otherwise be eating at least one meal a day at institutions that are now closed.

If you would like to support their work, do so here. Or, take a look and follow the work they do:
Web: https://www.vivafoundation.life/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/viva_sa
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/viva.village/

2. Food Forward

Established in 2009 to address widespread hunger in South Africa, FoodForward SA connects a world of excess to a world of need by recovering quality edible surplus food from the consumer goods supply chain and distributing it to community organisations that serve the poor. More than 80% of the food recovered is nutritious food. Their vision is a South Africa without hunger, and below you will find their foodbank model and their beneficiaries.

Please visit their website and take a look at their measurable results – astounding and inspiring!
Web: https://foodforwardsa.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoodForwardSA

3. Take a MOOC (massive online open course) to increase your knowledge on a topic, such as food security

Top learning institutions globally have made their coursework available across a wide range of subjects. Many of us have tapped into these platforms for our own personal growth – especially for professional development and career progression. But there is so much more available that is relevant to where we find ourselves right now.

Here are three popular MOOC platforms, with search results under the term “Food Security”. You can search under any term relevant to you.

Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/search?query=food+security
EdX: https://www.edx.org/course?search_query=food+security
FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/search?q=food%20security

Have ideas? Please tweet them to me @gaylinjee with the hashtag #CaretoAct.

Until then.