Every six weeks, Salaam Foundation delivers 10 000 meat and veggies packs to families around Gauteng. The meat packs supplanted by healthy organic vegetables are delivered to various communities helping to fight the huge issue of food insecurity. Around eleven communities receive the packs and 15 areas are visited for home deliveries. We are going to be introducing some of these communities and the impact these packs have.
This week the focus is on Mountain View.
Mountain View is a community that Salaam Foundation has been working in since 2018. It is an informal settlement situated next to Finetown in Johannesburg South. In 2018, Salaam Foundation became aware of a musallah and madrassah being used for the people living in the area which was in desperate need for assistance. From then, Salaam Foundation started working in the area. The first work done was putting up a complete male and female facility which was used as a madrassah and learning centre for the children. The work was completed with the help of donors and the dedicated team members.
In 2019, when the house of Sheikh Moosa Pitso, the imam of the area at the time, caught alight, Salaam Foundation once more stepped in to help rebuild his house. Since then a community garden has been set up in the area as well as a skills development programme. The Al Mubarak Islamic Centre contains the community garden as well the madrassah classrooms for the children. Various produce is grown in the community garden which is used in the meals for the children. The produce is also sold for extra income for the centre.
The centre is currently being run by Sheikh Moosa’s daughter, Majeeda and her husband, Sheikh Ibrahim. They both teach at the madrassah. Daily, around 150 learners come to the centre to attend madrassah. They also receive a meal provided by the centre. The meal is put together through donations given by Salaam Foundation. One hundred meal packs which consist of meat and vegetables is given for the community members while 60 meal packs which consist of various grocery products are given for the meals for the children.
Speaking to Salaam Foundation, Pitso said the community benefits a lot from the assistance given by Salaam Foundation. Many people in the community cannot afford to buy meat and are living behind the poverty line. The children who attend the madrassah also live in very difficult circumstances with the meal being provided at the madrassah the only one they receive for the day. Pitso said many of the children take the meal home to share with their families.
Another focus of Salaam Foundation’s work in the area is on skills development. Pitso said she hopes the women can use the skills they learn from the centre to earn a living for themselves and empower themselves. Many of the women in the area might complete their formal schooling but are unable to study further due to financial constraints.
“With the skills they get, they can manage to go further and do something with their lives, instead of just staying at home,” Pitso said, adding that the skills development can also save the women from many of the social ills facing the area including drugs and abuse.
Providing practical solutions for communities to break the poverty cycle. SF has provided the Mountain View Al Mubarak Centre with agricultural support and mentoring.
Now as the crop is ready, we buy back the produce, creating a cash incentive resulting in sustainability. pic.twitter.com/69DL2JjqG1— Salaam_Foundation (@salaam_found) January 24, 2025
In January, the Centre harvested and sold its first crop of coriander. Salaam Foundation provided the centre with the support to start the agricultural project as well as mentoring. Once the crop was ready, the Salaam Foundation team went through to the centre to buy the crop which ensures the sustainability of the project.
You can support this work by donating:
Salaam Foundation
FNB 6266 914 7665
Branch 250 737
Ref: South Africa + your name (zakat/lillah/sadaqa)
Section 18a certificates available on request
Fatima@salaamfoundation.com
