Durban - TO help prevent the elderly from going to bed hungry during the lockdown, Ishara Candice Bechan rallied her family and friends to start a grocery hamper distribution drive.
The Merebank mother of two started the initiative recently and has so far delivered hampers to families in Merebank, Clare Estate, Phoenix and the Durban CBD.
Included in the hampers are eggs, flour, beans, oil, juice and tea bags.
Bechan, who sells clothing, said her dad, Raj Narain, a member of the Merebank Crime Watch, had inspired her to reach out to others.
Bechan’s husband, Pranesh assists his wife.
Picture: Supplied
“My dad and members of the crime watch recently handed out grocery hampers and he told me most of the families desperately needed food. This broke me. I told my husband we also needed to do something and we started our own hamper drive.”
She said her parents had taught her to help others.
“During the xenophobic attacks in Durban, we donated clothes and food hampers to families in Isipingo and we recently put together a few hampers for Mozambique Relief. But nothing prepared us for what we saw during the lockdown.
“Pensioners struggled to get to their front gates to receive the hampers and they cried as they thanked us. One woman said she wanted to hug me but because of social distancing, she could not. Another pensioner said her children did not bother to check up on her as she had no money to give them in return.”
Bechan said she was not prepared for what she saw in Phoenix. “We met an old couple.
“They lived in a small room, which they shared with their 14-year-old grandson. There was only a bunk bed. They said their daughter dropped off their grandson when he was two years old and since then she did not visit or call them. My husband and I got emotional as they told us this.”
Bechan said it was not easy to deal with their emotions during the distribution to communities, but it had taught her the importance of family. “This lockdown has strengthened my relationship with my husband and children and it has taught us to appreciate what we have.”