A Barbecue in Mdantsane Endaweni Style

The Mdantsanians like the good things in life. But they also like it simple and not complicated.

All Mdantsanians are first of all South Africans and there is nothing a South African likes as much as a good braai (barbecue, the Afrikaans word for grilling meat on a fire) in decent company with a couple of ice cold beers. 

If you give a South African the option to to choose between a braai and a gala evening at the Bolschoi theater or the Dresden Semper opera, he would choose his braai - not because he is not interested in culture and the arts but because a braai is the core essence of South African entertainment.  In simpler words : outdoors, fire, friends, drinks, music, meat!

With a fire going like this....

and an experienced grill master like him nothing can go wrong

Thandile was playing the braai master just for us on this day

Braaing at the Endaweni open air restaurant works like this. You got to the butchery right next door buy your meat and you prepare it yourself on one of the many fire places. Easy? Isn't it ?

The meat comes from the Mdantsane abattoir and the owners of Endaweni sell it at a very reasonable price.

"People are always surprised how cheap well sell the meat" says Thandile.

The meat was not only cheap but it had flavor.

The grilling process...

and even the tools are kept simple

which shows you that the good things in life do not necessarily need a lot of money but rather the right attitude.

And if you feel like having more meat you can just go back to the butchery!

There is more than one friendly lady willing to help you.

Somebody asked us the other day: How did this all start? How did you come to write about all the important small things in life?

The sum of all the small and so important things, and the way you do them make really up your life.

So it is important to discover how to enjoy life.

Where Do You Go For Lunch In Mdantsane - The Red Star

Sure, you can go the the Mdantsane City Mall for lunch and sit at one of the many franchises like Wimpy, Debonairs, Chicken Licken  and some other known fast food chains. But long time before the mall opened in Mdantsane The Red Star has been there. The Red Star is a legendary place today, known for its huge vetkoek's and other home cooked meals. 

 

The Red Star is only a couple of hundred meters away from the Mdantsane City Mall but it is still going strong. - probably because the food  really tastes good.

There is more than one cook preparing the Russians, bread rolls, cooked chicken and the in Mdantsane well known vetkoek's.

 The doves also find their fair share just around the corner.

The owner Mzamo is the manager of a soccer club as well and he promised us an interview and a good look into his kitchen the next time.

Lunch Time At Inkwenkwezi High School In NU 6 Mdantsane

The Cook in Action At Inkwnkwezi High School in Mdantsane NU 6

A cook who does not taste his or her own food is no good!

I am starting this article on a small personal note. My grandmother (of whom I am thinking very often because she was just so full of wisdom) always used to say: " A cook has to be of a certain substance. If he or she does not eat her own food there is no need in preparing it for others".

A peek into the kitchen of the Inkwenkwezi High School in NU 6 around 12 o' clock tells you immediately, that you do not have to worry here about what my grandmother was trying to say and that everything is in order.

The school  gives lunch to the students, cooked every day by these ladies!

The size of the pots indicates the hunger of the learners at Inkwenkwezi High School in Mdantsane

The size of the pots, the smell of the vegetable stew and the steaming rice on the plates makes you terribly hungry within seconds (should you be so unlucky to be in the kitchen around lunch time). You are unlucky if you are not part of the students.

The food is given the final touch under the eyes of the cook's helper

We were not the only ones getting hungry. Anticipation could be seen on several faces.

What you see here is the work of an artist and her helpers and assistance. Do not think for a second that it it is easy to cook for several hundred learners on a tight budget and make the food still tasty. But confidence and experience does it.

The kitchen is the place to be around lunch time

At least O N E of us tried to soften the heart of the ladies. Meli was captured on film making use of his infatuating charm and smile, hoping to get his share of the pot. Well Meli, nice try but we nevertheless ended up at the RED STAR.

MELIKAYA GIVING IT ALL

But we know the meal indeed tasted delicious!

It's gooood.....

Just watch the learners for a little while having their meal in the classroom.

The Principal told us that for many students it can be the only meal of the day.

Learnes at the Inkwenkwezi High School

It becomes clear how important it is in South Africa to serve lunch at the schools. Nobody can study with an empty stomach.

Lunch in the classroom

This by the way means: NO EATING ALLOWED HERE!

Happy

How To Improve Your Livelihood The Old Fashioned Way

There goes the saying: " Good advice is rare. Or: "Good advice is hard to find."

By this we mean really good advice, advice that is tailored to your needs and that helps you. It is hard to find when life is good and seems to run smooth. But in times of hardship good advice is even more complicated to find. 

We do have times of hardship now because if we believe what the statistics tell us, then only every fourth person out of ten people is employed in South Africa. So what are the other six doing? And the families of the other six. If we think about this, we understand the pressure that rests on the four out of the ten who have jobs because you are never alone in life. There are the ones around you who need you.  

In hard times many look back to the lessons of the past. How others have done it before us.They have chosen a simple but laborious formula. If food gets to expensive and you can not afford to buy it anymore in the shops then it is the time to start planting a garden.

Driving through the sections of Mdantsane you can see kitchen gardens sprout everywhere.

The ground appears to be hard but people work on it hard. Improvised irrigation systems with empty plastic bottles are created.

And after a couple of weeks, spinach, cabbage and carrots land on the table. It works. And most of it has been organically grown.

Norman's Wine And Dine

The windows and shutters tightly closed by day - but do come back at night and you will find a different sight !

People Are People Through Other People

The Sizamile Soup Kitchen In NU 5

Between 20  to 40 people of all ages come to the Soup Kitchen in NU 5 to get a hot meal on Wednesdays. 

The Sizamile Women's Group was established in 2005 by 19 women. The soup kitchen was launched in the same year.

A letter was handed over to us when we visited them so that we could read their story.
We want to use their own unchanged words to re-tell it to you:

" We started this project ; a certain old man came to us and asked for food. He was so destitute although he receives grant. The grant is insufficient to fulfill his needs. We met as women to solve the problem, we established a soup kitchen in order to meet with this problem. We collected some cash and bought rice, mince-meat and vegetables.

Many of the destitute came to have some meals. They were rationed from Monday to Friday. Four of the women withdrew they could not afford to give money to buy the food items. Only the eleven of us who is still on the project.

We decided to cook for them once a week. We chose to feed them on Wednesdays. The number of them has risen to 40. Six of them are bed-ridden. We visit and feed them at their homes. We are feeding the elderly people."

The government of South Africa as a young democracy has established an extensive social grant system over the years to support and help the people that have been disadvantaged under the Apartheid system and as an answer to the needs of those who are living below the minimum income level or who are in the true sense of the word destitute. 

There are a variety of social grants available for the elders, aids orphans, HIV positive people, disabled people and many more.

The necessary distribution of these grants initially instituted because of the high level of unemployment has now led to another social phenomena. The grants are often not used for their original destined purpose but they help to feed complete families. A social grant or a pension of an elderly person might help contribute to bring the grandchildren through school or pay electricity and water. A cycle that is incredibly hard to break.

This soup kitchen was set up in the spirit of UBUNTU.

Ubuntu is an African Word.

In the Xhosa language Ubuntu means " People are People Through Other People".

Reference to the word Ubuntu is made on all levels of government in South Africa and in all social circles.

We dare to say Ubuntu is most alive and strong with the people who are still very close to earth. 

With the working class.

 " The Salt Of The Earth ".

We call them the Heroes of Daily Life. Our book is about them.

These courageous women have meanwhile created an NGO and have applied for funds with the Department of Social Development. But they are still funding their activities with their own funds.

The younger ones who can, take care of the others who can not care for themselves anymore.

The Spirit of Ubuntu is alive in every NU in Mdantsane.

To the  two ladies who are the initiators of this group Mrs H. Mandleleni and Miss. T Bokoloshe

  WE SALUTE YOU !