Devoted Samaritan turns kindness into a calling

The Herald

5 days ago

For the past nine years, Pinky Sekai from Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, has devoted her life to helping and restoring dignity to the most vulnerable members of her community even when she had little to give herself.
It all started in 2016 when the then-unemployed, 56-year-old Sekai opened her door to elderly social grant recipients who were cold, hungry and waiting in long lines at their local Sassa paypoint.
'People would knock on my door asking for something to eat. I couldn't turn them away. I started cooking soup — even when I had very little myself,' she told Sowetan.
She said she could not bear to see older people go without food while waiting to receive their grants. Sekai then started a soup kitchen from her home, focusing on the elderly who queued for hours to collect their grants.
That simple act of kindness became the foundation of what is now a community-wide movement. Sekai said when the Sassa paypoint was later moved from the local community hall to another location, the soup kitchen had to close.
Still, Sekai didn't give up. Instead, a nearby school offered her space to start a community garden, giving her a new way to support those in need.
'From those early soup days, we have grown into a full community-based organisation,' Sekai said.
'Today, what started as just me with a pot of soup has become a movement of hope, touching lives across Ga-Rankuwa and Soshanguve.'
The project, now known as Northern Hope Gardens, supports more than 50 vulnerable families by growing fresh produce, which is shared with the community. But for Sekai, the garden is about more than food.
'It is about growing healing, purpose and self-sustainability,' she said.
She has since brought together 10 unemployed women from the community who help maintain the garden.