In partnership with Glasswaters Foundation, Dolen Cymru and Selibeng sa Thuto Trust, in 2023 Skills & Soup at The Hub continued to provide 100 children and adolescents in Morija and surrounding communities with weekly after-school tuition, nutritional meals and life skills.
Overview of The Hub’s Skills & Soup programming
- 100 weekly participants ranging in age from 8-18 from Morija and surrounding villages. 55% of the participants are girls. The Hub is fundraising to increase the number of participants to 125 weekly.
- The participants attend the programming free of charge.
- Provides daily after-school tutoring in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) subjects, and mental well-being, as well as daily programming including sign language lessons during school holidays.
- Provides each participant with a nutritious hot meal and a take-home ration daily.
- Skills & Soup works toward lowering the incidence of gender-based violence through life skills and mental health programming which educates participants about the definitions of sexual abuse and where to find help if they are being abused.
- Skills & Soup programming also emphasises gender equality, mutual respect and caring, and healthy coping mechanisms as ways of reducing the incidence of gender-based violence in future generations.
Skills & Soup in 2023
Through January – December 2023:
- 252 sessions held
- 10,080 meals served
Meals at Skills & Soup
- Prepared by Cafe Mojo, a female-owned and run business.
- Daily highly nutritious hot meal includes protein (mostly plant-based), fortified starch, and vegetables.
- Daily highly nutritious take-home ration includes 2 loaves of locally baked fortified brown bread, peanut butter, boiled egg, and fruit.
- The Hub has eliminated single-use plastic by having participants bring their own reusable containers.
Skills & Soup catering supports local businesses in Morija by purchasing:
- 200 loaves of bread from a local female-owned and run bakery weekly.
- Eggs and seasonal vegetables from local farmers weekly.
Recent M&E quotations from our Skills & Soup participants, reflecting the impact of our weekly nutritional support and educational programming:
Skills & Soup participants on their meals:
- “Helps me in the case where there is no food at home, then I’m able to take the bread home and take as lunch while at school.”
- “When I get home and there is no food, I am okay because I ate at The Hub.”
- “I sometimes take food home to my siblings.”
- “It helps at home when my parents have not yet bought bread then in that case we eat the bread I came with.”
- “Sometimes there would be no food at home at all, so when I arrive with the food it’s then that we will be able to eat.”
- “I provide food to my family.”
- “I was always weak but after eating the food I have strength.”
- “I can bring some food home if we don’t have any.”
- “In the case where there is no food at home, we get to eat the bread that I got from S&S.”
- “I get to have something to eat.”
- “The take home food is helpful when there is no food at home we can eat.”
- “When the is no food at home, I am able to eat the food from The Hub.”
- “The food helps me a lot when there is no food at home.”
- “In the case where there is no food at home, I get to eat here and be satisfied.”
Skills & Soup participants on educational tutoring:
- “I enjoyed being taught multiplication by him, he makes it easy.”
- “I loved his lessons on the skeleton system.”
- “I enjoyed learning about gas particles in science.”
- “I loved when he taught us a topic in science subject that we never did in school, so when we did it at school I was then familiar with it.”
- “I like learning about climate change and how it affects our country.”
- “I enjoyed learning about other countries and cultures.”
- “I enjoy learning about Maths and Science.”
Skills & Soup participants on well-being tutoring:
- “I’m able to control my emotions.”
- “When I have a close person being abused I can help by reporting.”
- “I am able to know when I am angry, sad or happy because of Ausi Thembi (facilitator) and how to avoid the bad emotions”.
- “The self esteem lessons have helped me feel good about myself and love myself, do everything with passion.”
- “They helped me become more kind and helpful to others who need my help”.
- “When I have problems I am comfortable to approach Ausi Thembi (facilitator) and tell her my problems.”
- “I learned not to be an abusive person especially to girls.”
- “I have become more kind to others.“
- “I am able to help other people when they are not well.”
- “I am now able to pay attention and concentrate on my schoolwork.”
- “I have learned how to control my anger.”
- “I have learned how to manage anger issues.”
- “I apply what I’ve learned to cope with the pressures of life.”
Skills & Soup Outreach:
- 12 outreach sessions – monthly outreach to rural, digitally excluded schools providing an introduction to coding using tablets and Scratch, as well as mental well-being lessons.
Hub Talks at Skills & Soup:
- 12 Hub Talks – monthly motivational talks by visiting entrepreneurs, artists, professionals and activists.
The Hub 