In partnership with Glasswaters Foundation and Dolen Cymru, Skills & Soup continues to provide 100 children and adolescents in Morija and surrounding communities with weekly nutritional meals, life skills, and after-school tuition.

Overview of The Hub’s Skills & Soup programming

• 100 weekly participants range in age from 8-18 from Morija and surrounding villages. 55% of the participants are girls.
• The participants attend the programming free of charge.
• Provides after-school tutoring in IT, maths, English, science, technology, coding, mental well-being, and sign language lessons, as well as daily programming during school holidays.
• 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 2022

Through January – December 2022:

• 253 sessions held
• 5,060 hot meals served
• 5,060 take-home rations served

Meals at Skills & Soup

• Prepared by Cafe Mojo, a female-owned and run business.
• Daily highly nutritious hot meal includes protein, starch, vegetables.
• Daily highly nutritious take-home ration includes 2 loaves of locally baked fortified brown bread, peanut butter, boiled egg, fruit.
• The Hub has eliminated single-use plastic by having participants bring their own reusable lunch containers.

Skills & Soup catering supports local businesses in Morija by purchasing:

• 200 loaves of bread from a local 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 and educational programming:

Skills & Soup participants on their meals:

• “I always share the bread with my siblings and we make a lunch box the following day.”
• “Sometimes I leave home with an empty stomach and this is where the food makes a difference, especially the take-home ration.”
• “Sometimes at home we are without food, the food at S&S enables me to eat during such times.”
• “I feel energized after eating and I am able to actively participate during the lessons.”
• “I have the opportunity to eat a variety of food and the take-home ration enables me to have a lunch box the following day, which I hardly have on other days.”
• “When I left home on an empty stomach I know that at least I will eat a good meal when I get here.”
• “At Skills & Soup I have a chance of changing a meal, almost daily at home it’s either there is no food or we have pap with cabbage or spinach.”
• “I learned that if we are in class, but hungry, we can’t focus and hear anything. So I have learned that food and a good diet is important for our educational development.”
• “Sometimes at home there is nothing to eat in the afternoon, the food helps me when there is such a crisis at home.”
• “Our facilitators love us and care for us a lot. They ensure that nobody goes home hungry and sleeps on an empty stomach. So I have learned and experienced what love is.”

Skills & Soup participants on educational tutoring:

• “I have learnt the importance of taking my studies seriously.”
• “I learned about how to be a good reader and an active participant in my country in building it positively.”
• “I now participate in school activities including English debate.”
• “I learned that it is very important to read books.”
• “I learned the importance of being able to communicate with all kinds of people.”
• “I’m getting more fluent with English because of our interactions at Skills & Soup.”
• “I like it when we don’t understand our school subjects, that is where Skills & Soup comes in with tutoring.”

Skills & Soup participants on well-being tutoring:

• “When I have stress I am no longer isolating myself from other people, I go out and play.”
• “I learned to accept myself the way I am and to love myself”
• “I have learned to be good with resolving conflicts.”
• “I am confident and I can stand peer pressure. I am able to take my stand and make positive decisions.”
• “I liked learning about child abuse. She taught me that if a girl is sexually abused, it must be reported to the police station. She also taught me that I must not abuse other children.”
• “I have learned to respect and to take care of other kids and to have self-confidence even when mocked or rejected by other kids due to vulnerability.”
• “The lessons helped to take care of myself and my friends by understanding the importance of abiding with Covid-19 regulations.”

In 2022, The Hub expanded Skills & Soup:

• Bringing back Hub Talks – monthly motivational talks by visiting entrepreneurs, artists, professionals and activists.
• Skills & Soup outreach – monthly outreach to rural, digitally excluded schools to provide an introduction to coding using tablets and Scratch, as well as mental well-being lessons.
• Visiting psychologist – monthly visits by Lebohang Bereng, a professional psychologist, to provide psychosocial support for Skills & Soup participants.
• Well-being outreach – bi-weekly outreach to local schools to discuss issues youth are faced with, and healthy ways to cope with the problems.
• Well-being for teachers – monthly well-being support for local teachers.