When the pandemic hit, we opened an emergency food bank. The BBC featured our African food parcel deliveries — culturally appropriate food, delivered to the doorstep.
Older people in Mufakose were among the most isolated by the pandemic. We began delivering Christmas hampers — and have kept it going every year since.
One of the deadliest tropical cyclones on record hit south-east Africa. We got emergency groceries and blankets to affected families in Mufakose.
The crisis didn’t end with the pandemic. Alongside the Warm Bank, we hand out African food parcels every month to families in Newport who need them.
A food parcel built around what our community actually cooks and eats — maize meal, fufu flour, rice, dried fish, cooking oil and store cupboard staples — rather than a generic package. Culturally appropriate food means the parcel gets used rather than wasted, and it treats people with dignity. The BBC featured this work during the pandemic.
More than 500 families were supported through the Covid-19 emergency food bank in Newport. That work has not stopped — we still distribute 30 to 50 African food parcels every month through the cost of living crisis.
Yes. The emergency food bank became a permanent part of what we do, now paired with our seasonal Warm Bank. The crisis did not end when the pandemic did.
Cyclone Idai was one of the deadliest tropical cyclones ever recorded in south-east Africa. ZNVA got emergency groceries and blankets to affected families in Mufakose, Harare, working through our existing community links rather than starting from scratch.
Through the Newport to Mufakose link. We run a children’s Breakfast Club providing nutritious porridge, deliver Christmas hampers to isolated older people every year, and responded to Cyclone Idai with emergency supplies. Our work in Zimbabwe is supported by Welsh Government through Hub Cymru Africa.
£25 provides a food parcel for a family in Newport and £10 feeds a child for a week in Mufakose. You can also volunteer — packing and delivering parcels is exactly the kind of hands-on help we need. Email zimnewport@yahoo.co.uk.
