Sometimes lunch hour feels like it's never going to come. For many students, it doesn't.
student fed by the lunchbox fund in soweto

Schools

Beyers Naude

The Sharpeville massacre in 1960 led Beyers Naude, a former clergyman, to relinquish the church's political teachings and become a leading anti-apartheid activist and advocate of racial reconciliation and equal rights. The school is named after him.

Headmistress Linda Zabala

principal of beyers naude school

H.A. Jack

H. A. Jack pupils come from Alexandra township, Soweto, Inner City Johannesburg and Midrand. Most of the pupils are from single parent homes or stay with a guardian or grandparent. Teachers battle with behavioural problems as a result of complex home siuations, negligent parenting and malnourishment.

Dinah Themba

program overseer of h a jack

Letsibogo Girls High School

Letsibogo is a girls only secondary school. It is known for having a better Matric pass rate than most of the schools in the area. The community struggles a lot with poverty, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, unemployment and domestic violence.

Headmistress Ellen Kondowe

principal of Letsibogo school

Meadowlands High School

Meadowlands was established in 1955. All the people now living in the area are there as a result of the forced removals and demolition of Sophiatown during the Apartheid era. The school motto is: "Through Difficulties We Shall Succeed".

Vice Head Tandeka Ndondo

director of meadowlands feeding program

Re-A-Soma

Translated, the school's name means "We Are Working", and its motto is "Nothing Less Than Our Best". Re-A-Soma is reputed to have the highest academic record within the Soweto township.

Headmistress Catherine Mafatshe

principal of reasoma school

Sandtonview

Sandtonview was a private Chinese school called Kuoting duirng the apartheid years. It was taken over by the new government in 1994. It now serves Alexandra Township from where most of the students are drawn, although some of the children travel from Soweto and from Midrand.

Hlamalani Mhlongo

program overseer of Sandtonview

Zuurbekom Orphanage

The Lunchbox Fund tends to the nutritional needs of the 25 children in the orphanage. The children of high school age attend Re-A-Soma, which is also in our program.

House Mother Nkule Masako

housemother of Zuurbekom Orphanage

Geography

Soweto

Up to 40% unemployment in Soweto. Some areas have no electricity with no access to water and up to four family's share a single tap for all their needs. About 20% of the population is affected with AIDS, which adds to unemployment, orphans and child-headed homes. Huge imbalances still exist as a result of the Apartheid "Bantu Education System", which was an educational method designed to disempower black South Africans.

Alexandra

Alexandra, "the dark city", is one of the poorest areas of the region, where lack of infrastructure, overcrowding and rampant crime make living conditions extremely difficult. Alexandra's population is very young. This is partially due to the high incidence of crime and HIV. Unofficial figures report a rate of up to 60% unemployment in Alexandra. Living conditions consist of informal dwellings or shacks.

South Africa

  • * Life expectancy dropped to 50 last year from 62 in 1990.
  • * In 2005, a quarter of the population lived below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day.
  • * The UNICEF State of the World's Children 2009 report notes that 280,000 children under 14 were estimated to be HIV-positive.