The first five years of a child's life is crucial to his or her development and health, and determines the overall trajectory of their lives.

Unfortunately, a large portion of South Africa’s population cannot afford to provide their children with the nutrition they need. This is where Paediatric Care Africa (PCA) steps in, feeding and providing medical assistance to children where it can.

On April 19, SPAR Lowveld donated nearly two tons of A+ fortified porridge to the PCA team for distribution all over Mpumalanga. Dr André Hattingh, PCA chairperson and founder, said the whole load received from SPAR has already been allocated to several communities in the Lowveld and will be distributed by next week.

Although PCA mostly focuses on medical care, it realised the need for food, which ultimately affects a child’s well-being. “We reach about 500 families per month. We provide them with food parcels with a variety of fruit and vegetables, porridge and other healthy food options,” Hattingh said.

He continued by describing the high unemployment they had come across and the increased need for food parcels for families with small children. The results of the organisation’s efforts can be seen on the outreach projects, where children are initially weighed and weighed again at a later stage.  Hattingh explained the results. “We’ve seen a significant reduction in growth delays since we actively provided these families with nutritional food.”

SPAR has made several donations to the organisation and Hattingh encouraged the community to follow its lead, by donating resources such as food, petrol and financial assistance, or even just volunteering to help with projects.