When 7.2 million South Africans faced unemployment because of the pandemic, activist Ilka Stein created a mobile grocery store to help combat hunger. The renovated school bus brings affordable food to neighborhoods across Johannesburg.
6 Min Read
JOHANNESBURG (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Sidney Beukes got his bus driver’s licence, he never imagined himself behind the wheel of a 40-year-old school bus that has been turned into a mobile grocery store serving low-income residents of Johannesburg.
The bus is not an easy drive: there is no power steering and it chugs along. But Beukes said every time a customer climbs aboard to buy groceries they could not afford in the shops, he is reminded of why he would not want to drive anything else.
“We’re here for them, when people are stuck without food and it’s been a tough month . it makes me happy to see them happy,” said Beukes, 24, standing next to the gleaming white bus in the South African city’s working-class Bertrams area.
Thomson Reuters Foundation/Kim Harrisberg Global Citizen LifeDefeat Poverty
This Zero Waste Low-Cost Grocery Bus in South Africa is Tackling Food Insecurity
An activist has taken it upon herself to bring groceries to low-income communities in Johannesburg.
By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When Sidney Beukes got his bus driver s licence, he never imagined himself behind the wheel of a 40-year-old school bus that has been turned into a mobile grocery store serving low-income residents of Johannesburg.
The bus is not an easy drive: there is no power steering and it chugs along. But Beukes said every time a customer climbs aboard to buy groceries they could not afford in the shops, he is reminded of why he would not want to drive anything else.
By Kim Harrisberg, Thomson Reuters Foundation
6 Min Read Lockdown initiative aims to fight hunger in inner city Customers urged to reuse containers and reduce waste
JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Sidney Beukes got his bus driver’s licence, he never imagined himself behind the wheel of a 40-year-old school bus that has been turned into a mobile grocery store serving low-income residents of Johannesburg.
The bus is not an easy drive: there is no power steering and it chugs along. But Beukes said every time a customer climbs aboard to buy groceries they could not afford in the shops, he is reminded of why he would not want to drive anything else.
Zero-waste food bus hoping to drive away hunger
MOBILE LUNCHBOX: Three days a week, the bus parks in different Johannesburg neighborhoods where the team tell customers what the project aims to achieve
Thomson Reuters Foundation, JOHANNESBURG
When Sidney Beukes got his bus driver’s license, he never imagined himself behind the wheel of a 40-year-old school bus that has been turned into a mobile grocery store serving low-income residents of Johannesburg.
The bus is not an easy drive there is no power steering and it chugs along but Beukes said every time a customer climbs aboard to buy groceries they could not afford in the shops, he is reminded of why he would not want to drive anything else.