LIA stands for Love In Action. We are a non-profit organization run by volunteers. Our vision is to feed the hungry,

clothe the poor and provide basic job skills education so they can become contributing members of society,

equipped with hope, dignity and self worth.

 

LIA was “born” in the Gonubie Baptist Church about a year ago. It started out of a concern for the men who wait

for work each day on the Gonubie Main Road, mostly without success, and a heart for the women and children

waiting at home for husbands and fathers who generally return empty handed.

 

We began with a weekly soup kitchen held every Tues on the old Giesies corner. There we realized the magnitude

of the “need” among these families. Men who stand there every day, regardless of wind, rain or sun, and yet more

times than not have nothing to show for it by the end of the day. The dire unemployment and its ricochet effects

are tragic to behold.

 

A number of years ago while visiting my son during his studies in Cape Town, he introduced me to a ministry called

U-Turn Ministries. It was there that I heard about the voucher system which we now use at LIA. We have tweeked

it a little to suit our community but the idea is that vouchers can be purchased by the public and then issued to the

poor and needy – either as a blessing or for a service rendered (eg car guard ). The voucher is then brought to LIA

and redeemed for food or clothing.

 

We had a look around our community and decided to link the need for employment with the need for things to get

done, that are not being done – things like rubbish collection. We hold a weekly work group, where men and

women work for the vouchers. On work group day, they meet at LIA at 7.30am for a morning’s work. Once the

work is complete they are fed a cooked lunch and given vouchers which they redeem for clothing or for a food

parcel valued at about R65. It may not be much but it is wonderful to watch these men and women walk away with

their shoulders back and their heads held high. It is as though they achieved something that day. The sense of self-

dignity is quite palpable

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We see many different faces at each soup kitchen and work group, but amongst those people are the regulars. As

we identify them, we start them on tasks other the rubbish collection. For example, we did basic repairs to the

Gonubie Boardwalk before the December holiday season and we repainted the white railing around the beach

front In doing so we have not only helped improve Gonubie visually, but have been able to teach skills otherwise

not known.

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Over the last year it has become more and more apparent that the 2 major obstacles we face with the

demographic of people that we serve are :

1. Lack of education. Not book learning, but the practical knowledge of how to complete a particular task. For example, we have a lot of women who are willing to do domestic work but they just don’t have the know- how. Or we have men willing to work in gardens or paint, but they too do not have the skills to do so.

2. Work ethic. It seems that these men and women have lived so long with a hand-to- mouth existence that a basic work ethic has never been taught to them. For example, if they work for a food parcel that contains enough food for 3 days, they will not come back to work until the food is finished and they need more. There is also very little concept of the importance of time – getting to work on time, working a full 8 hours, working 5 days of the week.

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This has led us to start the next phase of LIA. We have begun what we call a Non-profit Domestic Training centre.

Currently we occupy an old warehouse in Gonubie. With God’s blessings and the public’s generosity we have

acquired some of the tools we need to start Domestic training. Currently this includes ironing, cleaning, basic

cooking, and gardening. When the women and men attend these training sessions they are taught the skills to do

the job, as well as the work ethics needed. We also sending men on skills training courses at Latithaa. They offer

courses in various things such as carpentry and shoe making. Once we have identified the men who are reliable

and willing, we cover any costs that may be incurred

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We recently opened a Trust in the name of LIA. The documents are currently with Chateris and Barnes for NGO /

NPO registration. The founder member is the Gonubie Baptist church. It is extremely important to us that we do all

that we do in the name of Jesus – for His glory, as well as we believe it holds us accountable both financially and

ethically.

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Our future plans include (in no order of importance) :

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1. Nanny first aid. Many domestic ladies also care for young children. It would be a definite asset to have first aid knowledge

2. Sewing. We hope teach our ladies to sew and create items that can be sold to generate income

3. Cooking. Currently the ladies do cook in the LIA kitchen when preparing lunch on work group day, but wewould like to teach them in more detail.

4. Ironing service : Take in ironing from the public for a small charge. This would be used in the training centre to pay for electricity

5. Garden service. We would love to form a garden service that would take care of publics areas that are currently neglected.

6. Garbage removal. Currently the work groups pick up and bag the rubbish, but it sometimes remains uncollected for days. If we could get the correct transport, we could transport it to Berlin.

7. Road repair. This is an area that we are keen to investigate. However legislation and cost are currently inhibiting factors.

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Needs list : Our needs list is ongoing. We require second hand clothing and well as food, toiletries and paraffin to

put into the food parcels. Our monthly running costs include a small rental and electricity + water charges

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Wish list : Because of our future plans we have a wish list that includes: a washing machine, sewing machines,

spades, wheel barrows, stampers, weed eaters, uniforms (overalls and safety boots)

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A second side to the voucher ministry is that fact that anyone may buy a voucher and redeem it for clothing on

certain days of the month. We realized that are many poor people who could definitely benefit from the cheap

clothing but are already employed in low income jobs and would be unable to attend our work groups. Therefore

LIA is open once a week to anybody who can afford a voucher. Each person is limited to 2 vouchers with a value of

3 items per voucher. These clothing days are very popular and the proceeds go towards paying for the contents of

food parcels and electricity.

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We have number of slogans that encapsulate what we do: “Poor is not a color” is one of them. Anyone in need

from any walk of life is welcome to take part in our program

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We are very passionate about teaching a work ethic. As already mentioned, we feel the lack of work ethic is a

major obstacle in finding and keeping employment. We try to teach the concept: “nothing for nothing”. Besides

the soup kitchens, we do not hand out freebies. We do however have a number of causes that we support. As we

rely on donations we often have surplus food or clothing. To date we have been able to bless the Kings children’s

home, the Manor Old age home, Neil Shaw’s West Bank ministry and children at Mzamomhle secondary school

with food and clothing. We have also sent clothing to a church in Uitenhage which is intending to set up a similar

ministry at their soup kitchen.

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I believe that we have set out to deal with a very real need in our City. Unemployment is rampant, education in

certain areas in either non-existent or completely unaffordable. The consequences are dire: starvation and poverty

most certainly lead to crime. Perhaps by dealing with the root causes we can make a difference. At times it seems

overwhelming, but just touching the life of one person is enough to make it all worthwhile

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Our vision and mission may seem huge and nearly impossible. But a year ago we were a group of people serving

soup on a street corner. We didn’t even have a name. But we did have a dream, inspired by God. Today we have a

soup kitchen twice a week, a warehouse filled with clothing, the infrastructure for our workgroups and the

beginnings of the domestic training centre. AND we have a name : LIA – Love In Action. In the words of our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35