South African hero John Nicholson is keeping the spirits of his Lavender Hill community up by feeding hundreds of children every week and now also sewing and handing out face masks.
John became a household name in 2016 when the Daily Voice reported how he had converted his garage into a library, to teach and encourage local laaities to read, but also give them a safe space after school.
With his organisation, Omegaview, John and his wife Gail also feed hundreds of children, and before lockdown, the kids would come to the library to do their homework and play games.
Last week, the couple served meals to over 600 children and practised social distancing by painting circles on the ground, 1.5 metres apart.
John says education is important because many children living in Lavender Hill know little about the deadly Coronavirus and also do not wear masks, as per level 4 lockdown regulations.
MAGIES VOL: Gail Nicholson serving a little boy from their Lavender Hill home
John is an upholsterer and recently decided to sew masks, which he gives for free to kids and sells cheaply to adults to cover the costs of material, cotton and electricity.
“We are still carrying on with the feeding twice a week even though it is lockdown,” says John.
“What we are finding is that many of the children think this Corona thing is a joke and have even made songs about it. Many do not come here wearing a mask.
“We have been educating them about sanitising and social distancing.
“I painted circles in my garage to demonstrate social distancing.
“I am now sewing masks for them because we cannot feed them if they do not have a mask on. Corona can affect anyone, it does not matter the age or the area and that is what we are educating them about.”
John sells printed masks with African themes for R25 and plain ones for R15.
“We are sewing masks for the children for free because households can’t afford this,” he adds.