The hemp house with heart

Yiza Ekhaya Soup Kitchen’s new building is causing quite a stir in Khayelitsha. Although the actual growing of hemp is still illegal in the country, donors helped the 52m² community soup kitchen become a reality through crowdfunding. The house was built largely by volunteers and took five months to construct.

Yiza Ekhaya, meaning ‘come home’ in Xhosa, is run and owned by Mickey Linda, a former domestic worker who felt a calling to help her struggling community. The soup kitchen serves 250 meals daily to orphaned, abused and impoverished children. The children don’t just flock to the whitewashed building for food: they come for love, nurturing and safety.