Taste the good life

Carmién Tea and TEEKANNE Community Project: healthy lifestyle awareness and education.

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November 2020 saw the start of our ongoing joint community project between Carmién Tea, TEEKANNE and the Mouton Foundation. The goal of the project is to promote healthy nutrition and raise awareness for living a healthy lifestyle, not only for Carmién Tea employees but also for the local community and our rooibos suppliers. This includes permanent employees as well as seasonal workers. Diabetes and hypertension are rising issues in working communities and can be attributed to lifestyle and eating habits.

This project will also raise awareness about child nutrition, especially at a young age when brain and body development is crucial. Children are subjected to sugary food and beverages from a very young age. Families will receive education in cooking healthy, tasty, budget-friendly food and practical advice and tips on how to manage their resources better. Our workforce will get tested for life-threatening diseases e.g. HIV, TB and Diabetes, to create awareness and have conversations that break down stigma walls that prevent people from undergoing tests.

The project is made up out of three parts:

Phase 1 focuses on physical and mental health check-ups, including testing for HIV, TB, blood pressure etc. by local clinic and NGO’s, and offering individual counselling services as needed.

Phase 2 focuses on Nutrition Awareness Group sessions. The aim is to present cooking classes and nutritional health awareness for a focused group of beneficiaries based on their specific needs. They will take place over two or three months, of which the first took place on Friday 30 November.

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These sessions include:

  • Testing for chronic diseases and BMI (Body Mass Index) measurements by the local clinic, NGO’s and internal health staff
  • Individual counselling services as needed
  • Participatory Cooking Classes by Carmen Niehaus, Chef and Cookbook Writer
  • Nutrition Talks and Tips by Clinical Dietician, Liezl Compion from True You Nutrition
  • Interactive discussion groups
  • Printing and giving out a booklet of healthy recipes to try at home

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There will be several group sessions with 20 people per group that takes place in the Mouton Foundation community centre. At the end of Phase 2, there will be a family day celebrating “Taste the Good Life” program. The aim will be to provide health awareness to a large audience through a fun family-focused day.

Phase 3 will be the creation of health community groups in collaboration with the local Department of Health. We will identify people through Phase 1 and Phase 2 that are passionate about health and help them to organise groups in the community and become self-sustainable. The group will then become the health ambassador in the communities where they live. Support for the group will include:

  • Training for a group on wellness topics and community engagement
  • Facilitate communication with the department of health
  • Help with planning events and ideas
  • Connect with relevant service providers and NGO’s

Keep an eye on our website and social media channels for updates on the project.