Living with tuberculosis (TB) involves more than just managing the physical effects of the illness. For many people, access to nutritious food, financial pressures, and social isolation can add to the challenges of completing treatment.
For Jean and Wilhemina, both in their 70s, food support from FoodForward SA helped ease some of these pressures. As part of the TB Cares Initiative, a pilot programme run in partnership with the City of Cape Town and local CBOs. The food support brought greater variety, nutrition and much-needed protein to their daily meals, helping to stretch their limited finances and making a difference to their everyday lives.
Jean: Finding comfort in a little more variety
Jean spoke openly about the stigma associated with TB and the loneliness she experienced when she became isolated from her family. She also shared how the experience had affected her emotionally, including feelings of depression.
Living on a small SASSA grant, which needed to cover rent, utilities, and personal care items, food was often limited. Before receiving support through the pilot, her meals were largely made up of bread for breakfast and lunch, with whatever was available for supper.
The food parcels brought more variety to her daily meals. She can now enjoy maize porridge for breakfast, an egg with her lunchtime sandwich, and tinned fish for supper, one of her favourite items in the box. The additional protein is a key nutritional component to her recovery and completion of treatment.
She has even found a new favourite recipe: fish frikkadels, which she speaks about with pride. The food support has also helped her provide meals for her adult son, who shares her home. As she says: “How can a mother not share when he looks to me for food?”
Wilhemina: The comfort of being cared for
For Wilhemina, who is frail and shares a small house with her husband of 40 years, the food support has helped ease the pressure of managing household expenses while she focuses on her health.
Before receiving the food parcels, their meals were also fairly limited, often consisting of bread, with eggs or whatever else they could afford after covering their monthly bills.
As a household of two, the food parcels provide more than enough for their needs. Wilhemina particularly enjoys the baked beans and eggs, while tuna has become something of a luxury and treat, bringing welcome nutritional variety to their meals.
Her husband has taken on a greater caring role as her health has become more fragile. He has learned to cook and now also takes care of the cleaning and washing. With their traditional household roles having shifted, he is happy to take on these responsibilities and care for his wife, remembering how she looked after him for so many years before she became ill.
Both women spoke about how the food support has assisted them to eat better, enjoy more nutritional variety, and make their limited household finances stretch further.
The TB Cares Pilot, a partnership between the City of Cape Town Health, ICLEI Africa, FoodForward SA, participating clinics and local community organisations, concluded in October 2026. Beginning in Masiphumelele before expanding to Lavender Hill and Parkwood, the pilot explored ways to connect food support with existing TB treatment services. The experiences of Jean and Wilhemina offer a glimpse into the value food support brought to participants during their treatment journeys.
