Rajesh Ramnunana and his wife, Jennifer Ramnunan.

When floods destroy homes, when families struggle to put food on the table, or when elderly residents are left without basic necessities, help can sometimes appear out of reach.

For Rajesh Ramnunana, 50, such times are precisely when people need someone to show up.

A supervisor at an animal feed company in Pietermaritzburg and the founder of Africa Humanitarian Projects, Ramnunana has spent the past four years building a grassroots humanitarian effort focused on supporting vulnerable families across Pietermaritzburg and surrounding communities.

The organisation began its work on July 29, 2022, driven by what Ramnunana describes as a simple but powerful observation: too many people were suffering without anyone knowing.