Sophia Morris, 36, a former shack dweller living about 15km from Cape Town, South Africa's second city, explains how moving into a brick house, built by an Irish charity, changed her life. "I lived in a shack with my family in the Imizamo Yethu township [near] Hout Bay for 14 years before getting my home in 2005. Before the Irish volunteers [the Niall Mellon Township Trust] built me and my children this house we had no running water, no bath or shower and the toilet was outside, which was not nice when you had to go in the middle of the night.

"I was always worried about fires, and in 2004 my shack burned down in a big fire in the township. I was very depressed because you don't know what you are going to do, or how you were going to replace everything that you have lost. Even if you tried to re-use some of your things, like pictures, they have changed colour, and are a dirty brown colour because of the burn marks.

"But getting a brick house changed my whole life. I knew my children [would be safe]; we have a geyser [water heater] for hot water, and you can sleep at night even if there is wind because it is not so loud, and we have no problems with rain.

"Having a house made me very proud, and I was not embarrassed to ask people to drop me off at home, which was something I would never do before. I used to get dropped off at the police station and then walk to my shack.

"It [the house] also makes a big difference in the children's lives, as there is a stigma attached when you come from an informal settlement. People think you might be violent or a criminal. People don't say their fears to you, but you can feel it ... so when you have a house [everything is different]!

"The house has also let me start my own crèche and that means I can make some money from the people with children who have to go to work every day. It is busy, as some children are dropped off at 5.45 a.m. and some stay here until 7 p.m.  

"Now that there are 450 houses in the township the white and black communities get on a lot better. They are not afraid to come into Imizamo Yethu township, even though there are still many shacks at the back against the mountain.  

"Some white people from [neighbouring] Hout Bay are also now following the charity's example and building houses for people who work for them, or buying them furniture for their new houses, and that is something very different from the past.

This story, entitled SOUTH AFRICA: Sophia Morris, "Getting a brick house changed my whole life", datelined Cape Town Nov. 24, 2008, was written and distributed by IRIN News, the humanitarian news agency. The photo of Sophie and the children in the creche she was able to start in her new house, was taken by Bill Corcoran of IRIN News and accompanied the original news story.

Irish volunteers make history in sixth annual South African building blitz

In 2008, Irish volunteers were instrumental in building 253 new homes for 3,000 South Africans in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, in just one week on the 6th annual "Building Blitz" for the Irish Aid funded Niall Mellon Township Trust. The 2,000 Irish volunteers made history by being part of the largest group of white people ever to house build in a township in South Africa's history.

“Despite the economic downturn, our volunteers travelled in record numbers to help others, it is an incredible honour to stand shoulder to shoulder with 2,000 fellow Irish volunteers, as the house keys were handed to local beneficiaries giving them and their children a safe dry home this Christmas," said Niall Mellon on his return home from the 2008 Building Blitz. "Many of our volunteers return to Ireland uncertain of their own futures, they returned home after a week that has changed their own lives and the lives of all those whom they have housed, met, sang and wept with in South Africa”.  

There were plenty of tear stained faces amongst the Irish volunteers and the people of Khayelitsha as the volunteers handed over the completed houses to the beneficiary families, some of whom have waited 25 years for a house. One of the beneficiary families, on receiving her new house, said: “Both my children have HIV. Now this house has given them a future. They can live like proper people in a house. They cannot take the smile off their faces. We used to fear the rain because it made us wet and cold, not anymore. Now I will have to go outside to see if it is raining. I hope the Irish will come and visit me next year”.

“Returning home this week, local groups of volunteers are already preparing for next years’ Blitz, intent on assisting each other to fundraise and boosting the representation of their own county," said Mellon. "County pride is evident with every volunteer; they represent their county and country alike, beaming with pride as they describe their home town to local South Africans. This week they face a task of describing to their own kinfolk the sight of seeing a child smile as they cross the threshold of their new home, the incredible moment when a house is filled with laughter and it becomes their home.”

Archbishop Emeritus Tutu said it best when he visited the volunteers, “I come on behalf of those who are now occupying 10,000 beautiful, attractive homes. I come on behalf of them. Niall, you have already left an indelible mark and we will never be able to express what it must mean to those children and their parents. That they are able to walk into a home that has ceilings and a front door that locks, and for a long time they won't believe it. They simply won't believe it”.

The Building Blitz is an important part of the work undertaken by the trust, which operates a year round house building programme in South Africa. Now active in 23 townships, the NMTT is the largest charity provider of homes for low income families in South Africa and has built more than 10,000 houses since 2002. More than 5,000 Irish volunteers have participated in the charity’s “Building Blitzes”.

In 2002, while on holiday in South Africa, Irish property developer Niall Mellon visited the Imizamo Yethu Township in Cape Town. He was so moved by the horrendous living conditions he saw there, that he set up “The Niall Mellon Township Trust”, in order to help alleviate the plight of its residents. In a pioneering venture, he met with community leaders and undertook the extraordinary task of replacing 450 corrugated iron shacks with proper brick houses.

In 2003, he organised 150 volunteers from overseas each raising €3500, to travel 6000 miles to Imizamo Yethu, to build 25 houses in 9 days. In 2004, he persuaded 350 more volunteers to raise €4000 each and build 50 houses in one week. The year 2005 saw 700 volunteers build 106 houses over a two-week period.

After meeting the original target of completing 450 blockhouses in the township of Imizamo Yethu through a combination of volunteers and local labour, 350 Irish men and women moved on to a new township, Mfuleni, in November 2006 and built 70 houses there in one week. Local South African staff have now completed a further 220 houses in Mfuleni. The charity trains unskilled workers and provides valuable jobs in areas where unemployment is more than 40%.

In the township of Netreg, situated on the Cape Flats, local staff and volunteers have built 191 new houses over the last year. Construction at Netreg began in January 2006 with builders from our first township, Imizamo Yethu, transferring their skills to builders from the local community. The project is a collaboration between the Niall Mellon Township Trust and the Netreg community, facilitated by Development Action Group (DAG). Some 1350 overseas volunteers worked in Freedom Park for a week in November 2007, completing 203 houses and building a community centre and Garden of Hope.

This story was prepared from information contained on the Niall Mellon IrishTownship Trust and Niall Mellon Township  Trust websites.