SOUTH AFRICA

2004 February
+ Cape Town (Nyanga Township)
++ Trip ID Number = gv4160
++ with side trips to Cape Point, Robben Island, Wine Country
+ 12 team members
++ involved in 1 house, start to finish!
++ brick-laying, roofing, trench-digging, framing

Standing on the southern tip of the African continent between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, South Africa straddles more than oceans: it straddles time, cultures, economies, and social systems. It is a land of contrasts in its geography, its people, and its rhythms.

While apartheid has officially ended, remnants of the social class system are informally enforced, as a large gap exists between the first world economy and third world social realities. Daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, and unemployment rates are high, approaching 50% in the townships of Cape Town.

Habitat for Humanity has been building in South Africa since 1987, and in Cape Town since late 1998. The Rainbow Nation of South Africa is slowly rebuilding itself and Habitat is making its contribution one home at a time, providing a powerful and practical opportunity for individuals and organizations to contribute to nation-building in this country, breaking down barriers and building reconciliation.

Two hundred twenty houses have been built in the Cape Town area since 1998. Habitat is currently building 50 square meter breezeblock houses comprised of two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Depending on the stage of construction on any particular house, work teams will be involved in:

• digging trenches for the foundations and pouring footings
• mixing cement
• building and ?bagging? external walls or internal walls
• helping to put on the roof
• painting the house

We will likely be building in one or all three of the HFH affiliate communities in the Kahyelitsha Township area, just outside Cape Town -- Khulani, Sophumelela, and Masiqumane.

Khayelitsha is the most recent and largest of Cape Town’s five major Townships.
The vast majority of people (90% in the communities where we’ll be working) live on their land in informal structures known as shacks. These are shelters made primarily out of corrugated iron sheets, supplemented with plastic, cardboard, and wood. Asked whether they would prefer to move to other, more attractive, areas, over 80% of those living there indicated they considered Khayelitsha their home and would not move. Despite difficult living conditions of people in the communities of Khayelitsha, there is a driving initiative towards self-improvement.

Our accommodations will be in Cape Town where we will have breakfasts and dinners. Lunches and tea will be provided by the homeowners on site.

When we’re not working we’ll take advantage of being in South Africa. It will be mid-summer south of the equator and the beaches along the Western Cape are world renown, as are a number of other sights that we hope to include, such as

• Table Mountain - overlooking Cape Town
• Robben Island - an historical museum, once a prison that held Nelson Mandela during apartheid
• Cape of Good Hope – considered one of the most beautiful places on earth, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet
• Penguin Rookery – penguins in Africa? Yes!
• Wine Country (Stellenbosch) - arguably the finest vineyards in the world, rivaling Napa Valley and the vineyards of Europe

Our tentative itinerary looks like this:

The trip fee will be $1,550, plus round-trip airfare -- you're free to make your own flight arrangements. This price includes lodging, food, ground transportation, cultural tours, traveler's medical insurance, orientation materials and a donation to Habitat South Africa.