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| "Do it yourself"
project by Cape Town's homeless |
On our visit to Cape Town, we learned about the
devastating effects that Apartheid had on the black population and
about the brave struggle of the homeless people.
We started our trip by visiting the District 6 Museum. The museum
tells the moving story of District 6, once a very popular mixed and
bohemian community. It was situated in the heart of Cape Town and
was the only residential area where people of different ethnical origins
lived and socialised together. In the era of Apartheid people were
totally divided by their skin colour and didn't have the rights to
freely choose residential areas, but were forced to live in designated
areas. In this sense District 6 was a unique and diverse place, with
its own multi-ethnic culture. It stood in direct contradiction to
what Apartheid with its artificial social engineering represented.
In 1966 due to a lack of financial support for housing from the Government
the area was officially declared a slum area and was demolished overnight
in order to be re-build as a white residential area. This is the official
view of what happened. The community's view is that District 6 was
an embaressment for the Government, as it stood for everything that
Apartheid tried to destroy. Today, District 6 is recognised as a symbol
of the people's will to resist an evil system that divided and de-humanised
people. Now, some of the former residents have been given back their
land by the new government.
Since the abolishment of Apartheid everybody has the right to live
wherever they like. However, with the deterioration of the housing
situation, most people still can't choose where to live. Because of
the high influx of people from rural areas to the city, the number
of the homeless people and people living in shacks is increasing all
the time. This is the situation from which the 'Do it yourself' project
evolved as a means for homeless people to act together in order to
improve their housing situation. We visited the Derek Hanekom Centre,
which is owned by the South African Homeless People's Federation (SAHPF).
The members of the federation are drawn exclusively from homeless
communities, shack settlements and backyard dwellings. The organisation
originally started as an initiative of a group of women who tried
to improve their housing conditions while their husbands where away
working in the mines. The project has grown and is currently part
of a network of 12000 savings schemes throughout South Africa out
of which 85% are lead by women. In the area that we visited the Federation
is currently developing 700 houses, an urban agriculture project,
a primary school, a high school and small commercial centre. We learned
from Margaret Benjamin, Manager of Darek Hanekom Centre, about the
amazing efforts of local homeless people to build their homes and
about their strong community spirit, enthusiasm and sense of solidarity.
United in their determination they have successfully managed to improve
their situation off their own bats.
We were given the chance to meet local people and visit their homes
as well as help construct and paint one of the houses. Spending the
evening listening to the stories of the women and children was also
a very heartwarming experience. Their positive spirit and determination
for change is one more example of people's strength to overcome the
pain and suffering of the past and work towards a better future. |
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| Mombasa-Cape Town
/ Peace Boat's 36th Voyage |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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