Desmond Tutu Building on Faith Week
Join
us and help build a better future for South Africans living in urban poverty.
Sunday 12th to Saturday 18th September 2010, Cape Town, South
Africa
Habitat for Humanity needs to recruit at least 60 volunteers to come
and help families escape housing poverty? Will you join us on the
Desmond Tutu Building on Faith Week for the experience of a lifetime?
Each volunteer team will work with the chosen homepartner family,
who are currently living in a shack, to build their new home in just 7
days. All you need is the desire to make a difference and plenty of
enthusiasm! No building skills are required. Working under the
supervision of local trades people you could find yourself block
laying, mixing mortar, roofing, or painting. You won't be asked to do
anything you feel uncomfortable doing and you will receive training each
step of the way.
By sweating, laughing and working together with the new homeowners,
their friends and neighbours, and other volunteers, you will accomplish
this seemingly impossible task.
As the cement walls go up, other walls come crashing down – walls
between language and gender, colour and culture. Most of all, you will
have helped ensure that 20 families can face the Cape winter with the
certainty that leaking roofs and cold winds driving through rickety
shacks are a thing of the past.
South
Africa
Nearly half of the 47 million population live below the poverty
line. And almost 10 million South Africans live in poverty housing –
nearly 1 in 5 of the population. The housing backlog alone is estimated
at 2.5 million houses. In addition to the enormous need for housing
and services, rapid urbanisation and the effects of Apartheid have
resulted in a fracturing of traditional structures, families and
community.
Hailed as ‘the miracle nation’, South Africa made the peaceful
transition from Apartheid to democratic government in the spirit of
‘unity in diversity’. Now, a new challenge is facing South Africa:
the challenge to build a brighter future and end poverty housing.
Get
Involved!
The Desmond Tutu Building on Faith Week 2010 is a great opportunity
to put your faith into practical action that will make a real
difference. As you demonstrate God's love to a community in need, you
will experience township life, and most of all you will help a family
build their new home – changing their lives forever. But there is a
warning: it may change your life as well!
Register your Interest
To register your interest, email us at SupportServices@habitatforhumanity.org.uk