Dream comes true
2009-04-02
RESIDENTS of Mbekweni, who have spent years waiting to own their own homes, shed tears of joy on Friday when they received brand new homes built by Irish volunteers for the Nial Mellon Township Trust. Ndileka Oliphant, one of the new owners, could barely speak and received the key of her house, no 3809 in Project 2, with tears of joy. Mayor Charmaine Manuel gave her a comforting hug before they entered the two bedroomed house for inspection. The following day Francis Rulashe and her two grandchildren occupied house no 3808. “I am over the moon,” Rulashe said after she received her key after a wait of ten years. Irish volunteers arrived two weeks ago in Paarl to complete the second Niall Mellon Township Trust (NMTT) building blitz in South Africa. They worked on the construction of 75 houses for a week, after which new homes were handed to the beneficiary families on Thursday and Friday last week. At the ceremony, Niall Mellon announced that the American government has agreed to assist in the sponsorship of housing through USAID. He added: “When the going gets tough you have to call in the women. This year two thirds of the volunteers are women. “And this year I have seen the best workmanship I have ever seen - maybe because the majority of volunteers are women,” he added, to applause from the volunteers. “Every time I see a family walking into their new homes I am filled with not just pride, but determination to increase the numbers of houses built each year. Our partnership with the community and goverment agencies has to date been very successful and we must continue to work together to deliver brand new homes to as many families as possible,” Mellon commented. Lynne Brown, the Western Cape premier, told guests that there is currently a shortfall of 400 000 houses in the Western Cape. “Every year almost 50 000 people move to this province. It is a difficult task to provide housing for them.” Mayor Charmaine Manuel and Dr Alberta Mayberry, the American Consul-General in Cape Town, both congratulated the volunteers on a job well done and added that they hoped to see the volunteers back in Paarl soon. Each volunteer had to raise R60 000 as a contribution to the housing project.
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