Sunday 19th November 2006
Clem Cairns Orange Team
We’re more settled today. Yesterday was finding our feet, getting our bearings around the township, sussing out the locals – would they be welcoming, resentful, hostile? Would there be too many drunks enjoying themselves of a weekend and climbing the scaffold to try to help out? It’s OK. The people are as friendly as they were in Imizamu Yethu. The children as beautiful, and the women’s smiles as astonishing. We know where the compounds are, who to ask for materials and equipment and who to ignore. The work is moving faster and this morning it was mercifully cloudy. Those of us who don’t work as builders at home are feeling it in the muscles and for the older folk, probably the joints too. The “real” builders are flying it. Over lunch two women and a man come to look at the house we are working on. We are sitting on blocks working our way through soggy sandwiches and hard fruit. One of the crew, a Mayo man of some experience, works his way diligently towards a proposal of marriage to one of the women. There is only one proviso – is he rich? We assure her that he owns half of Mayo and the deal is done. She will come to mass with him on Sunday week in the west of Ireland. He doesn’t let up this guy. This morning he tried to persuade a clatter of local lads that we are here to earn money to take back to Ireland for drink. It’s a great break from the work. We fall about laughing and get back into the intense heat of the afternoon. After lunch the cloud lifts and without the benefit of yesterday’s wind we are melting. At half two the water cart comes around with ice pops and we suck them with the delight of children.
Una’s Mullally’s – Saturday night, Sunday morning
If I heard one more person asking me sarcastically “were you painting? Did you manage to get any on the wall?” someone on the bus was going to get a clatter. Of course, it was pretty obvious that myself and most of the women on the red team were painting, so covered we were in the white primer that we rolled, brushed and splattered on the houses in our zone. The area we started in backed on to a sort of mini desert, which the wind swept across blowing more paint on us than we could put on the wall at some points. So I think everyone was grateful for the prospect of a hotel shower as we made our way out of Mfuleni. That evening was another chance to get to know each other. After a few beers in the hotel bar, the red and green team were shipped off to Victoria Warf on Cape Town’s Waterfront where we gorged on steak, mussels, chat, and of course, a couple of glasses of the local red. The sensible ones got the early bus back to the hotel and hit the hay, but undoubtedly, there were a few who propped up the bar for another short while. This morning, we arrived bright and early, with more houses to paint. Thankfully, there were a few local volunteers helping out, so the pace was faster and the results more immediate than the day before. By lunchtime, several of the houses were drying in their new colours of orange, yellow and green, and at last we could see real results. The afternoon came to a short standstill when thunder and rain broke the midday sun, but it passed quickly, and soon the heat was back to its usual nearly intolerable self. One of the local volunteers who helped us out with scaffolding and painting, Rob, runs charitable initiatives in other townships. He spoke of the gang violence, turf wars and the ravage of widespread addiction to crystal methamphetamine – or ‘tick’, as the locals call it – along with the constant cloud of HIV/AIDS that hangs over such a vast population. But when you look around Mfuleni, all of that seems invisible, replaced, if only momentarily, by smiles, waves and the eager glances of those who are about to move in to the houses the lads are building, and we are painting.
Gerry Fennell - Green Team
Day two – after some team bonding over a few drinks last night everybody was glad to see the bed!! Though it was not long until the alarm bells were ringing and we were off the buses bound for the township by 7.30, a few of the team headed to mass and were welcomed with raptourous song by the Mfuleni Church – mass was said in Xhosa and English by a priest from Belfast who has been here for 23 year, the team left ready to embrace the days work. Work started at 8am, straight into block laying and plastering once again, today was the first day to see some of the houses complete with roofs - which was a great sense of accomplishment. Around midday we had thunder and lightening which tool away the wind and made the site stifling hot… however everybody stuck to their paths and progress is good. We got a request from the Methodist community within the township who worship from a shack for some help – the Blue team are now busy pouring a new floor for them!!!! Meanwhile the rest of the teams are hard at it making sure we are on target! As Bertie would say – we have a lot done but a lot more to do!
