Tuesday 21st November 2006
Clem Cairns - Orange Team
Harrison Ford is sitting at a table full of food and surrounded by Amish. He’s recovering from an injury and on the run and the farmer wants him to work hard for his keep. He looks about about as disgruntled as a hombre can get. “Don’t you like eating John Book” says the farmer. “Sure, just not in the middle of the night”, scowls Harrison. I remembered that scene from Witness this morning at breakfast. Half past six. Half four at home and the stomach clock adjusts slow. I picked at a bit of fruit and mindlessly drank a coffee, looking in awe at the mountains of scrambled egg and Springbok sausage on some of the lads’ plates. Irish builders, can’t out-build em, can’t out-drink em, and probably can’t out-eat em either. Security at the township is tight. When the buses pull up they are confronted by four of the biggest women I have ever seen, (wo)manning large blue plastic containers normally used for mortar. Slowly they drag and push them aside, and the buses go through. You wouldn’t mess with that lot, until you smile and greet them, and they giggle like kids and suddenly you could take them home and cuddle them. Another TV image comes to mind. Your man in the desert thinking about fried eggs, and the rain at home in Ireland, and pints of Harp, and Sally O’Brien. What is missed most here in Mfuleni is plain ordinary tea. If I hear another countryman say “Jaysus lads what wouldn’t ya give for the sup a tea. What?” I’ll scream. For the Dubliners its coffee. I’d love one myself but if I hear another female whine “Oh my God. Wouldn’t you just diiie for a latte”, I might scream too. There were ructions brewing this afternoon. The rep from the company that makes the roof trusses came round and told us we were doing it all wrong. Rumour was that several roofs would have to come off and be redone. A good-looking black guy was dancing and singing on the roof and looking at the joints. We all stopped and ate a sandwich with no tea. Some lads took off their shirts to get a tan. This could be a long wait. Then, out of the blue we are all back on the roof and we don’t know why. Maybe we were doing it right all along!
Una Mullally
Followed by a free evening, I think everyone was a little more refreshed on Monday morning after two solid days work. Mfuleni was buzzing from early in the day as everyone was preparing for the visit of Desmond Tutu at lunchtime. TV3 had flown over and the cameras and extra local media presence added a sense of importance to the occasion. Once again the champion red team ladies started out with more painting. We had primed all the houses, so had the slightly nicer task of adding a bit of colour to them. The heat was a little more forgiving than the previous day, which helped a lot. With nearly two houses completely painted that morning, everyone downed tools and headed to HQ where Desmond Tutu was arriving. In the small marquee for the press briefing, a group of singers and dancers had gathered to entertain everyone before the arrival of that day’s VIP. Also present were the Mayor of Cape Town, the Minister for Housing and the Irish ambassador to South Africa. Tutu received rapturous applause when he eventually arrived. After speeches from Niall Mellon, the mayor and the minister, the Archbishop stood up and offered words of encouragement and thanks to all of the volunteers. Just to be in the presence of a man so revered for his work for human rights and humanity itself was a fantastic pleasure. He was presented with a gigantic birthday cake and serenaded by the builders with a rousing version of The Fields Of Athenry. After that it was back to work. By now, us red house painters had made our way quite a far bit down the site, so we were constantly meeting new people, and it was always a joy to talk to families who were moving into the houses we were preparing. At the end of the day, a few of the volunteers gathered in our own makeshift sheebeen for a nice cold (and rather large) beer, before boarding the busses and heading back to the hotel. That evening, we went to Moya – an amazing buffet restaurant in incredible surroundings. There were treetop tables, dancers, drummers and the best food we’ve eaten here so far. Everyone eventually rolled home full of ostrich, butterfish, brownies and wine with the bright South African stars shining overhead.
Gerry Fennell - Green Team
Day Four! Lucky with the weather yesterday as when we were leaving the site after a hard days graft it started to rain, back to the hotel where were had a quick shower and change and then headed to the Moyo Spier estate for an night of African hospitality – Wilderbeast, ostrich and snake were all sampled from the menu – Which wouldn’t be the norm for a Monday night in Arklow, a good night was had by all. I got the first bus at 7am to the site this morning - and it wasn’t long before everyone had arrived and were working on the various houses. Again the weather was kind and it has not been too hot. The block layers started on the second phase of houses, and we are really starting to see the our efforts come to fruition… soon we will need more roofers than block layers. Today we had buckets of Kentucky fried chicken for lunch instead of our usual sandwiches which went down well with the team. After lunch we visited the local school and had a quick tour from the headmaster “Guideon”, its good to see that the kids from the Township are finally beginning to get a good education. After the quick break it was straight back to work
