Out of Africa: the Irishman helping to build futures
Cliodhna O'Donoghue takes a look at the Niall Mellon Township Trust and how it got started
Friday November 09 2007
Niall Mellon is a man with a mission -- to house as many impoverished South Africans as possible.
The Dubliner was on holiday in South Africa in 2002 and, rather than simply visit the usual hotspots such as Table Mountain and Robben Island, he decided to veer off the tourist route to a place where most would fear to go -- a township. Niall Mellon ventured into Imizamo Yethu, a shantytown on the edge of one of the most beautiful suburbs in picturesque Cape Town, Hout Bay.
In 2002, the 16,000 residents of Imizamo Yethu were squeezed into hundreds of tiny 3m x 3m tin wood and corrugated iron shacks, perched on the side of the mountain over-looking the Atlantic Ocean. Conditions were appalling, with many families sharing the most basic of ablution facilities. But, besides the desperate poverty, Niall Mellon was struck by the dignity of the people of Imizamo Yethu in the face of such adversity and the genuinely warm reception he received from the people he met there.
The property developer immediately established the Niall Mellon Township Trust (NMTT). He personally donated €1m there and then to kick-start funding and continues to pay for all administration costs. In a pioneering venture, he got other Irish construction workers involved in the project through an annual week-long build in the township -- the Building Blitz.
From humble beginnings, when the charity built 75 houses in one year and brought out 154 volunteers on the first Building Blitz in 2003, the NMTT is now South Africa's largest house-building charity. It is aiming to build a total of 5,000 houses this financial year, and has brought 1,380 volunteers on this week's Building Blitz.
NMTT is now working in seven townships in the Western Cape and 13 projects in Johannesburg. It employs 1,700 South Africans, the majority of whom come from the townships. Not only is it providing much-needed homes and employment for poor communities, the charity also works in partnership with them, imparting life skills and building capacity, thus transforming lives.
The South African Government estimates that 2.4 million families are still in desperate need of housing. This huge backlog is increasing by 200,000 units every year. This is despite the phenomenal achievement of building 2.3 million subsidised homes since the fall of Apartheid in 1994.
The South African Government currently delivers 250,000 housing units a year, but 500,000 houses are needed annually to eradicate townships by 2014.
To date, more than 2,500 Irish volunteers have helped build homes here for the homeless. If the 2007 group makes their target this week, the Irish will have built a total of 551 homes for shack-dwellers in Cape Town.
Today, almost 1,400 Irish volunteers -- some 1,155 Irish men and 225 Irish women -- are approaching the end of this year's Building Blitz. They down tools today, Friday, and travel back to Ireland tomorrow. This is by far the largest number of volunteers to leave the country on an overseas humanitarian mission.
The aim is to build 200 houses, a community centre and to landscape a communal garden in just one short week.
This will make the dream of a proper home a reality for around 1,400 people, including more than a thousand children.
For further information on the Niall Mellon Township Trust see www.irishtownship.com, or telephone 01 4948200
- Cliodhna O'DOnoghue
