Digging for a Good Cause
Habitat for Humanity is a fantastic organization that builds houses in communities in desperate need of resources all over the world. They are currently undertaking a massive build in Mfuleni Township outside of Cape Town, and last Saturday Connect-123 volunteers rallied bright and early to get involved.
Our team was tasked with building the foundation for a house for Peter, a local Mfuleni resident, who was relocated to Mfuleni from the township of Khayalitsha due to regular flooding in the area where he lived. None of us were really sure what we were in for but with shovels in-hand and nothing but a littered plot in front of us, it was clear that it was going to be a long day of hard work.
We were immediately surrounded by young children, excited to see new people in the community and many of us made great new friends for the day.
After clearing the plot, we started digging the foundation – our supervisor and the site assistants around us made it look so easy but what we lacked in digging skills, we definitely made up for it in spirit. The shack next door was blasting out old-school R&B classics which definitely lifted the mood!
We then measured out sand, concrete and cement, one wheelbarrow at a time, laying it out in the road in layers. After a builders tea of door-stopper-sized pieces of bread and jam we soon discovered our next task. Other volunteers working on the site next to us warned that we’d gotten the easy part out of the way and the hardest part was yet to come. As soon as we got back to work we definitely understood what they meant – there were no cement mixer in sight, only us, a water hose and the giant sandpit we’d created in the road.
It was hard work and the determined attitude of the Connect-123 group was fantastic to see. When we were finally finished, a massive sense of accomplishment washed over us and we also started to notice how tired and truly covered in dirt and cement we all were.
Some women in the community invited us into their shack for a traditional African dish of umngqusho or samp and beans, which is a mixture of dried maize and beans. We were all surprised by how ravenous we were and there was complete silence as we wolfed down this unfamiliar, but very satisfying food.
After cleaning the road and saying our goodbyes, we drove out of Mfuleni with a new, warm feeling for a place we’d entered just hours before as foreigners.
