Captions (l-r): Pre-schoolers giving the volunteers a 'Wallacedene Welcome'. The team that worked on the house that was handed over to the beneficiary. Some of the Stanford students ensuring their tools arrived back on site after lunch. Jen Unser - a veteran volunteer. The house that was handed over. The beneficiary of the house, James Wiseman and his son, Tolani.
Student groups happy to give back
The students who joined the first volunteer build in Cape Town this year were happy to set aside their books for one day to help build houses in Wallacedene yesterday. The group consisted of local UCT students from various engineering departments under the banner of Engineers without Borders (yellow t-shirts), and the other group was made up of foreign students from Stanford University, California, who are visiting Cape Town for a semester as part of the newly-established Stanford Study Abroad Centre (SSAC) (in blue t-shirts).
We also welcomed back one of our individual volunteers that has participated on a previous build, Jennifer Unser (in red t-shirt).
The group was given a hearty Wallacedene welcome on their arrival by children from a local pre-school.
Five of the six teams were involved in building internal walls and the sixth team was given the privileged task of painting and varnishing the house that was to be handed over at the end of the day.
The spirit on site was one of calm contemplation as the students and Jen became familiar with the tools of the trade. By the end of the day the different building teams had built an average of six courses (layers) of bricks in their respective houses, and the painting team had painted the ceilings and the final coat on the exterior as well as varnished all doors and window frames. They also made a good job of cleaning the area in front of the house of rubble etc.
At the house handover ceremony, Claire Gibson of the SSAC, handed over the scissors to cut the ceremonial ribbon and the key to the house, to the 56 year old beneficiary, James Wiseman. James has lived in a shack all his life, and was very eager to take possession of his first solid brick house, which he will share with his wife and two sons. James waited very patiently during the day to receive his house and even helped the students to clean up the front area of his house.
On behalf of the volunteer team and staff of Mellon Housing Initiative, we wish James and his family peace and happiness in their new home.
