In 2002, an Irish property developer founded the Niall Mellon Township Trust with the aim of providing the poor of South Africa’s townships with housing. You can read more about it on the website.
The way it works is unlike most charities. Rather than providing money for housing, the trust actually provides the housing itself. Each year, volunteers, mainly Irish men and women, travel to South Africa and over a period of 7 days, build houses. The volunteers must raise a minimum of €5,000 each to fund travel, accommodation, building materials, machine hire etc. While those with trades are more demand, volunteers from all walks are welcome either for their specialised skills, such as medical personnel, or simply as labourers.
Last year almost 1,400 travelled and built 203 houses. Last year one of those volunteers was a friend of mine. I admire him for taking it on, for swapping his suit for shorts and t-shirt, his laptop for a shovel and the boardroom for a building site. Unused to manual labour he naturally came home exhausted, with aches and pains and bruised and scratched. Exhausted, yes, but elated. Just off the plane he was planning for the 2008 trip.
A couple of months ago the same man returned to South Africa on holiday. One of those last minute package deals and he jumped at it. A week’s break for himself and his wife.
At the first opportunity they spilt from the tour group and made their way to the township he had worked in. Like a little boy who has just built a sandcastle he was full of excitement and couldn’t wait to show off his work to his wife. His special project had been a playground.
He didn’t recognise it at first. It was destroyed. He was destroyed. The climbing frames had been hacked down, probably for firewood. The chains on the swings were gone, probably sold for scrap. Everything was broken.
For the second time in 12 months he got off a plane from South Africa. But not elated this time. Deflated. All that work. All that time. All that money. Gone. The sacrifice of having left his wife and children, one a newborn baby, at home believing he was making a difference to the lives of those more deserving. And now, nothing to show for it. Some bully had kicked over his sandcastle. The cuts and bruises this time were to his soul. The aches and pains to his heart.
He learned a lesson that everyone involved in charity work learns. I’ve learned it myself. More than once. When asked, Niall Mellon, said it is theirs now. They can do with it as they wish. He is right, though that can be hard to accept. There is only so much you can do for someone. They have to do the rest themselves.
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It is true, there is only so much you can do for someone and they have to do the rest themselves. You can also only help someone as far as they want to help themselves.
I think though instead of sending some money to feel good about self, what Niall Mellon doing is the best, with the volunteers and getting the work done. That’s brilliant and so are all the people who go there to help.
Also, I like the new look of your blog.
Ooooh, look at you, fancy pants. I like the new look!
That’s too bad about your friend. But you know what, before it was vandalised i bet some children did get some enjoyment out of it. That’s still worth plenty. Plus the example is there for the kids to see of good people doing good constructive things for other people’s benefit. He was still a positive force in their lives.
He sounds like a terrific man for his efforts. It’s nice to know the world contains people like him to counteract the spririt and effects of the wicked assholes who would knock down a children’s playground.
So Niall Mellon is a saint even though he doesn’t seem to understand how to really improve the lives of people in these communities? Development can only be successful if first you go in and find out what people’s needs are and then cater to those needs and involve them in managing the project. Even then, many projects fail, or function only for a short time.
What Mellon did was go in with lots of good intentions and a particular notion of what these communities wanted…hey presto he got it wrong, they don’t need playgrounds, they need firewood and food and probably lots more things that we can’t even conceive of like security and a chance at education.
In some ways I think it was arrogant of all these Irish crews to assume that South African residents of townships would prefer to see Irish sweat and toil rather than hard cash. What sort of example did the Irish workers offer? Another misled intervention by white foreigners, I reckon.
surely they didn’t just go there to build playgrounds?
Gayé ~ Yes, I think Mellon’s approach is a good one - it takes away the risk of money being diverted into the wrong pockets which is common in many African countries (South Africa not being the greatest offender by a long shot).
There are a few things not working right on the new theme. I’ll try find time to hack around a bit more today.
Sam ~ Fancy? It’s still blue. I was about to go wild altogether but lost my nerve.
That’s just it, Sam - my mate did make a change. A small one. For a brief time. He also learned many valuable lessons, not least that sometimes your best efforts will come to nothing. Right now he is learning if he is strong enough to try again.
Loubelou ~ I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. - Nelson Mandela
Mellon is no eejit. He does understand that an holistic approach is needed, in this, as in all cases. He also knows his team can’t do everything on their own. The long term plan was to get a part of the puzzle solved then enlist other parties to work on the rest. In this case that meant bringing the SA government and the locals themselves on board. That is in progress and is also in train in the other African states where the trust operates.
On a practical level, housing eases the way for the provision of warmth, food, security and education. I shouldn’t need to explain how that is.
Gayé ~ Playgrounds? Far from it! I mentioned that facility as it was the work my friend was assigned to. It also got a lot of press coverage at the time - and why wouldn’t it? Kids, bright colours and so on make for great photographs.
My comment didn’t make it through - please enable my Javascript and cookies was the message I got.
Come on though guys, - look at the pictures this is hardly the wilds of Africa, it’s a township with a community and children and with a need to remain cohesive. There are very many depressed communities in Britain and Ireland where people try to put up something for the kids but some thug comes along and destroys it, for money or kicks or whatever. We don’t excuse it at home and we shouldn’t excuse it just because it took place in Africa. To do so smacks of cultural relativism and is its own sort of soft racism. There are thugs and vandals in all the countries in the world and their nationality has nothing to do with it. I bet there were a bunch of heartily disappointed regular people in that township - adults and kids - when they learnt what had become of their new playground.
I know good people from very impoverished communities (in India and Britain) who would never dream of doing such a thing to a valuable new community resource, especially the one bright spot for kids in an otherwise bleak environment. They would also be outraged if it happened in their own communities and call the vandals out for their destruction.
Sneezy’s pal made sacrifices to be there. He’s entitled to feel a bit depressed if he sees it was all for naught. Too true the white record in Africa is bloody and horrendous and I don’t know enough to say if this project is one of these well-meant-but-ill-advised enterprises, but I just feel sorry for the guy. He can’t be blamed for past white evils or naivety or anything other than being a stand-up guy willing to give of his time and energy to try to make the world a little bit better. And I would understand the destruction as a political act more if it had been a British or Dutch project but the Irish have hardly been brutal colonialists in Africa.
Primal - I totally agree that cash is not the way forward and the idea of these charity groups that pay to come out and help less fortunate communities are excellent, and the people who do the work very noble.
Sadly though, loubelou is right in one sense and that generally with a project such as this - as much as someone would like to help the kids and I think a playground is such a great idea - sadly the adults in the community will only see it as free firewood and handouts and make whatever cash they can from it to feed themselves instead. I totally disagree with loubelou that this is done through arrogance but I believe through naivety. It goes on here everyday with well intentioned NGO’s daily getting it wrong with what sounds like brilliant ideas for projects to help out which turn out to rarely work once they are left behind for the communities to run for themselves, and that basically boils down to totally diverse backgrounds and ideals and certainly NOT a case of “another misled intervention by white foreigners”.
Sorry for such a long comment Primal - didn’t mean to go on and on but just want to try and see story from both sides - i’ll write a post on it and explain more as I see it.
PS. Like your new look - very suave X
reality is indeed quite sobering. I can’t imagine though how that must have felt seeing all the hard work and hopes destroyed. Very sad indeed.
Compliments on the new blog look. Very very nice.
Actually, while on the topic of “Africa” I personally believe the white folk needs to give back what they have stolen from Africa through the centuries, including her dignity, her people, her raw cultural, tribal way of life (right or wrong, who is to say one way of living is better than the other - what right do we have to impose religion, biblical names or any other missionary hang-ups on anyone). The turmoil African countries is in today is not their fault, it is the English, the French, the Dutch, the ….. you name it… Exploited to the teeth and abused for years, it is only natural that she is suffering. We need to not just build homes there, we have to return their gold, their diamonds, their natural resources. No measure of aid is enough, especially when it’s symbolic.
I still believe, though, you can only help people (anywhere, anyone) as long as they want help and respond to it.
I forget the exact wording of the quote, but isn’t it better to teach how to fish, than to give the man fish to eat everyday? Isn’t it the more dignified and least patronizing?
I have to say, Ireland is one of the very few countries with no history of colonising other countries and exploiting them, so I find it very impressive that this Irish man takes it upon itself to right a bit of the many wrongs his Western kind has inflicted on this beautiful, big, wild continent.
Here is a sack of rice, take it and be grateful… What’s that you say? Your gold? Naah, just eat your rice and shut up.
Sam ~ Sorry about the blocked comment. It is there so I don’t have to delete all the auto-spam from Akismet. Sometimes it glitches and thinks humans are machines.
Anyway, yes there are thugs and vandals in every country. There are also the uneducated - those who don’t know how to use or appreciate what they have been given such as Irish Travellers who were housed and used the timber fittings for fuel and the rooms as stables.
White girl ~ I’d love to read your post on this.
I don’t see Mellon’s initiative as naive in the way so many others are. His aim was to get the ball rolling, then let the locals (including the respective governments) run with it. Sometimes, the ball can roll the wrong way, as happened in my mate’s case. But not always, and many of their projects are now thriving.
Conorín ~ It was heartbreaking. (I think more so because he was intending showing off to his wife). This happens a lot in charity work and if you let it get to you, you just give up. It will take him time but I reckon he’ll be back doing it again very soon.
Gayé ~ Just a small point: We Irish were colonists at one point. It is something that is glossed over often as it was relatively minor in comparison to other countries’ practices. We raided many parts of Great Britain’s coast taking livestock, goods and slaves and we founded kingdoms there, the most famous being that on the coast of Scotland. It is likely Sam’s ancestors were subjects of an Irish king.
Admittedly we never went as far as Africa - probably because we had to be home by tea-time or our mothers would be cross.
an interesting post, Primal, and interesting comments. in NGO bullshit-bingospeak; it’s all about community involvement, local ownership, social responsibility, shared responsibility and cultural awareness. it is a shame when the best will in the world is quashed by an experience like the one your friend had.
It all goes to show there’s no difference between Africans and Europeans.
People make shit of free houses here as well.
Rosie ~ Anyone who has done any sort of work like that, anywhere, will have the same experience at some stage. That was my point. You just got to accept it.
Bock ~ People make shit of all free stuff. Make them pay even a nominal sum and it’s different. Give away match tickets worth €40 and a lot won’t use them - charge a €5 and they all will.
Ooo now there’s something I haven’t heard of about Ireland. Colonising was a popular pastime for many countries I guess. Regardless, I have respect for those who try and help in more effective ways than sending a cheque in and donate money.
G
It’s seldom mentioned never mind taught in our schools, Gayé. Our education system likes to play up the isle of saints and scholars bit.
At one time pillaging, plundering, colonising, and raping and burning if you were into that sort of thing, were all very fashionable. These days I think they call it the war against terror or something like that.
Damn it! I completely forgot to try hack in fixes for the faults with this new theme.
Hehe yes, true Primal. They call is exactly that. Or something like bringing peace to countries that “coincidentally” happen to have petrol.
I actually really like this look. The left and right sides of the text box or the main body rather, is mesmerizing. I stare at it for about 30 seconds and I swear the stripes move!
Sorry Primal - think what i meant to say came out a little wrong. I do agree that a lot of these projects are excellent and do a lot of good. It is just the people and governments as you say who are left behind to keep the ball rolling - who don’t always get it to roll the right way.
We let ourselves off the hook if we say the Irish had nothing to do with colonisation. Irish soldiers and administrators built the British empire.
Shining examples like this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O‘Dwyer show we have as much blood on our collective hands as anybody else.
Strike 2 (I posted this before but it vanished)
We let ourselves off the hook too easily if we say the Irish were never colonisers.Irish soldiers and administrators built the British empire. The American
empire too.
Our collective hands are a bloodied as any oher Europeans.See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O‘Dwyer
Gayé ~ Should I change the sides? They sort of mess with my head too.
White girl ~ Actually, I think we’re in agreement. But then, we’re two very agreeable people.
Aonghus ~ I suspect this theme and/or WordPress and/or the AJAX that’s running has a problem with the apostrophe. I’ve tried edit you comments a number of times but they still show up arseways. Sorry.
Anyway, you are correct in what you say. In fact you reminded me of a post I’ve been meaning to do on a similar topic.
Does that mean I was ajaxed?
Well and truly AJAXed, Aonghus! Or maybe not … I never had a link with an apostrophe in comments before, so I can’t be sure.
Finding out what the issue is, is not a priority right now.