The Indlovu Project - from Squatter Camp to Eco Village

The Indlovu Project – from Squatter Camp to Eco-Village

“We believe an innovative, simple and sustainable way to improve the physical, emotional and economic health of the community is not only possible, but we have begun to put it into practice.

The heart of our project lies in the community-built structures made from sandbags and Ecobeams.

These buildings serve the greater community with a clinic, a youth centre, a crèche and training centre, food gardens, a laundry and even an income-generating guest house.”


On Friday 10 October 2008, Bishops’ Global Issues Network Group visited the Indlovu (means strength in isiXhosa) Centre in Monwabisi Park, Khayelitsha. It was only the third or fourth time I personally had been into Khayelitsha, home to nearly two million of Cape Town’s poorest residents, despite attending Bishops, just a few kilometres away. We were given a tour of the project by Di Womersly, who helped start the Indlovu Project in 2005, and Buyiswa Tonono, a community leader. Di is the director of the Shaster Foundation. They showed us the fantastic progress the project has already made, highlighted the challenges they face daily and told us about their bright plans for the future.

Getting out of our minibus, we were greeted by the loud music of a nearby shebeen and the smiling faces and handshakes of some the community’s younger members, sitting in the back of Di’s bakkie, which we were informed is a favourite pastime. I took off my blazer and rolled up my sleeves, as the weather had finally cleared up in Cape Town and the sun was out in full splendour. In the shade of the ‘under-construction’ backpackers’ lodge, Di informed us of the three main things they try to keep away from the project: drugs, alcohol and politicians (being a Non Governmental Organisation -NGO). We were then given an extensive tour of the facilities which covered an area of only 500m2.

The Indlovu Project began in 2005 with a crèche built from donated materials in response to a need in the community. It was a bare tin-and-pole construction, yet it fulfilled an important function as the base from which the whole Indlovu Project grew. The project is community driven and led by the street committee in partnership with The Shaster Foundation. Every building in the project has been constructed by members of the community, and the food gardens are also tended by the community.

This cooperation has resulted in a unique and outstanding project which benefits the whole community of Monwabisi Park – an informal settlement of some 18000 residents. Certain services, like the free clinic, extend even further into other surrounding areas.

Since its inception in 2005, the Indlovu Project has created twelve permanent jobs, four buildings with more on the way, trained fifteen people in food gardening, and is training eleven pre-school teachers. The project has brought people from all over the world to stay in the community and share their skills. It is a wonderful example of co-operation, partnership and hope for South Africa.

Today, the well equipped crèche cares for 60 children who get nourishing food, immune-boosting vitamins and de-worming medication regularly. In informal settlements such as Khayelitsha, there is almost 100% worm infection among the population, so this crèche goes a long way in tackling this problem, at least in these children’s lives. Above the crèche is a model Montessori classroom where the older children receive excellent pre-school education. The model classroom also serves as the venue for weekly Montessori workshops for care-people from all the crèches in the area.

One of the centre’s most prominent facilities is the clinic. A professional nurse and volunteer doctors provide life-saving treatment to all residents of Monwabisi Park. Due to the outstanding quality of medication and care received here, sick people from surroundings areas are traveling to Monwabisi Park seeking help. Most financial donations go towards buying medicines as numbers of patients grow continually. The clinic treats 50 to 70 people a day, with those employed paying a R50 ($5) fee and free treatment to the unemployed. Up to 80% of the people in the area are unemployed.

Next to the clinic sits the project’s other far-reaching feature: the soup kitchen. The free hot meals that are served to about 200 people daily from Monday to Friday are in some cases the only food many people have to eat. During the school holidays, the kitchen also feeds children who rely on school lunches for their midday meal. Vegetables grown in the organic food garden are used here.

Eleven local people have received training in organic food gardening. Two young men who were previously unemployed now care for the food gardens and have started a small business where they plant and care for veggie beds in the yards of neighbouring shack dwellers. The ‘rent’ is paid for with half the crop, and the remainder is sold to the soup kitchen, crèche, guest house and shortly to the restaurant when it is completed.

Above the clinic sits the Youth Centre. The building housing the clinic and the youth centre was constructed from an old film set, epitomising the resourcefulness and “nothing goes to waste” attitude this centre thrives on. It provides a safe haven after school, where elder students assist the younger ones with their homework and all members enjoy protein milkshakes and fruit every school-day afternoon. There is a library, a computer centre and recreational facilities such as television, table tennis and a pool table. Dizu Plaatjies, a well-known local musician, holds weekly workshops where youngsters learn to make and play traditional African musical instruments. They have formed a variety of cultural groups - gumboot dancers, traditional Xhosa dancers, a gospel choir, beading and drumming groups give the youngsters a chance to showcase their talents as well as earn some cash. Two local artists run twice-weekly art workshops to encourage creativity and self-expression. The older members volunteer in the community in various ways, from fixing roads and shacks to helping in the vegetable gardens.

There is no running water in people’s homes, so all household water has to be collected from community taps, of which only one is functioning in the area! Doing laundry by hand puts a huge burden on women. To lighten this burden, the centre built a laundry where rainwater harvested from the roof of the buildings is fed to the sinks.

Across from the youth centre/clinic building, flanking the courtyard in which the laundry stands, is Makasi’s Guest House. This unique sandbag building is a model for an alternative building system, lodging for visitors and a source of income. It offers warm and comfortable accommodation as well as a flush toilet system worked by a simple bio-digester system. Solar power heats the water and many fittings are made from recycled objects. Visitors from all over the world have stayed here and enjoyed the warm local hospitality.

At the time of our visit, a new building was under construction that will serve as a community hall and meeting place; a facility for hire; a place for the elderly to meet; an educational centre; a restaurant and a centre for promoting tourism in the area. The trainee kitchen staff will cook meals for tourists, provide a bakery service for locals and, most importantly, give skills training in the hospitality industry for waiters and cooks. It will also provide a market for locally grown vegetables.

Above the community hall will be an accommodation facility that will sleep twenty people. Here the project will house volunteers who come to work in the project bringing skills to share as well as income. The upstairs balcony provides breathtaking panoramic views of the nearby ocean and Table Mountain.

Hosting international volunteers is a major source of income for the project, as well as an invaluable resource of skills and talents that are passed on to the community.

This was a thoroughly interesting and hope-bringing outing for the G.I.N. Group. Something which amazed us all was Di’s extraordinary exuberance and excitement for her work, which, despite the daily struggles, exuded from her as strongly as it must have the day she started the centre. She is, in the words of Gandhi, being the change she wants to see in the world, and inspiring us all to do the same.

Anyone interested in reading more about the Shaster Foundation, making a donation or applying for a volunteer position, please visit www.shaster.org.za or contact Di about the volunteer programme at [email protected] . Poverty alleviation is a huge problem in South Africa and we would love to engage in discussions with other members of the Student Action News Network on issues that have been raised in this article.

Chris McPetrie