In March of this year, Kathleen Trolan departed for the shanty town of Mwbenti, in Cape Town, South Africa to work alongside 600 dedicated Irish volunteers (on behalf of the Niall Mellon Township Trust) on a week long Building Blitz to help build low cost housing for those most in need, raising over £8,000 in the process. Once again, Kathleen will be leaving for South Africa to participate in a 1,000 strong team of volunteers in Wallacedene, Cape Town as part of Building Blitz 2009.

Wallacedene was formed in 1985 when the relaxtion of pass laws allowed people in rural areas to more readily migrate to urban centres. It has an estimated population of 68.000 people with approximately 9,000 shacks, a severe overcrowding problem and it one of the poorest townships in Cape Town – some of its inhabitants have been on housing lists for over 20 years. The levels of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis are extremely high with 1 in 3 suffering from HIV (particularly in those aged 13 and over). Any contributions to this well deserved cause from the people of Ballinascreen and beyond will help to make a difference.

Niall Mellon Township Trust Flickr photostream.

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