Wallacedene - 2009
November 2009 will be remembered by the 950 volunteers for the rain. The Trust worked in the township of Wallacedene, in Cape Town. The volunteers toiled in the rain, but their determination to successfully complete their mission at the end of the Building Blitz week, meant that 200 houses were handed over to families together with a new School Hall and football pitch to the community of Wallacedene.
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Mbekweni - 2009
March 2009 was a unique Blitz, it was the first time we had a female majority, with 65% of the 500 Volunteers being women! The charity worked in the township of Mbekweni, in Paarl, which means Pearl in English. Paarl is famous for its wine making, but also as it is where former South African president, Nelson Mandela took his first steps on his Long Walk to Freedom. We completed 78 houses during this week.
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Khayelitsha - 2008
Khayelitsha was the biggest ever Building Blitz to date. To match the year, 2,008 volunteers headed out to South Africa. This was the largest volunteering mission by any Irish charity to date! 253 houses were completed by the end of the week and a school hall was also handed over.
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Freedom Park - 2007
1,380 Volunteers head straight to work after only three hours sleep following delays caused by the closure of Cape Town International Airport. This did not dampen the spirits and the commitment of the volunteers. They marched to Freedom Park to start work on the 203 houses that were completed by the end of the week.
Mfuleni - 2006
356 Volunteers went to Mfuleni in Cape Town. Over a period of 1 week, 70 houses were built.
Imizamo Yethu - 2005
Over a two week period, 700 Volunteers both Irish and South African built a further 106 houses in the Imizamo Yethu township.
Imizamo Yethu - 2004
350 Volunteers headed back to Imizamo Yethu and built a further 50 houses.
Imizamo Yethu - 2003
153 volunteers arrived at the Imizamo Yethu Township, Cape Town and completed their target of 25 houses in one week, which cemented the promise that Niall Mellon had made to the local South African workers - if they built 150 houses with him, within the first year, he would get 150 Irish volunteers to help them build houses for a week. This was the start of what now continues to be an extremely successful week long building blitz by volunteers each year.