Imagine the fear of being attacked at any time because you and your children have no man or house to protect you…
Well that is the harsh realities facing thousands of women living in the makeshift shacks in the townships of Mbekweni in the Paarl region of Cape town.

On a trip organized by the communities leaders two shacks in the region. We were warmly welcomed by the families. These trips gave us a good insight into how many South Africans live. Some shacks have no running water or electricity so people have to walk miles to get clean water and cook food on turning coals in the middle of their hut. Painted cardboard covers the ground and I wonder if the concept of time exists considering that the calendar was opened at a page in March 2007.  Families are allocated times to use the public toilets each day… a thing we take for granted.

It is common for girls to have one or two children by the age of 14 and suicide is common in the area. A railway track runs behind the shacks and this is where the children commonly play.

These South Africans have very little hope without adequate housing. One woman who has waited 29 years for a house, will receive a home this Friday and, yesterday, she arrived on site to camp out on the doorstep for fear of anybody else taking her home.

Now imagine a project that