Housing is a critical component in the alleviation of poverty alleviation. We believe that by replacing shacks with decent housing and providing community assistance and facilities, we can significantly improve the health, education and employment prospects of extremely disadvantaged people. And based on our experience since 2002, we know just how well that this is working in the townships of South Africa.
Join us on our short term volunteer overseas programme. >>
Read about how we 'Building through Parnership'. >>
Find out about how we work with local communities. >>
Goals and Misson
-
To improve the quality of life for extremely disadvantaged people by helping them to gain access to a good quality home.
-
To increase the spirit of volunteerism in Ireland and abroad.
-
To help develop the spirit of philanthropy in Ireland and beyond.
We work in partnership with Volunteers, with the local community, and with government. Our Volunteers don’t just provide the physical manpower to achieve our objectives, but they also help us to create awareness of our mission. And equally importantly, they help to generate funding for our year-round house building projects and Skills Training Programme.
Read more on our Skills Development Programme. >>
Our Volunteers continue to help bring social housing to the fore of overseas development work. To date, over 10,000 Irish and South African Volunteers have participated in our Building Blitz programmes, working side by side to change lives forever in a single week of their lives. Make no mistake about it, our continued existence is only possible because of the generosity and support we receive from our Volunteers, from the Irish and South African Governments, and donations from the general public.
Find out how you can volunteer with us today. >>
Community Development is an important part of the work of the charity. We don’t just parachute into communities and commence building work. Instead, we engage the local people in the planning and design of their new communities. We build facilities that will be of genuine benefit to the whole community, including community halls, libraries, communal gardens and school halls. The charity currently employs 2,000 sub-contracting staff from the townships, while we also provide training through our Skills Training Programme.
Our Community Development programmes assist local enterprise initiatives to solve local problems. Some of our local community activities include: leadership training, home ownership workshops, environmental awareness
and small business development programmes.
Read more about our work with Communities. >>