When the rain falls hard. A short letter from Serve the City Stellenbosch. one. introduction and background. Serve the City has been working in Enkanini for a year now. It is a township on the away from the centre of Stellenbosch, on a hill with one dirt road meandering upstream, to the top of the settlement. Some 6000 people are estimated to live there, and they live in shacks. This means they have built places for their families to live in from sheets of corrugated iron, or wood, if they are less fortunate. The ones that are employed work for minimum wage, keeping them always engaged in the struggle to survive, the struggle for basic needs. This is where me spend much of our time, much of our energy. This is where we have made friends and built things, this is where we have seen things being burnt down. This is where we dream, and the people are starting to dream with us.  two. the committee. We have started a committee in Enkanini. The committee’s role is to ascertain needs within the community, plan and execute idea’s to fulfill them, and evaluate previous work. It is a mix of local individuals and a several delegates from Serve the City’s side, devoted to both short and long term needs, learning to dream together, learning what can be done and doing it. When Serve the City brings in teams, the council decides what they will do, and when they have gone, the results are scrutinized. We are working towards and open budget, creating ownership and empowerment. Previous initiatives include arts projects, painting many shacks, turning a hillside into a communal piece of art, starting of English classes for both children and adults, and revitalizing a feeding scheme that had been shut down. three. winter. In the last meeting the concern of the coming winter was raised. In the Western Cape, it rains. It rains long and hard, for months on end. The concern is for the children. Mama Unice and Mama Nolita, two of the council members, explained that the children hardly have any footwear. The rains make Enkanini a dangerous place for travelling. The slopes become extremely slippery, as there is only loose earth, with few plants and few barriers to stop the water from rushing down where it pleases. People slip and fall constantly, and it is wet and cold. The shacks are not warm, and cold feet are never a good medicine for warmth. Even more so, it is embarrassing for the children to show up in school without proper footwear, making it even harder for them. It is for this reason this letter has been written. four. gumboots. There are an estimated 250 school going children in Enkanini who we work with. We want them all to have boots. We need you to help us. For 40 Rand, we can buy one child one pair of boots and socks. This is 4 euro’s and 15 cents. 5 dollars and 85 cents. 3 pounds and 65 pennies. This is almost nothing. Please help us to help these children. These boots will make more difference than you will know, maybe even understand. These boots will make their lives a little less harsh, the winter a little less daunting. Your change brings real change. Get involved. Please. SMS “Gumboots” to 42995 & donate R30 from a South African phone. OR Electronic transfer: Serve the City Banking Details: Serve the City ABSA cheque account: 4074090855 BIC/SWIFT code: ABSAZAJJ Branch code: 632005 OR Paypal: lourensmaritz@servethecity.co.za

When the rain falls hard.

A short letter from Serve the City Stellenbosch.

one. introduction and background.
Serve the City has been working in Enkanini for a year now. It is a township on the away from the centre of Stellenbosch, on a hill with one dirt road meandering upstream, to the top of the settlement. Some 6000 people are estimated to live there, and they live in shacks. This means they have built places for their families to live in from sheets of corrugated iron, or wood, if they are less fortunate. The ones that are employed work for minimum wage, keeping them always engaged in the struggle to survive, the struggle for basic needs. This is where me spend much of our time, much of our energy. This is where we have made friends and built things, this is where we have seen things being burnt down. This is where we dream, and the people are starting to dream with us.
 

two. the committee.
We have started a committee in Enkanini. The committee’s role is to ascertain needs within the community, plan and execute idea’s to fulfill them, and evaluate previous work. It is a mix of local individuals and a several delegates from Serve the City’s side, devoted to both short and long term needs, learning to dream together, learning what can be done and doing it. When Serve the City brings in teams, the council decides what they will do, and when they have gone, the results are scrutinized. We are working towards and open budget, creating ownership and empowerment. Previous initiatives include arts projects, painting many shacks, turning a hillside into a communal piece of art, starting of English classes for both children and adults, and revitalizing a feeding scheme that had been shut down.

three. winter.
In the last meeting the concern of the coming winter was raised. In the Western Cape, it rains. It rains long and hard, for months on end. The concern is for the children. Mama Unice and Mama Nolita, two of the council members, explained that the children hardly have any footwear. The rains make Enkanini a dangerous place for travelling. The slopes become extremely slippery, as there is only loose earth, with few plants and few barriers to stop the water from rushing down where it pleases. People slip and fall constantly, and it is wet and cold. The shacks are not warm, and cold feet are never a good medicine for warmth. Even more so, it is embarrassing for the children to show up in school without proper footwear, making it even harder for them. It is for this reason this letter has been written.

four. gumboots.
There are an estimated 250 school going children in Enkanini who we work with.
We want them all to have boots.
We need you to help us.
For 40 Rand, we can buy one child one pair of boots and socks.
This is 4 euro’s and 15 cents. 5 dollars and 85 cents. 3 pounds and 65 pennies.
This is almost nothing. Please help us to help these children. These boots will make more difference than you will know, maybe even understand. These boots will make their lives a little less harsh, the winter a little less daunting. Your change brings real change.
Get involved.
Please.

SMS “Gumboots” to 42995 & donate R30 from a South African phone.

OR Electronic transfer:

Serve the City

Banking Details:
Serve the City
ABSA cheque account: 4074090855
BIC/SWIFT code: ABSAZAJJ
Branch code: 632005

OR Paypal: lourensmaritz@servethecity.co.za