Building community - Members in action

The Philani Project was established by RUC member Ingrid le Roux in the ‘illegal’ squatter community of Crossroads in 1979 to provide basic child health and nutrition services to a community ignored and neglected by the health authorities of the time. Philani developed out of a Shawco mobile paediatric clinic operated by medical students.

The performances I gave of my one-man play Bonhoeffer in Canada and the United States were sometimes followed by Q&A sessions. I liked these on one level and dreaded them on another.

The Harare Community Park was opened in Cape Town on 23 May 2009 as part of the programme Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) to improve the quality of life and recreational opportunities of the residents of Harare. VPUU, lead by Michael Krause, aims to increase the safety of residents, strengthen measures to reduce crime and violence, upgrade low-income neighbourhoods and provide social and commercial services.

Sive Nathi is a home for severely and profoundly physically and/or mentally disabled children. The home was originally started by a domestic worker from Khayelitsha in 1997. Since then she has given a home to disabled children whose parents have died, no longer want their sick children or simply cannot cope with their disabilities. The home grew from a couple of children to 42 in just a few years.