Thursday 27 August 2015

24 hours camping in a township

Back in March 2013 I saw an invite for the Viva Foundation to take part in an Arts festival at The Alaskan Informal Settlement in Mamelodi, in Pretoria.

I took my youngest son with me, the tent, paint, food and a boot full of donations.

We were in the sun all day painting shacks, meeting the owners and generally having a lot of fun.

If you'd like to know more about the work Viva do or you want to volunteer please contact them:

You can follow Viva on Twitter as @viva_sa and like join their face book as The Viva Foundation of South Africa

Longdrops or toilets as we know them as. When a long drop is full, a new hole is dug using the soil to fill in the old one and the shack is repositioned over the new hole. be grateful there is no such thing as smelly vision.



The local fruit and veg shop, which now sadly has been closed down due to numerous break ins.






This is Betty's house, she makes items like shoes and decorations to sell every day on the side of the road to support her and her husband, teenage daughter and another daughter and her child. She provides the only income for the household.



We camped without electricity and running water, taking everything we needed for the weekend and sharing with the community.



We had access to one solar panel to charge phones as volunteers needed to contact us for directions after getting lost in the township.





This shack houses a family of 6, it is one room inside. The sleeping area is curtained off from the kitchen and living area. In here lives a husband and wife, a disabled daughter and 2 teenage sons. 


If you wish to make a donation to projects like this please click here to do so.

6 comments:

  1. Could NOT do that Im a glamper through & through.....hats off!!

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    Replies
    1. oh i love camping, next trip will be mid november when we go to Oman

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  2. Well done to you and your youngest son for making such a difference x

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  3. Wow!! The things we take forgranted

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