Moving from Shacks to a Real House

Host: The women in the federation make regular savings of small sums
of money which are pulled in a savings scheme. This enables them
to add to the government grants and with input from themselves
build big houses.

Patricia Matolengwe: I think for the women, it was because that it was something which
was voluntary. Men are always like to involve themselves whether
they are going to get something towards what they are doing so I
can say that because women are always dedicate themselves to be
volunteers. Then, it was easy for them to involve themselves than
the men.

Host: Today, Selma is moving into her house.

Selma: When I was given the key for this house, I was shocked really
although I know the house is only -- it’s getting built but I didn’t
know it was going to crumble. It was a shock for me.

Well, it’s a like a legal haven for me because it’s the first time for
me to be staying in a house like this and maybe I'm pleased. Bit by
bit, I’ll try and make it better and better.

Host: The Federation of Homeless People have now built nearly 10,000
houses themselves throughout South Africa, a remarkable
contribution to the government’s housing title. There are now
nearly 600 houses in various stages of construction at Victoria
Mxenge and the related developments of Hazelden and --. It has a
small oasis in the seemingly endless sea of shack dwellings.

Lulama Katsha’s house is not far from Thelma’s. She moved in
three months ago. The house is very incised in design depending
on how much the women are able to contribute.

Lulama Katsha: My house is 72 square meters. It’s a three-bedroom and a
bathroom and the kitchen, the dining room and the lounge. I'm
very proud of it and I see that I did work very hard for it. About
two or three, I’ll wake up as if I'm dreaming that as if. I'm in
another place. I wake up on my bed and come to sit here just going
around looking if it is true that I'm in my house.

Host: Lulama does the bookkeeping for some federation projects.

Lulama Katsha: It has been good for me because I’m getting lots of experience of
things and to be involved in with a lot of people. The bookkeeping,
I learned from the federation because I didn’t know about the
bookkeeping.

Host: Everyday, new members of the housing federation come to seek
help and advice at the Victoria Mxenge Community Center. This is
where records of all the groups in the province are kept.

Patricia Matolengwe: They’ll report to us discouraged and say that and always forget.
It’s not going to work but we keep on trying and trying up to now.
Today, we don’t believe ourselves. Everybody doesn’t believe the
houses which we have. Everybody is still asking is it me after so
many years.

Host: Selma’s long years of waiting are over.

Selma: Well, my house is perfect. Never mind that it needs like bed.

Host: Selma and her grandchildren have settled in their new home. Each
year, there are exchange visits between members of the South
African Federation and similar organizations in other countries like
India, Thailand and Ethiopia. These visits have been crucial to the
way the federation has developed.

Joel Bolnick: Any single community and it has a finite range of experienced to
draw and for its own development needs. So, if you link many
communities together, they just are able to learn or any from there
any experience or from the experience of others. So, one can say
without exaggerating it that those exchange with it so the goose the
golden egg. Without those exchange visits, you don’t have a
federation.

Patricia Matolengwe: I learned a lot from them because we were having exchange
programs that so that we can see that we are not the only one who
are the very poor. In some of these countries, most of these
countries, we were sharing the experience of the poverty.

Host: Setting up their own saving scheme has been a key to the success
of the Victoria Mxenge women. Not only has it enabled each of
them to take out loans to build the kind of houses they want, it’s
also meant that the money we paid goes back into their own
community.

Host: The -- provides childcare for working mothers. The women have
started a small pottery. With a scheme to grow lilies for the
commercial market income is generated for the women who
participate.

Patricia Matolengwe: We need to stand up. We need to organize ourselves. We need to
start secure our own manners and started to be part and parcel of
the economy of this country.

Joel Bolnick: It’s sort of an attraction to the government finance because what
the government likes about the federation process is that the many
revolts. People take loans, they use the loans to set needs. Those
loans are repaid and then the next families are able to utilize the
same money to meet different needs.