Ford’s hard working Ranger 4x4 was in service alongside the 2,000 Irish volunteers who helped build 253 houses at last week’s Niall Mellon Township Trust Building Blitz in Capetown.
The project took place in Khayelitsha, a township situated on the outskirts of the city. Khayelitsha is Xhosa for “our new home”.
The Ford Ranger was one of a fleet of vehicles that were used to transport crews and materials around the huge site.
The annual building blitz is an important part of the work undertaken by NMTT, a charity which operates a year round house building programme in South Africa. Now active in 23 townships, the NMTT is the largest charity provider of homes for low income families in South Africa and has built more than 10,000 houses since its inception in 2002. Since the NMTT was founded in 2002, more than 5,000 Irish volunteers have participated in the charity’s blitzes.
The volunteers, who are each required to raise €5,000 to participate in the project, come from all walks of life, include all ages, and come from throughout the island of Ireland. The volunteers are drawn from a variety of professions, including skilled trades people and CEOs, to nurses, doctors, firemen, and even a fisherman.
Eddie Murphy, managing director of Ford Ireland, was one of the volunteers who participated in the blitz. “It was a huge privilege to be part of the 2008 Building Blitz in Cape Town. It was a great achievement for the team of volunteers to have built houses for more than 3,000 desperately needy people in the short space of one week.”
