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Township Life, Imizamu Yethu (New Year's Eve 2006)

  • The township in Hout Bay, Cape Town, has grown from a loose collection of shacks in the late 1980s to an established township known both as Imizamu Yethu and Mandela Park. Imizamu (sometimes Imizamo) Yethu is isiXhosa for "Our Struggle". Locals have joked that they prefer the appellation 'Irishtown', after a house-building charity - the Township Trust - that has transformed many neighbourhoods in the last few years with the help of Irish volunteers who come each November. Go here to see some of their work www.irishtownship.com The workers at Original Tea Bag Designs live in Imizamu Yethu. Most live in rudimentary shacks made from scrap pieces of wood, the ubiquitous corrugated iron (for both roofs and walls), and plastic sheeting to keep the rain off. Holding down a steady job and going home to a shack every night can't be good for the spirit. Shops, shebeens and cafes stock only the very basic staples. But there is hope. The Township Trust is coming to the end of its whirlwind building programme, which has shown the SA Government what can be done with some Irish application (and building skills). Some of the workers are, or are looking forward to, moving into their own houses. Some people are grabbing the opportunities that the New South Africa has allowed. It is these entrepreneurs, albeit in a small way at first, who will make the biggest impact on the lives of the previously oppressed and presently disadvantaged population. I have been told that the house building programme is intended to house all the 'original' residents of the township. This is easier said than done and there have been many accusations of corruption. Others believe that when some people are assigned a house, they immediately rent it to 'outsiders' or distant relatives and remain living in their shack - effectively adding to the housing problem. The situation, inevitably, is going to leave some at the bottom of the pile where they were in the first place. Historically, there is some tension in the township over illegal foreigners who work for less than the 'going rate' and others who sell drugs. I've seen this myself: it's a strange sight seeing a top-of-the-range white BMW making a delivery amongst the squalor.

Original Tea Bag Designs

  • ORIGINAL TEA BAG DESIGNS was the inspiration for the African Brew Ha Ha. The brilliant idea of re-using old tea bags to create delightful mini works of art showed how one person with a simple idea and the conviction to make it work can make a huge difference to other people's lives. This project deserves to succeed (actually, it is!) in the face of many obstacles - both bureaucratic and personal - as it is bringing employment, purpose and, as one employee commented "a future, and my children's future". The artists from Original T-Bag Designs live in an informal settlement called Imizamu Yethu, in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. Their homes are simple structures to say the least — some are precarious structures made of odd bits of tin, wood and plastic nailed together for shelter. Although many do not have formal schooling, they do have grit and imagination and a desire to make their families' lives better. The artists, using recycled tea bags as their canvases, are painting themselves out of poverty. Used tea bags are collected and dried in the African sun. Then they are emptied of leaves, carefully ironed, and finally each tea bag is painstakingly painted. The artists work mostly at home during these early phases so they can care for their families while they work. Sometimes the little ones help by emptying out tea leaves. The project was founded in 1999 and continues to be run by Jill Heyes.

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February 24, 2008

Ulysses Returns

February_24_olive_pics_update_528 There were dancers, singers, around a hundred curious tea drinkers (some from Lancashire but I don't think they were following me), a British diplomat, Olive (the missus), a couple of clean Triumphs putting the Tiger to shame, Jill Heyes and all the Tea Baggers, the South African flag, a Union Jack and the Irish Tricolour, and even a gumboot performance to welcome me to Hout Bay at the end of the African Brew Ha Ha.

Thank you everyone for coming out, it was terrific.

I managed half a cup of tea before I made an idiot of myself with a lachrymose speech about the trip and the 'blinding light' that kept me going during the last five months. I can't remember the journey without thinking about the people who have made the trip so unique, who helped me when I probably didn't deserve it, and of all the people left behind. And if that sounds soft, then so be it.\

Top Tea Bag Designs worker Nicholas said: "I know you had a soft heart today but you must have had a strong heart to make this trip and for that we all say thank you."

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Posted at 12:41 PM in Tea Encounters - Africa |

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Comments

David, Sarah & Ben

Congratulations Alan We had no doubts.....Look forward to seeing you soon.

Posted by: David, Sarah & Ben | February 25, 2008 at 09:09 AM

John Evans

Hi Alan,

Congrats on your arrival at The Brew haha!!!

You must be chuffed!!? Well done.

See you when you get back to the BBC

All the best

Love to Olive

John

Posted by: John Evans | February 25, 2008 at 10:56 PM

Simon Miller

Well done Alan!

Ewan & Charlie who? They took the easy route!

And well done to the Tiger.

Got yourself up a tree now; what next? That's the point of having dreams!

Hope to meet up in Lancashire (Knott End) someday.

Simon (Lagos, Nigeria)

Posted by: Simon Miller | February 26, 2008 at 06:26 AM

Simon Miller


Waiting to buy the book and, I hope, get to one of your talks maybe.

I'm still in Nigeria but in the Oil & Gas Industry now, not the FCO.

How is the Tiger?

Best regards,

Simon.

Posted by: Simon Miller | October 09, 2009 at 08:39 AM

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