DjMagra’s stuff ‘n’ stuff

Ok, I did say that I have some news for you recently! And that I do!

I have been accepted to join with 300 other (mainly) Irish people going to Capetown, South Africa in November of this year on the Niall Mellon Irish Township Challenge. This is something that I have wanted to do for about two years now, and to say that I’m extremely excited by the prospect would be a total understatement!

For those of you not familiar with Niall Mellon, or the Township Challenge, here’s a little blurb:

The Niall Mellon Township Challenge was launched in 2002 with the aim of improving the living conditions of shack dwellers in a township in Cape Town.

The brainchild of Dubliner Niall Mellon, the project has seen more than 500 brick houses built since its inception. He was inspired to act after a visit to the township of Imizamo Yethu in one of the most scenic parts of South Africa. Conditions in the shanty town were shocking. Almost all of the 15,000 residents lived in small corrugated iron shacks measuring about 9ft x 9ft. Few had running water in their homes and most were forced to share outside sanitation facilities. However, Niall Mellon was touched by the spirit and friendliness of the residents of Imizamo Yethu and decided to act.

The property developer made a personal donation of 1 million euros to kick-start the building campaign. In November 2003 Niall arranged for the first Irish Builders Week to take place. 154 volunteers from Ireland and Britain raised 3,500 euros each and travelled to South Africa to build houses for some of the poorest people in that country. 25 new brick homes were built in Imizamo Yethu in one week. From there things have just grown and grown, with up to 500 people heading on the trip last year

Yes, I did say that there were 300 people going this November, which is smaller than the numbers that have been recently, but, this is being billed as a ‘mini-challenge’ to pave the way for more than 1000 people to go on a challenge next year.

So, now that I have been accepted to go along, here’s where the hard work starts! I’ve to get planning, hit the gym, and get as much fundraising done as possible between now and November, with the bulk of the fund-raising needing to be done by the end of August. The target is to raise EUR 4,000, of which just under half will go toward covering flights, accomodation, food and insurance, and the remainder will go directly toward helping the people we’re there to help. Naturally, I’ll be delighted to reach the goal of EUR 4,000, but, I would also like to be able to raise much, much more! Given it costs EUR 5,000 to build an entire house, being able to raise that much is a target for sure, after that the sky’s the limit!

So, what will I be doing to raise the funds? Well, I’ve quite a few ideas in mind, some of which are going to be very exciting and very daunting to try and put together over a relatively short period of time, but, I’m also just going to rely on peoples generosity and good nature to help me out. If people think it’s a good idea, I will set up a facility to allow donations via this website, naturally with credit being given where credit’s due if people would like to be named!

If you want to read more about the challenge, and what it involves, check out the website, I’d especially recommend that you check out the diary section. Also, please do keep an eye on this blog for what will hopefully become regular updates, and spread the word on what I’m doing, as well as the others, and what the Township Challenge itself is about, it’s such a worthy cause!