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Four in cycle challenge for South Africa

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

FOUR adventurous cyclists set off from Dublin to Cork last week in a bid to raise funds for the Southside based Niall Mellon charity that builds houses for the poor in the slums of South Africa.
Joe Driscoll from Durrus near Bantry (52) was joined on the 200 mile plus trek by three of his neighbours - Cathal Daly, Eileen O’Mahony and Gerard Burke - who are also trying to raise the e5,000 required to take part in the Niall Mellon Township Trust trip to Cape Town in November.
Joe, who has travelled to Cape Town twice before, was joined on part of his charity cycle by young son Jack and wife Karin.
The Niall Mellon trust built an estimated 5,000 homes last year. Of these, 203 were constructed by volunteers and the rest were built by the charity's South African employees who are trained by Irish builders.
Joe, a keen building enthusiast, decided to become a Niall Mellon recruit after seeing a clip about the charity’s work on television.
“I am very interested in building,” he revealed. “I do a lot of my own DIY so I felt this was something that I would really love to do.
“In my first year I was doing some block laying but last year I did some labouring. This year I am hoping that I will do some plastering but it doesn’t really matter because you will do anything to help. The houses that we build are generally 500 to 600 metre square bungalows.”
According to Joe the provision of houses for the people of Cape Town meant a massive change in their lives even though the homes would be considered relatively simple by Irish standards.
Comparison
“They basically have a living room cum kitchen and two bedrooms and a basic bathroom,” Joe explained. “But if you see the conditions they come out of these houses are palatial in comparison.
“A lot of them would have no realistic hope of putting a proper roof over their heads,” he added. “In some cases there are endless miles of slums in Cape Town. These consist of the most basic shacks, which in Ireland would be condemned even for farming purposes. Cattle wouldn’t be allowed into them here.”
Joe said the delight expressed by one particular family after they had been shown into their new home left a fond and lasting impression on him.
“There was one local guy called Samuel who I struck up a friendship with,” Joe said. “He was living in a really tiny shack with his wife and child.
“He was so overjoyed with his new house. He was looking at it in disbelief because he said he thought he would never see the day. I remember he put his hands up to heaven and said even if I die now I will be so happy because I know my wife and child will be secure from the rain and cold. I have kept in contact with him ever since.”
Joe set out with his three fellow volunteers on their charity cycle from the Niall Mellon Township Trust HQ in Rathfarnham last week.
Developer Sean Dunne has given the four volunteers two tickets to stay in the Berkeley Court Hotel for two nights, which they will raffle to raise more money.
Volunteers who wish to take part in this year's building blitz need to raise a minimum of e5,000 - about half of which goes towards flights and accommodation with the remainder going towards Niall Mellon house-building programmes across South Africa.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to the charity cycle can lodge money into a Bank of Ireland account in Bantry, Acc No 39566917, sort code 90-26-02.

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