Progress in South Africa

South Africa

PET bottle filling is in full swing in order to construct an innovative showcase educational centre in Philippi.
With this unique new building method, the centre will demonstrate how to build affordable homes utilizing Nylon-6 fish net and PET bottle bricks (filled with waste mud), how to generate green power, how to produce bio gas generated from vegetable and organic waste, and how to erect PET bottle wall gardens for growing vegetables, fruit and more.

PET bottle filling has begun in order to build a new facility to house the Matolweni Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC) and to demonstrate the affordable building method to the community.
The current structure is inadequate, unsafe and cannot accommodate the number of young children in the area.
Samarpan volunteers were met with great excitement and enjoyed a warm welcome celebration upon arrival in the rural village of Idutywa. The entire community demonstrated their enthusiasm and eager participation in this project by filling hundreds of PET bottles in anticipation of the meeting!

Samarpan has secured a 50-year lease for land in Alexandra, one of the largest and oldest townships in South Africa. This land has been obtained in order to build a new, fully equipped hospice and rehabilitation facility, replacing the existing Alex Hospice and Rehabilitation Centre in the area.
Providing this service with greater outreach capacity is desperately needed for the many terminally ill patients in the community, especially those suffering from HIV. The current facility is presently being operated out of an abandoned school and, therefore, does not have adequate facilities to meet even the most basic needs of its patients.

A suitable site has been identified in Kliptown on which to sink a borewell. This is in collaboration with and on the grounds of the Kliptown Youth Program.
Kliptown is highly congested and impoverished without sufficient access to basic services such as electricity and sanitation. There are very few taps that provide fresh water in the area, and these service as many as 100 households at one time.
The project will provide for the construction of a community kitchen and lavatory facility. This will accommodate for the needs of the residents in the surrounding Kliptown area, including the many children who must walk long distances, often on empty stomachs, to reach the closest schools.