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RE: Students Come Together To Build Tiny Homes For The Homeless
LOVE this, we are desperately in need of similar housing in South Africa where hundreds of thousands of people live in informal settlements. But sadly our government is slow to come to the party, often using funds to line their own pockets rather than giving people basic but humane living conditions.
ah! that is the case the world over! aha professional gangsters! 😎
So true, but so frustrating!!!!
This was my point. These kids did not wait for their government to do anything. Instead, they went out and did it themselves. The Government does not need to be involved in order to make great things happen. All it takes is people who care and have some free time to spare.
I hear what you're saying however the scale here in South Africa is way beyond what you are dealing with. Hundreds of thousands of people need homes. Just two weeks ago a fire broke out in an informal settlement close to where I live and 13,000 people lost their homes. The community have rallied but when you are dealing with a crisis of this proportion the only way to end it is with support or at least approval and financial backing from the government.
One more quick example, that relates a little better to your story...
http://www.instyle.com/news/brad-pitt-homes-for-katrina-victims
Brad Pitt was not waiting for Government. He got up and did something about it.
hahaha if only Brad Pitt would come here! I'm not taking away from the destruction or tragedy of Katrina but there was still something to resurrect - roads, water, electricity, sewerage - normal living conditions. Plus we are still not talking about the same amount of people. It is estimated that 11.6 million people live in the 76 largest townships in SA.
Or... If the Brad Pitts of your country cared enough, they could pool their money, raise money and get things done to work towards an acceptable end without any Governmental action at all.
I admit, I did not know the size of the problem but I am not certain it matters. There is clearly a leadership problem. I think we both agree there. Where we disagree is in the leadership they put their trust into.
So why, out of all those millions of people, can they not lead themselves to some sort of victory?
Is it because they are too busy waiting for someone to give them free and easy answers?
That just does not seem like a very good way to go about handling the problem.
Organizing over a million people should be able to get a lot done. Including roads, sewers, etc. regardless of it being illegal or not.
In the Katrina storm, the US Government would not allow people or any humane help into the area, it was not legal to help them either. It was a huge mistake. Wal-Mart had trucks full of supplies already on the roads that were ready to donate but the US Fed Gov would not let them in the door.
So they broke laws, they sneaked trucks of supplies in anyway. There were humans in there who were in DIRE NEED!
No one got into any sort of long term trouble, everything was appreciated in the end.
I can't seem to reply to your last comment...
First and foremost, I really do agree with your sentiment but you don't understand the complexities of this country and I can't blame you for that.
The ANC - our current government - have been voted in time and again by people who are loyal to Nelson Mandela regardless of the fact that the organisation has become one of the most corrupt on the planet. There is also much displaced loyalty because of the ANC's role in the struggle during apartheid, despite the fact that they no longer reflect any of the values Madiba's ANC stood for. However the lack of education in rural areas means that once every 4 years the ANC can drive around handing out bread and convincing the people they will look after them. I am praying that come 2019 their lies will fall on deaf ears. People have been waiting for 23 years for promises that have yet to be delivered and I think they are finally realising they need to invest their hopes elsewhere.
I would agree with you about the power of a million people if most of those people were not unemployed and those with jobs made more than about 15 dollars a day if they're lucky.
The Brad Pitts of SA do do what they can, and trust me we break rules to deliver supplies, but that is totally different to digging trenches for water pipes, bringing in massive machinery to tar roads etc. It's just sadly not feasible.
Again, I agree and respect your sentiment and wish more than anything it was that easy but it is not. :(
I totally respect everything you have said today as well. I have learned a lot and had my eyes opened to geo political problems that are going to be difficult for me to understand. I agree there too. It sounds like there are activists trying to help in South Africa as you have said which is a good thing IMO. So I thank you for the good conversation today, even if we may not ever truly understand one another.
I still think it is important to understand why Wal-Mart was incentivized to help the victims of Katrina. Most of those victims were all regular Wal-Mart customers, many of them probably also Brad Pitt customers. If Wal-Mart didnt break the rules, not only would more people have died but also, it would have effected Wal-Mart's bottom line as a hundred thousand loyal customers just died overnight.
I totally realize that geo political issues are going to stand in the way. But the large corporations of South Africa might benefit by getting involved here.