Building castles with sand bags
A former Durban North resident Taryn Jolly has come back to the community calling for help.
SEVEN years after her mother converted their home into a transition home to abandoned babies, known as Sinakekele Children, before moving them to the outskirts of Durban in Verulam, a former Durban North resident has come back to the community calling for help.
After being faced with a near death experience, filmmaker Tarryn Jolly, was forced to abandon her traveling and move back home for her recovery period. Since moving back to Durban two months ago, Jolly continues walking in her mother’s footsteps – helping those who are less fortunate.
The organisation is a ministry concerned with the raising of South African abandoned babies. When the Northglen News visited the orphanage we were met by a smiling little girl with a bottle hanging from her tiny milk teeth named Hope. She clung to our legs and was lovingly picked up by a woman named Lungile Ngcobo.
We soon found out that Ngcobo is one of the longest serving staff members of Sinakekele Children and it was her plight and that of her colleague that moved Jolly to start a movement aimed at building sturdy houses for people to live in.
In other news:Help Josh make a splash for charity
“One of our longest serving assistants Lungile Ngcobo – lives in a dilapidated home just across the road. I had previously helped another community member build her home. That task wasn’t very easy because of expenses. Asking corporates and communities to help, I created virtual bricks online, selling them for R100 each, aiming to sell 100. If 100 people bought a brick, I would have R10 000, enough for the physical bricks to build Phumi’s home,” said Jolly.
That is how One Brick organisation was created in 2016 .This time, Jolly was determined to build a sturdy house with a new method that would not be as expensive and more durable. Using all the experiences she gained from her previous project, she found a cash efficient way to help Lungile build her dream home. Working with community members and experienced builders, Jolly started laying the foundation via a new way of building.
“I have friend’s who live on a farm, Dawn and Ruaan Du Preez, who introduced me to using sandbags as an alternative of bricks, offering their time to be on site, teaching us and helping to build this home. Not only are sandbags cheaper, but they have been proven to be much stronger than bricks, using the sand from the land too” she said.
Once filled sand bags are 290mm long x 235mm wide x 85mm in height. A total of 42 bags are required per square meter.
Also read: Former apartheid officer gives back to community
The foundation of Ngcobo’s house has been laid but Jolly said they need more help. And that’s where you come in. Jolly has urged the Durban North community and all surrounding areas to be part of this project. Ngcobo’s current mud house sits on clayey sand, ideal for Jolly’s vision of building a house made from sand bags. Now all they need is manpower to help them fill and lay the sandbags aiming for the home to be ready by Christmas.
“Often when people are asked to donate or give back they monetise the request. All we need is you to donate your time and labour. Unfortunately we can’t build during the week because most of our key workmen are unavailable. We urge you to kindly dedicate one of your weekends to helping us change a family’s life forever,” said Jolly.
For directions to the site in Verulam, you can contact Tarryn on 083 300 9267.
For more from Northglen News follow us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also follow us on Instagram
