In the aftermath of JCWP, a simple house and quilted hearts remain as a legacy of love in action.

South Africa Hosts This Year's JCWP
By Milana Mclead

A tiny shack stood as a stark reminder of a heritage of apartheid and separation, which more than 4,000 volunteers from 47 nations worked to overcome during this year's Jimmy Carter Work Project in Durban, South Africa.

What memories did those rusted, thin tin walls hold? The baggage of a colonial and apartheid history. The legacy of millions, forced from their homes in order to create racially segregated areas. The creation of temporary settlements, townships and substandard living conditions.

But for five days in June, soon-to-be Habitat homeowners and volunteers--both international and local; black and white; Christian, Muslim, Hindu and other faiths--joined the rebirth of South Africa. They worked together to build 100 simple, sturdy, concrete-block houses on a hill just 10 kilometers from downtown Durban.

Even the land beneath the houses bears the still-fresh memory of apartheid. In the early 1960s, as racial segregation took root, authorities removed thousands of black Africans and Indians from the area. Their houses were destroyed, the land cleared. This prime property, with bird's-eye views for miles around, had a sole purpose: to separate the races.

But ever since South Africa's first democratic election in 1994, the rebirth of South Africa has been under way, albeit slowly.

	For two years prior to JCWP, domestic worker Patience Lisa and her 13-year-old son lived in this house with no heat, water or electricity. Today, they live in a solid Habitat house in Ethembeni.

"We have not reversed apartheid quite meaningfully since we started in government," says Obed Mlaba, Mayor of Durban. "This [project], in my view, is the beginning of a journey where we bring back all the different race groups, different creeds and different people who are otherwise separated."

In fact, the new Habitat neighborhood is already doing just that, as it brings previously disadvantaged people from the periphery of the city to an area that has been out of reach to them for decades. "We wanted to move away from this idea where the poor always live on the edge of the city in places of permanent disadvantage, far from public amenities or economic opportunities," says Larry English, physical development director of the JCWP. "It's imperative for us to move into well-located areas." Otherwise, English explains, people are forced to commute hours to work, unduly taxing their meager incomes and diminishing family time.

The project, which ultimately will include 350 houses built over the next two years, welcomes all races. Blacks, Indians, "coloureds" (mixed races) and whites will live in and grow the community together. A homeowners association is already establishing the tenets that will guide the community.

"We wanted to have a project where the notion of a 'decent community' was conceptualized from the beginning," says English. "[The applicants] knew up front that they would be moving from wherever they were living to this new location, where everybody was going to live according to a set of values: They were going to build their own house, they were going to repay, and they would live according to a code that they collectively agreed to. They established and had consensus about what they wanted their community to be. It wasn't just about building a physical development."


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