As he clutches the title deed, or “happiness letter” as he calls it, to his family’s new R20 000 home, Themba Banthom relates how poverty, illness and unemployment have ravaged his life.
“Life became very difficult after I lost my job five years ago because I was the only person in the family who worked,” Banthom said.
The family of five was forced to move out their rented house in Manguang, Bloemfontein, and into a shack in the informal settlement surrounding the township. The shack would collapse in the rainy season.
To add to their woes, Banthom developed epilepsy but couldn’t afford the medicine to control his fits. “Things went from bad to worse because I was forced to spend most of my time in bed instead of out looking for a job,” he said.
The Banthoms’ lives recently took a fairy-tale twist thanks to an initiative designed to uplift impoverished members of the Manguang community.
The Manguang-University of the Free State Community Partnership Programme is a collaborative effort started 10 years ago by community members, the University of the Free State, the Kellogg Foundation and the Irish government.
The programme offers holistic assistance to poor communities, ranging from health and welfare to skills development and training. It also runs baking, farming, sewing, knitting, dairy, indigenous foods and fishing projects and helps about 80 000 people a year.
Banthom heard about the programme when he visited the Manguang health centre. He received free medicine for his epilepsy, and the staff helped him to apply for a disability grant and a child-support grant for his four-year-old child.
His wife was taught business skills and has recently started a shebeen.
The Banthom family and other homeless community members were later selected to receive houses last month. By working alongside building contractors the group learned building skills to ensure future employment.
“Now I know how to build a house and I can make bricks to sell to people,” Banthom said with a grin.
Victor Dithlanyane, superintendent general of the Free State Department of Health, said the health centre did not only concentrate on physical illness but looked at ways of dealing with poverty and personal issues.
Makhosini Msibi, Deputy Director General of provincial Local Government and Housing, said any citizen earning less than R1 000 a month could apply for a housing grant. He said his department gave the programme R27 000 to build each house. — African Eye News Service