CMA’S DIEPLSOOT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVE NEARS COMPLETION:
Article Date: 24 July 2008
th.jpg) Half a million rand’s worth of precast concrete building materials supplied at no cost by the Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) and its members has made a substantial contribution to the building of MaAfrika Tikkun’s early childhood, youth and health care facilities at The Wings of Life Community Centre, situated in the informal settlement of Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg. In addition, CMA members supplied further quantities of building materials at cost.
The three buildings, an early childhood development facility (EDC) which caters for the newly born up to the age of six, a youth development facility for children of seven and over, and a health care and administration facility, have benefited from CMA involvement. The Association donated hollow masonry blocks manufactured by Watson Concrete and Marley Roofing’s Monarch range of concrete roof tiles for the construction of the EDC. It also supplied hollow-core suspended floor slabs, manufactured by Echo Prestress, for the skills and youth centres as well as concrete paving blocks, produced by Cast Industries, for the perimeter area around a community kitchen located on the same property.
The masonry for all three buildings was laid with Watson’s 190mm wide burnished Stone Pearl and Topaz (banding) blocks. The blocks were burnished on both outer and inner faces and this combination offers an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Therefore no plastering or painting was required giving a totally maintenance free walling system both inside and out. The plinth area in the crèche was constructed in a 190mm slate grey block and some quoining was also done on this product. Some 50 000 blocks, all rated at a minimum of 7MPa are being used on the project.
As block laying techniques differ vastly from to brick laying, Watson Concrete played a major role in training the artisans to lay the blocks to a srandard which obviated the need for plastering.
A total of 619m² of 150mm thick prestressed hollow-core slabs was used on two of the buildings, 310m² on the first floor and roof of the skills development centre and 309m² on the roof of the youth centre. The panels used for the Diepsloot project weigh approximately half a tonne each which is some 30% lighter than in situ concrete of the same specification rating. Moreover, construction time was halved, and unlike in the construction of in situ flooring, no skilled workers were needed for shuttering, reinforcing and the pouring of concrete.
The building project forms part of a community development initiative which is being driven by MaAfrika Tikun, an NGO founded in 1994.
The CMA’s social investment budget is being managed by CSI Africa, an organisation which assists businesses in the effective management of their corporate social investment budgets. CSI Africa sourced the MaAfrika Tikun project on behalf of the CMA and is evaluating its impact and progress.
CSI Africa’s Sarah Cairns, observes that it is better to keep children in a community rather than institutionalise them, and the community centre will play an important role in this regard.
The ECD centre caters for children up to six years, providing them with a safe haven while their parents are at work. The period from birth up to the age of six is absolutely critical for a child’s growth and development. If they don’t receive proper care and stimulation at this age it can impact on the rest of their lives.
“The youth development centre, the largest of the three buildings, will provide a place of after-school-hours sanctuary for children between the ages of seven and early adulthood. All children who attend the after-school programme start the afternoon by completing their homework. The centre has a multi-media facility for projects as well as facilitators who can assist with homework. Extra-curricular activities such as dance, drama, playball, chess and indoor sports will take place in the centre. The health care and administration facility will be the base from which social workers and nurses operate, and where caregivers hold meetings and record data about their patients. It will also be open to adults in the morning for literacy classes and workshops.”
Cairns says only seven percent of the Diepsloot community is formally employed. HIV/AIDS is widespread, as are child abuse and domestic violence.
“It’s a desperate situation. A feeding programme, which entails the distribution of food parcels on a weekly basis to thousands of people, is run from the centre. There is also a group of approximately 30 home-based care-givers, all volunteers, who provide home-based care for those who are temporarily, chronically or terminally ill. They visit , bath, and feed them and make sure they take their medication regularly. Largely made up of women, they are paid a stipend.
“The Diepsloot community project is by no means unique. The model is standard practice for NGOs, but the need in Diepsloot is extraordinary because it’s grown so quickly. It was created in the late nineties, and its growth has been exponential, with some 500 000 people living in the settlement.
“What we have here is a community that isn’t really a community in the traditional sense because nothing really holds it together. They all come from such different backgrounds; besides immigrants, one finds Sothos, Zulus, Pedis, Xhosas, Tswanas and Shangaans; it's such a diverse community and the need is just massive,” concludes Cairns.
.jpg)
The early childhood development facility (EDC) which caters for the newly born up to the age of six at The Wings of Life Community Centre at the Diepsloot informal settlement north of Johannesburg. Watson Concrete’s 190mm wide burnished Stone Pearl and Topaz (banding) blocks, and Marley Roofing’s Monarch concrete roof tiles combine well in the creation of this aesthetically-pleasing and largely maintenance-free structure. .jpg)
Infants express a vote of confidence at Diepsloot’s Wings of Life early childhood development centre, built with concrete blocks and roof tiles donated by the CMA.
|
.jpg)