Mount Temple man praises his South Africa building experience

A Mount Temple carpenter had described his trip to South Africa with the Niall Mellon Irish Township Trust as a satisfying and emotional experience. Johnny Pettit and his nephew Micheal Grennan from Horseleap, travelled to Cape Town in November for a week, to build scores of homes for the inhabitants of the town's infamous shanty-towns. This year the 960 Irish volunteers were based in the Township of Wallacedene, a very disadvantaged area containing hundreds of shacks about 30 minutes east of Cape Town. Johnny said that there was no rest for the wicked and within hours of landing, he was on site roofing houses. "The first moment I saw the extent of these living conditions as they stretched unbroken towards the horizon, it was difficult to comprehend that these were actual homes for thousands of South African people," he said. Johnny described his visit to a local school and family homes as an emotional experience. "Despite being so disadvantaged the kids present so well and so good humoured. These kids and their teachers made us feel so welcome, they sang for us and proudly showed us around their school. One of the highlights was seeing the rough and tumble playground at the back of the school being transformed into a soccer pitch and beautiful flower beds by the Irish gardening crew," he said. "I'm sure its been said before, but it is a very satisfying moment standing shoulder to shoulder with your team-mates as the keys are handed to a South African family as they move from a tin shack with black plastic on the roof into a new house. Their happiness and sincerity in that moment is palpable," he explained. He praised the charity for how the trip is run and said that there was a great team spirit in the camp. "The manner in which the NMTT organises the volunteers into teams in terms of how synergy and healthy competition is created is a huge social success story," he added. "It's quite incredible how much energy all of the Irish workers put in to their tasks, irrespective of what your job is at home, everyone focused on the job at hand. Even if you decided to have a few beers at night and join in to the sing-song, everyone was up at the crack of dawn and on the bus at 7am ready to roll." Johnny wanted to thank all of the people who supported him by funding his trip to Cape Town, especially those who entered the whiskey Cork draw.