Gift of the Givers has stepped in to help the families that lost their homes during the Durban flood and plan to rebuild 80 homes along with supplying aid.
Durban, South Africa – Gift of the Givers has pooled its resources and is helping those left homeless after the Durban flood in the best way. The humanitarian organisation, always on the frontlines of disasters providing aid, will assist 80 families by rebuilding lost homes in a new location.
Whenever there is a disaster, drought, fire or political hostage, Gift of the Givers is there to offer aid to those in need. Since founding 27 years ago, the organisation sends volunteers all over the world to assist however possible.
“Gift of the Givers always responds to disasters. That’s our speciality. That’s how we were founded. Our first project was to respond to the civil war in Bosnia,”
Since the Durban flood, it has been confirmed that 70 people passed and many left destitute. Gift of the Givers has been feeding the communities. In an interview with TimesLive, Dr Imitiaz Sooliman spoke about how they plan to proceed in helping to build new homes for 80 families.
“The standard approach is to provide hot meals, blankets, food parcels, new clothing, hygiene packs and other relevant items.”
They also provide building materials so that people can rebuild their shacks. They are waiting for the local municipality to assign a piece of land, and then they will begin rebuilding.
“Based on their cry for shelter and of course, because of generous support of SA including large corporate support, we can rebuild new homes for these victims at a cost of R25,000 each,”
“In certain cases if people were given a new piece of land we do take a decision to build homes. We built homes in Khayelitsha several years ago that was followed by homes in Alexandra, which in essence has become the prototype for a model village in informal settlements,”
While they are not able to rebuild every home lost in this disaster, they have touched many lives with their disaster relief efforts. So far they have helped;
- Fifty people who lost their homes in Margate. They were moved to a creche and were provided with food daily. The organisation will supply building materials to them this week to rebuild their homes.
- One hundred families in an informal settlement in Quarry Road, near Reservoir Hills. Food hampers, blankets, tubs, towels and 10kg maize meal were distributed.
- Fifty families in Umlazi L section where houses washed away. Food hampers and blankets were given to each family.
- One hundred and Fifty Mangosuthu University of Technology students, who received blankets, jackets, shoes and food hampers.
If you would like to learn more about Gift of the Givers, you can check out their website here or follow their progress on Facebook here. Their page is filled with hundreds of images of families receiving help as well as all the organisations who have been making massive donations towards the relief efforts.
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