DISASTER RESPONSE
Ikhayalami's first response to a major fire disaster was in the famous Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Langa as far back as 2009. Disaster response remains our first point of intervention. Since then we have responded to thousands of emergencies. Our long years of experience have helped us appreciate the devastation caused by fire and flooding and understand the community dynamics involved in any effort to rebuild. Disaster response requires that we are in a state of readiness to proactively respond to such crises. This involves working with communities to agree to a rapid roll out plan and then to redesign the settlement layout and provide fire and flood retardant shelter for victims of disasters. To this end has now Ikhayalami has launched a Disaster Fund to match contributions from families who are often left destitute, especially in the case of fires.
“Safety & Security Begins at Home”
SHELTER UPGRADES
The upgrading of shacks, either singly or in an entire settlement, is the centre-piece of iKhayalami’s work. We believe that upgrading informal dwellings is a critical element in the upgrading of informal settlements - and most households are in agreement. Our motto has always been:’why wait forever for a formal house, when you can incrementally transform your existing structure into a decent home?” Flexible in design, our shelters can be easily constructed to fit a range of needs in terms of layout and dimension. Intentionally basic but incrementally upgradable, the quality and integrity of iKhayalami’s structures represent a dramatic improvement over self-built shacks and are far stronger and considerably less susceptible to fire, flooding, and break-ins.
“Dignity Begins at Home”
RE-BLOCKING
Blocking-out or Re-blocking describes a process of spatial reconfiguration that is first and foremost community driven, drawing heavily on the social capital and capabilities that abound in informal settlements. Re-blocking involves the reconfiguration of a settlement layout so that it becomes spatially more organised but still organic. It leads to the creation of demarcated pathways or roads, and opens up public and semipublic spaces to enable access for emergency vehicles and for the provision of infrastructure and basic services on an incremental basis. Shacks get dismantled and substantially upgraded. They are rebuilt in-situ and almost always on the same day. While this causes some minor disruption and involves intense negotiations around boundaries and plot sizes it prevents large scale demolition and relocation. Since the re-blocking process is community-centred the nature of the upgrading is negotiated upfront and community consensus gets built into the process.
“Solidarity Begins At Home”
SHELTER
FINANCE
Many people fall outside our community re-blocking projects. There is a tremendous need for individual household shack upgrading and for better and safer soup kitchens, creches, clinics, and houses of worship in informal settlements. In order to bridge the finance gap, we have launched a loan finance programme and developed a mechanism for providing access to credit for households who wish to purchase our products directly. This enables us to reach more people and also brings in capital to support organizational sustainability.
“Savings Begin At Home”
HOLISTIC NEIGHBOURHOODS
Ikhayalami has specialised in the upgrading of informal structures, because incremental, in-situ improvements match the resources of the vulnerable and the poor. However we are clear that upgrading does not end with a serviced site and an upgraded shack. Several years ago we extended our work to include formal housing and neighbourhood development. In partnership with a Swiss-based architectural organisation we built the award-winning Empowershack project in Khayelitsha.
“Citizenship Begins at Home”
COMMUNITY
FACILITIES
Ikhayalami has built community halls, soup kitchens, ablution facilities, and many creches or early learning centres over the years. These structures become an important asset for the community because they are able to activate community organization and sense of common cause. We are able to custom design structures to fit the needs of the community. Ikhayalami generally builds these facilities at the request of NGOs and sometimes Government. We provide real value at an affordable cost whether it be a basic structure or one with a slab, tiling, ceiling, cladding material and insulation. We have also designed and built a number of play areas for children.
“Community Begins At Home”
Research & Development
Our research and development wing continues to be innovative, focusing on different forms of shelter upgrade and pioneering solutions that include shack upgrading, the design and development of a double story prototypes, alternative building technologies, drainage, water and sanitation. In addition we are developing new methods to bridge the finance gap for those who cannot afford conventional housing solutions - at least not in a single step. All shelter delivery options that we provide are affordable, easy to transport, quick to build, durable, fire and flood resistant and socially acceptable.