Baphumelele Children Home is located on Dabula street, in Victoria Mxenge, in Khayelitsha. The home provides support to over 100 children on site, but also provides support to around 30 Child Headed Households in various locations around Khayelitsha. PEP was approached by Baphumelele, and partners with Habitat for Humanity South Africa, to provide technical assistance in the upgrading of these Child Headed Households. Many of the homes are not equipped to deal with the different environmental conditions they are exposed to, namely strong winds & rain, and di-urnal temperature ranges. Due to the lack of available land, many of the homes are built in areas that are prone to seasonal flooding, and without proper flooring, the homes experience sever water damage, which in turn creates an unhealthy & uncomfortable living environment.

There is a direct causal link between unsafe & unhealthy living environments, and the livelihoods of their occupants.

PEP began engaging with the project participants through a series of workshops around building design, their agency to upgrade their own homes, innovative building materials, and also ran a furniture building workshop where together we designed and built furniture from reclaimed materials. The focus of the workshops was to establish a relationship with the participants, and invite them to be a part of the upgrading of their homes.

Following the mapping and assessment of all of the homes, we established which areas needed to be prioritized based on their vulnerability. Homes that suffer from rising damp or flooding were allocated a new waterproof floor slab, those that experience very hot and/or very cold temperatures will be insulated. Working with a team of builders from the area, PEP, Habitat for Humanity & Baphumelele endeavor to retrofit all of these homes with anything they need to make them comfortable and safe.

As of 2019 PEP has concluded all our work in Baphumelele with approximately 20 upgrades having been undertaken. The project is now closed.