Langrug: Out of the Ashes
“Some are lost in the fire, but some are built from it.” Langrug is a community that CTPC students have been working with for several years now, where the first WaSH facility has been established and a second facility is in the process of being constructed. Over the last few months, […]
Flamingo Opens a Creche
It is wonderful to be able to see a community complete a project after months of dedication and hard work, particularly when students were working with them in the beginning stages. Even better is to see them have the opportunity to pause and celebrate the things they have accomplished. This […]
Green Light Project Shines On (& Catches Mayor’s Attention)
Visited with Ronell, Avril, and Miriam at Ronell’s house and learned that the Green Light Project is still going strong. The Green Light Project was begun by community members working with a WPI student team in 2011, one of the CTPC’s most open-ended projects, as the basic starting point was, […]
Blogging – walking uphill (with frequent pauses)
Technical note – the Surface tablet I am using while traveling now in CT is quite nice, but evidently not a perfect match with WordPress so that some silly stuff, like embedding links and positioning photos, is difficult or impossible, so the blog looks clunky for both technical reasons and […]
Recent Headlines from the Great Cape Town Toilet War
The Toilet War in Cape Town (and South Africa, and beyond) continues to rage, with these recent reports surfacing… The Human Rights Commission (HRC) of South Africa, responding to a claim placed by the Social Justice Coalition, finds that the City of Cape Town’s approach to water and sanitation violates the […]
Flamingo Crescent Rising
Backstory: We worked in Flamingo Crescent in 2013, students supporting the community leadership group of Elizabeth, Markie, Ulrike and Auntie Marie and ISN and CORC in advancing plans for reblocking and other community improvements. Returned to Flamingo on Friday with Sizwe (CORC) to find the place a beehive […]
How cold is it (in Cape Town in winter)?
Cold. All night chilled, too cold to shiver cold. Seeping in whether in damp or wet or still night air. Still night. July, June before and August after. The averages (highs and lows) and the sunny days that can stretch for a week warming concrete and people through their still-on […]
Letters Home Take One: Anna & Elsie
This first letter home is about meeting up today with Anna and Elsie at the St. John’s Waterfront Lodge, where each year they take great care of our students, and me. Letters Home is what I imagine might be a way to share with folks from WPI the news […]
Welcome — First Post
OK — as promised (threatened?) to students, colleagues and myself, I’m going to try to create a CTPC blog that will accomplish a number of goals: Help me develop a writing practice for thinking through and sharing with others in “closer to real time” ideas that emerge from the incredible […]