Welcome to Flamingo Crescent

The entrance to the Flamingo Crescent informal settlement

The Flamingo Crescent informal settlement unofficially began in 1992 with a handful of families setting up temporary structures in an unoccupied lot adjacent to a scrap yard. From the original group only one or two individuals remain. The rest of the population arrived in two waves – in 2005 and in 2010. Both waves were city led efforts to take homeless individuals off of the streets of the city by providing them temporary housing in the form of small shacks funded by the city.

Some of the community members

The people who arrived in the settlement were not well off. They had few possessions and almost no money. Yet from this meager background they were able to construct their own shacks using city provided material. As families continued to grow within the settlement people expanded their shacks into larger multi-roomed structures, reminiscent of the formal housing they lacked.

Since its creation years ago the settlement has become overcrowded due to a lack of formal housing and organization. This has led to health and sanitation issues in the area. Combined with a shortage of public facilities – toilets and taps – and a lack of electricity, the people are eager to improve the area in which they live, for themselves, their families, and their community.