The United Nations has put the estimate at one billion children who are today living in poverty. The worst cases of poverty are found in developing nations, where 640 million children live without adequate shelter and 270 million children have no access to health services.

The Ilitha Care Centre was founded in 1995 in a township called Walmer Dunes in the Nelson Mandela Metropole, Republic of South Africa. The Walmer Dunes Township is situated on the outskirts of the city of Port Elizabeth, next to the main airport. The township is home to thousands of poor and underprivileged people with a low employment rate.

The Ilitha Care Centre was developed to help relieve the effects of poverty and provide support within this local community by providing child care and food distribution. The centre provides support for more than 20 children ages three to five years old. Many of the children come from homes where proper nutrition and opportunity for education is lacking, and the center relies on donations from local businesses and churches since the parents cannot provide financial assistance.

In June 2005, Cape Recife Lions Sue Kinnell and Tom Pittaway visited the Ilitha Care Centre to learn how Lions could help support the program. They discovered that the center was in desperate need of maintenance to improve the shelter and security of the children. One of the outside classrooms offered little protection from the weather and the centre needed a boundary wall to protect the children from passing traffic and the dust thrown into the air by vehicles.

Lions assembled a team of businesses and individuals in nearby Port Elizabeth who could help provide building expertise and services for this project. A local job creation center produced “vibacrete” walls and served two productive services: one was to employ craftsmen to create the walls and the other was to use the walls to help protect the children at the Ilitha Care Centre. A 45-foot front wall was erected with two wide gates. The wall was also fitted with a metal trellis to improve security.

The involvement of local businesses played a large part in the financial success of the project. An export company generously contributed one South African Rand (US$6.13) for each one spent by Lions, and as Lions explained, “This was a great way to double the funds and get more mileage on inputs.”

Lions commissioned a local construction crew to assemble the vibacrete wall and do the necessary upgrades to the outside classroom. 

At the beginning of the Ilitha Care Centre project, the outside classroom consisted only of a cement floor and a shade cloth roof. It was decided to remove the shade cloth roof and replace it with waterproof metal sheeting. The old shade was then used to provide sun and wind protection on the sides of the classroom.

When Lions returned to the centre some time after completing the project, they found the youngsters enjoying the new outside classroom, protected from the strong sun and wind. Tackling the project was a great cooperative effort between Lions and local businesses, and one that has improved the lives of the township’s children in immeasurable ways.