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My Mother Built This House (8/22)


This is also part of this series: City Life Series (22)

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Subjects: African Studies, Cities, Geography, Global Issues, Globalization, Health Issues, Homelessness, Human Rights, Poverty, Women's Studies

Grade Level: SrH-Adult
Producer: Bullfrog Films
Closed Captioned: No		 Running Time: 27 mins
Country of Origin: Great Britain
Study Guide: No
Copyright Date: 2001
Available in French: No

There are four million homeless people in South Africa. Nearly one million people in Cape Town live in slums or squatter settlements alone. Victoria Mxenge was the first of the housing projects founded by the South African Homeless People's Federation in the 1990s in Khayalitsha, a huge sprawling township outside Cape Town. A small oasis in a seemingly infinite sea of neat houses, a creche, an office built from old, brightly painted shipping containers and a small shop selling basic essentials. Behind it, and beyond the railway line that carries commuters into the city, the endless shacks stretch out to the distant horizon -- and the distinctive outlines of Table Mountain. Over 70,000 poor women belong to the Homeless People's Federation. This episode tells the story of three women shack dwellers.

Awards: Bronze Plaque Award, Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Links: http://www.lifeonline.org/archive/citylife8main.html www.tve.org/life - the producer’s site

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