M@nenberg Online – Shirley’s coffee shop.

The project has taken a whole new emphasis now that the infrastructure is built. We are now hiring someone to take care of the café. Someone who is used to M@nenberg Online, who knows the people and, above all, who has the motivation to start something new. We actually found this person : Audrey.

She is living in a township and knows how the internet café works as she has experienced IT training. She has been recommended by Cyril himself.

We worked with Audrey and Zachi (the muffins’ supplier) in order to create a sustainable and profit sharing relationship.

We are looking for sponsorings so we called on Coca-Cola to get a free fridge and we also went to Shoprite (a big supermarket in the area) to have free supplies for, at least, a couple of months.

This week (starting Monday 25) we need to follow the work on the partnerships and also to prepare the open day where we are going to invite the people from SHAWCO and all the workers, volunteers and people living close to the primary school and so Shirley’s café.

Audrey

M@nenberg Online – Shirley’s coffee shop.

The coffee shop is now built thanks to Joe and the whole Manenberg team. Joe (basically our driver but also a member of the team and a friend) found some wood and screws in his house and we were able to create the infrastrucure needed to start the café.

The first pilot has now started and we have already sold a few cup of coffee and some biscuits. In the township the word of mouth is spreading and people are really looking forward to seeing this project being achieved.

We think Shirley’s coffee shop is going to be self-sustainable quickly and will be a new resource for the whole M@nenberg online complex.

The grand opening day is planned for July 27.

Robben Island: between beauty and emotion

It's early in the morning that we have been on the famous "Island Seal”, almost 7km from the nearest coast for a visit of more than 3 hours including the boat ride and tour of the island. 

The History 

Robben Island was included on the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 1999 and was used as a prison, leprosy, mental hospital and military post of defense. 

The island was first listed by Europeans in 1498, when the fleet of Vasco da Gama reached the Cape of Good Hope. 

From 1658, Robben Island was used as a prison by the first Dutch settlers landed in Cape Town six years ago.

From 1961, Robben Island became a maximum security prison for prisoners serving long sentences (of ten year imprisonment), including members of the ANC and the movement of struggle against apartheid. Nelson Mandela was detained for nearly 18 years, from 1964, before being transferred to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. President Jacob Zuma was imprisoned for ten years. 

In 1996, Robben Island service terminates center prison the following year to become a national museum.

Our History 

We took the boat to 9 o’clock for an appointment with history. The boat trip took 30 minutes and we could see seals and many birds along the route, watching for the slightest sign of a whale with attention, but without success! 

When we arrived on the island, we were divided into different buses where guides were waiting for us: the tour began. Our excellent guide explained the history of Robben Island while telling us funny stories about foreign tourists, he was even the guide of Barack Obama during his visit in 2006, when he was still Senator of Illinois. 

Then we could admire the beautiful view of Table Mountain from Robben Island beach, visit the prison, and visit the tiny cell where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for a long part of his life. We followed the entire tour with a lot of emotion and we will long remember this island, key part of the rich history of South Africa. 

SHAWCO Project - M@nenberg Online

Manenberg internet café is a small business already running inside a primay school in the township of Manenberg. They are offering services such as an access to internet, photocopies, and computer trainings. The business was able to develop thanks to the intervention of SHAWCO and all the students who went there to help Cyril and his team.

What is the next step?

We are now trying to set up a coffee shop inside the internet café which would allow people to get muffins, coffee, tea…

The coffee shop will be ran by the volunteers and we are trying to work with the people in the township. We also want to do an open day for the people to market both the internet café and the coffee shop. Finally when the coffee shop will be set up we would like to create reflexion sessions. People could share ideas and thoughts to develop the township.

We are really trying to make that internet café a place for people to gather and share, and, of course creating a new income for Manenberg internet café.