It’s highly unlikely that a visit to a bustling workshop in a noisy industrial area will have you leaving with a warm, fuzzy feeling; but that was the case when Bolander recently visited the Buildback construction company’s site in Windermere, where Keith Robbertze, and his team of workers started building kennels for a Somerset West animal welfare organisation about two months ago.

What makes this kennel-building a unique and heart-warming operation describes, Keith, “It’s where we build kennels for homeless dogs by homeless people,” as the workers building the kennels are people, known as Champs, who have gone through the U-turn ministries homeless programme.

Keith says Buildback was approached by Gigi Roper from Help a Paw, with a request to build kennels for needy dogs. They made the first batch of 20 kennels and due to the pressing need more orders were placed leading to Help A Paw’s current standing monthly order.

At the workshop under the supervision of Sidney Botha, the kennel-making magic happens. Keith says Sidney, lived under a bridge before the U-turn programme is one of their most outstanding and inspirational stories of transformation.

Sidney seamlessly explains the kennel-making process. The daily process consists of five workers building the kennels with wooden pallets. They often have new intakes.

“The new guys just to get them into the swing of things will break and sand the pallets so that they become comfortable with the surroundings and how it works and then we progress them into the inside by building and stuff,” he explains.

Carvin Barnes, is a new Champ joining the team. A jovial Carvin, from Mitchell’s Plain who previously slept in his car was hard at work sanding the pallets. “I was hoping to be placed here at Buildback because long-term I want to learn new skills to upgrade and develop in building and learn how to manage my equipment and tools.”

His describes his time at U-turn as extraordinary and a motivation to plough back into the homeless community.

“I would like to create my own construction work for people that are on the streets that are willing to work to change their lives, so that I can keep my hands on them at all times and teach them how to work with people and how to communicate with people,” he elaborates on his goals.

Buildback, a social enterprise of U-turn ministries, with their work aim to not only produce skilled and experienced workers, but to simultaneously heal the emotional and mental side of participants, so they can function as well-adjusted humans in society explains Keith.

With the programme’s ecosystemic approach, which is Occupational Therapy-based, participants often hailing from generations of dysfunctional families, are skilled with a vast collection of essential tools to deal with life.

Additionally, they work with Northlink College through a one-the-job training and accreditation programme. Keith says: “These guys can’t go back into full-time studying so what the college does is to provide different training courses so the guys will do different courses and obtain accreditation.” A great asset in securing future employment.

“The emphasis is to get the guys back into a place where they can go and get work, but for us it’s more important and my personal passion that when they leave here they know that I can now create a job for someone else.”

Goals with the kennel-making are two-fold. Firstly, to generate income for their company, and secondly to carve out a space for participants to serve communities. “Servicing the community is the other goal because when these guys service the community there is tremendous healing that occurs,” says Keith.

The team makes basic and deluxe models. A highlight for them is an order from The DogBox Project to build 67 of these deluxe kennels.

Adele Lombaard, founder of The DogBox Project says the kennels are for their Mandela Day event on Saturday July 13 at the Cape Gate Shopping Centre. She says using Keith as a service provider, knowing the good work they do, is a nice-add on to their work.

The kennels has a far-reaching impact. Gigi says: “We have been the lucky recipients of some of their kennels that have gone out to dogs in Garden Village, Macassar, Firgrove and the Winelands farm dogs. The kennels are life changing for the dogs not only from a shelter point of view, but they give them a sanctuary from the noise and violence they are subject to.”

Keith says sourcing pallets is a huge bottleneck and appeals for donations of pallets and Pine lap. Contact Keith on 083 384 5866.

Sidney Botha, left, showing newbie Carvin Barnes who joined the team last week the ropes at the site by starting him off with sanding the pallets used to construct the kennels.

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