ABOUT US
The directors of Protea Project, Ashley Millar and Malan Rietveld live in Cape Town, South Africa and regularly visit each project we support. Ashley Millar has a PhD in International History from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is an occasional lecturer at the University of Cape Town. Malan Rietveld has a PhD in Economics from the University of Stellenbosch and is a self-employed consultant. We are regularly in touch with the projects we support and are responsive to what they identify are their priorities.
COMMUNITIES WE HELP
The Protea Project operates in communities in the Greater Cape Town area where we can get to know local organizations well and visit with them regularly. We are currently working to help two areas in particular.
The first is Imizamo Yethu (IY), which means 'through collective struggle'. In the formal part of IY, there are nearly 2000 structures in an area initially for 450 families. The population has grown rapidly to almost 40,000 people. The densely populated place suffers from a lack of sanitation services, often leading to sewage floods.
The second community we are involved with is Masiphumelele. In this community, an estimated 20% of children have been infected with tuberculosis by age 5 (increasing to 80% by the time they are young adults). About 85% of residents live in shacks of various types. Only 35% of those over the age of 20 have completed Grade 12, and unemployment is over 30%.
You can learn more about our iniatives in these communities under the tab "Projects'.
