With their slogan “Rain does not fall on one roof alone”, the Jeffreys Bay-based non-profit organisation 1Roof is on a mission to repair roofs and refurbish buildings throughout the Kouga region, in the hope that it will offer people a better quality of life.
During the organisation’s launch on November 27, at Mentors Country Estate in Jeffreys Bay, 1Roof executive director, Ferdi Fryer, said that it took at least a year to get their social enterprise off the ground.
Thankfully, with help from their partners, Jeffreys Bay based-Eco Rubber, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), and the Greater Stellenbosch Trust, the organisation plans to give back to the community by making a change to their lives.
“The concept of 1Roof is close to my heart because regardless of race or economic background, we all feel the need to feel safe,” said Fryer.
He said that the organisation is in the process of completing some of their projects, and has already identified additional projects where they will focus on each community’s specific needs.
Fryer further said that each project will serve as practical training and soft skills transfer for their 13 interns.
He said that the organisation has two focus points, which include fixing the damaged roofs of homes and communal buildings, and providing people with clean drinking water by offering them H20 Pure water purification effervescent tablets.
“Millions of people throughout Africa do not have access to clean drinking water. The water purification tablets are therefore dissolved in large quantities of water to allow people to have access to clean drinking water,” said Fryer.
He said that they plan to sell the water purification tablets and make it available to the South African government to allow more people in need to have access to clean water.
Despite being based in Jeffreys Bay, he said that they plan to expand their social enterprise and water purification tablets to the rest of Africa.
Jaques Alexander, ward councillor and MMC for corporate and communications, said that 1Roof could have rolled out their project anywhere in the country, but he is thankful that they have chosen Kouga.
“Since 1Roof chose this region to roll out their project it shows that Kouga is special,” said Alexander.
He further said that even though the Kouga Municipality is one of the best municipalities in the country, they continue to face various challenges.
Despite these challenges Alexander said that he has pledged to assist the newfound organisation with any service delivery issues they might face.
“We will make sure that we do the right thing by speeding up service delivery, but also ensuring that we follow procedure when doing so,” said Alexander.
Project manager, Rochey Walters, said that when embarking on community projects he often finds himself believing that he would see instant change; however this is not always the case.
Instead, he has learned to have patience and to persevere.
To help as many people as they can, Walter said that they focus on projects that will impact on large groups of people, such as the repair and refurbishment of local churches and schools.
He said that on November 1 they embarked on their first project to refurbish AGS Church in Humansdorp, which they have completed.
Walter said that while they were busy refurbishing the church in Humansdorp, pastor Neil Ketteldas approached them and requested their help at AGS Church in Jeffreys Bay, since their roof was leaking which affected the children attending Sunday school.
He said that they are currently completing the repair of the roof which will be done soon.
“What we have achieved this far since we began in November is a milestone for 1Roof,” said Walters.
He said that their next project will include the repair of the roof at BRC Church in Humansdorp, which he refers to as a “lighthouse” in the community, with various projects currently run at the church, such as soup kitchens and taking care of the homeless.
Once work on the three churches has been completed, Walter said they plan to refurbish two primary schools, Makukhanye Primary School in Jeffreys Bay which has been infiltrated by illegal occupants who have built shacks on the school’s property, and Graslaagte Primary School in Humansdorp which has a lot of structural problems.
He said that they have made a commitment to refurbish the two schools and plans to uphold that commitment.
Walter said that once they have completed work on the two schools, they will begin with one of their biggest projects, the refurbishment of the Protea Old Age Centre in Humansdorp, a project which is close to his heart.
He said that the young people in Humansdorp have been “holding the community hostage” with crime and various other bad elements on the rise.
Walter said that the Protea Old Age Centre was therefore a place of safety for many of the elderly in the community, but sadly it was vandalised between 2020 and 2021.
“Many elderly people in the community do not feel safe in their homes, and found a safe space at the centre. Before the centre was vandalised the elderly spent many hours enjoying their time at the centre and were able to have a meal during the day,” said Walters.
To restore the centre for the elderly, he said that they have made a commitment to rehabilitate the building. He said that their biggest challenge will be to place a fence around the centre before they can begin refurbishing the building.
Jean-Pierre du Plessis, programme manager of the Greater Stellenbosch Trust, said that when Walters informed him about 1Roof he realised that they could make a huge difference in many people’s lives and wanted to get involved.
He said that after engagement within the Kouga region he has noted that there is a dire need for support for various entities such as schools, clinics, and charities.
Du Plessis said that since the South African constitution promises to improve the quality of life for all citizens and free the potential of all people, through 1Roof they want to help people in both aspects.
“When you have no education and have a home that is not up to standard it is difficult to reach your potential,” said Du Plessis.
He further said that it has been amazing that through the 1Roof initiative interns are provided with soft skills which can be used when they enter the job market.
For more information contact Christa Fryer on 066 483 8243 or email admin@1roof.co.za or info@1roof.co.za.
In addition, visit the 1Roof Social Enterprise Facebook page and LinkedIn, Instagram at oneroof_social_enterprise, or Tiktok on 1.roof.social.enterprise.
Also visit their website on www.1ROOF.co.za.
