250 volunteers ill from dirty sand and legacy of poor sanitation

ONE in five volunteers on the Niall Mellon challenge have been struck with diarrhoea, as the effects of the township building frenzy take their toll.

By yesterday evening, 250 builders had been given Immodium sachets, hammering home the very reason they travelled to the southern tip of Africa to help 200 families move from shacks to proper concrete homes.

The builders are suffering stomach upsets because of the dirt in the sand and the legacy of four years without basic sanitation in the shanty-town.

Although this has been partially dealt with by communal make-shift toilets since 2002, it was not before 12 children died directly because of diarrhoea. Luckily for the Irish volunteers they were able to receive the proper medical treatment denied to the residents of the Freedom Park township and work has continued.

It is a similar story for 20 people who had to be prescribed antibiotics for skin infections caused by the same filthy soil.

Despite this, the medical team led by Dr Judy White is pleased the volunteers have followed order and avoided serious incidents.

“Eye infections were very high at the very beginning of the week but safety officers have been giving out glasses on site which has led to a dramatic decrease.

“We are very grateful that all the men have become more safety conscious,” said Dr White.

Volunteer Paddy Lambe from Shercock, Co Cavan, said by last night all 1,350 volunteers were suffering from the five days of frantic manual labour.

However, Mr Lambe, who travelled over as part of a 12-man posse, said nobody’s head was dropping.

“I would be a desk jockey at home working as a mechanical engineer so I would not be used to building work and could probably do with a bit of WD40 (oil) on the joints at this stage.

“But it is amazing what is happening, I have been taking 360 degree photographs everyday and to see on the first day a whole load of foundations and now there it is all houses in front of me. It is hard to believe,” he said.

Yesterday the pace was hampered by poor weather and strong winds which cancelled out the head-start made by block-layers and roofers.

The site is 68% complete and a frantic push is on to complete the project.

Last night the gardeners stayed late to catch up, which saw television gardener Diarmuid Gavin donning a coat fashioned from a black plastic bag to get the job done.

The effort has been buoyed by good news darting around the site some of it true and some of it born out of Chinese whispers.

The organisers have confirmed Roscommon builder Gerry Nolan donated the proceeds of a house in his development to the cause, boosting the coffers by €265,000.

However, news the Irish or South African rugby teams had agreed to pay a surprise visit was a tall tale, proof even an active mind is no protection from a wandering imagination.