Tucked away on the verdant seaward side of the glorious Old Cape Road, south of Cape Town, past the imposing Steenberg Mountains and lovely Simon’s Town, on the way to the Cape of Good Hope, is the community of Red Hill, whose 1,500 makeshift households are blessed with wonderful views, bright community spirit, and not much in the way of community services.
“Micato-AmericaShare’s educational outreach in East Africa inspired us to find a community in South Africa where we can have a lasting impact,” says Lorna Macleod, AmericaShare’s co-founder and executive director. “And at Red Hill, we knew we had found our place.”
That place is AmericaShare’s Red Hill Library and Community Centre, a joyful place for a town with a single part-time clinic, 37 per cent unemployment, and no school for its more than 2,000 school-age kids, who, if they attend school, have to take long bus rides to state schools in the vicinity.
Accomplished in close partnership with the Red Hill Development Forum and the Red Hill Literacy Project, this bright new library is staffed with trained librarians, a computer centre, and a welcoming community meeting place.
Goals for the future: Bringing in IT professionals to train Red Hill’s teens and adults; a broad variety of new classes; more librarians; reaching our goal of 2,500 books and a dozen computers; further expansion of the Centre with a second floor, bringing more joy and learning to the Red Hill community.
Most of Micato’s safariers to the Cape Peninsula will visit the Red Hill Library and Community Centre, and many of them will be inspired to help it bring more light to the community. They’ll want to make donations like books, computers, or funds for a new building.
So: if you’d like to visit Red Hill, either before or after your Micato safari, or if you’re just inspired by what you’re seeing and reading, visit AmericaShare.org or send an email to Inquiries@AmericaShare.org.
This collaboration with Micato-AmericaShare has brought light to our community. Scholars are able to do their homework and research in the library, which provides a great environment for their education and homework clubs. The Forum is also benefitting from having a productive space in which to meet. This project has uplifted the entire community by making resources available to everybody.Luyando Lombo, Red Hill Development Forum member
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.Nelson Mandela