Verster, Empowering the poor: The Bible and the poor in informal settlements ...5.1 The presence of the church in informal settlements
First of all, there are the challenges of informal settlements. It is clear
that informal settlements pose very serious challenges for the people
living there and for the community at large. In informal settlements,
there are few permanent structures, there are often no proper services,
few tarred roads and therefore the people live on the fringe of the com-
munity. They have very little and very often they need jobs and money.
Secondly, the churches’ challenges in these informal settlements are
immense. The church has to get involved to help people with very little
to look after themselves. The church needs to become involved. The
church needs to be there for the people in the informal settlements.
- EMPIRICAL DATA:
THE CHURCH IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
In research in the informal settlements near Bloemfontein in the Free
State Province in South Africa, it was found that the people in need also
needed to understand how to reach out to one another. The dire situa-
tion in the informal settlements in research conducted in the Mangaung
area, however also highlighted the positive involvement of the church at
grassroots level.^12
In interviews conducted in 2009, the concerns of the interviewees on the
situation in the informal settlements were stated.^13 One interviewee
explains:
Most of the people are not working, we don’t have money to buy food and
clothes, and you can’t work with an empty stomach. Because of the dust, we
cannot have a healthy life; there are a lot of germs and bacteria. Our toilets
are not in a good condition. This situation is there because of poverty. Even
the school is too far from our houses.
Where do people obtain their food from in the informal areas: In the
research most people referred to governmental grants as the way in
which they survive. Some sell biscuits or receive help from the church or
have small income jobs.
(^12) This research was also reported in a paper Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Poverty
Alleviation: The church in informal settlements at the 6th International Conference: En-
trepreneurship and Innovation 5-6 Nov. Maputo, Mozambique.
(^13) This research was also reported in a paper: The Christian Church and the Alleviation
of Poverty: New Challenges in Informal Areas. The International Journal of the Hu-
manities. 7(5):91-104.