Fayette County Delta employee helps build houses in Africa

Fayetteville resident Elaine Miller traveled to Katlehong, South Africa the first week of December. She and 30 other employees of Delta Air Lines flew to Dakar, Senegal and then on to Johannesburg, South Africa.

The trip was two-fold: the flight also was the inaugural trip of the specially painted livery for "Delta's Force for Global Good" aircraft as well as showing the world its Boeing 767-300 aircraft that features a Habitat for Humanity paint schematic. The aircraft symbolically represents Delta's philanthropic pledge and partnership with Habitat, as it flies throughout Delta's worldwide network.

The 30 employees were chosen specifically as having logged at least 150 hours of volunteer service in their community.

Miller, a 27 year employee, serves currently as project leader for airport customer service. She is also the corporate chair for Delta's Relay for Life and is looking forward to shepherding the Relay for Life in Fayetteville on May 4.

She explained that because Johannesburg is a large, well-to-do city, many families come looking for work. Unfortunately, there is none for non-skilled workers, nor is there any place to live. In consequence, many communities have grown up within 45 minutes of the city. They have only tin huts to live in, no sanitary services of any kind, and no running water.

Katlehong is one such community. The Delta folks and Habitat built four houses for four families in three days in this village that can only boast sparse electricity and no proper sanitation. The outer walls were made of cinder block, with smaller cinder blocks forming the inside wall. The mortar, called donga, is all made by hand as they apply each layer of blocks. It consists of red dirt, water and a type of bagged mortar mix.

The only tools available were a wheelbarrow, trowels, a hose, a level and string.

Meals were another matter. Eating the local food did not seem to agree with Miller, and she lived on peanut butter crackers and power bars she had brought along.

They stayed in a hotel in Johannesburg and went by motor coach each day to the site.

Every community has its grande dame, someone who is busy trying to see that their community grows better and stronger, and Nonnie answers this call in Katlehong. She is always seeking funds to build a "kovosh" or community building which she sees as a central place during the day for handicapped and disabled children. The kovosh would enable care for individuals and would allow parents to seek work.

The kovosh would also serve as a work center where the physically disabled could learn to make things with their hands to be sold or housewives could operate treadle sewing machines.

The kovosh is a point that Miller brought back home with her and is trying to find ways to make it happen.

One thought Nonnie passed along was the ability to make bricks. If a brick-making machine could be obtained, and the quality of the bricks made is up to building standards, they could be sold.

Over a weekend during their trip, the group had the opportunity to go on safari, which they paid for separately. A motor coach drove them to Pretoria, about two hours from Johannesburg. The adventurers slept in tents at night and Miller stated that she was O.K. except for some very large spiders. Standing outside at dawn, watching the sun come up over Africa helped to make up for the relatively minor problem of the arachnids.

The party traveled by Jeep through the safari range and were able to see many animals up close, including a lion, lioness and cubs, zebras, giraffe, rhinoceros, monkeys, wildebeest and cape buffalo. Elephants, unfortunately, hid from them.

One might muse that Delta went to a lot of expense and trouble to build four cinder block houses a world away.

Explained Elaine, "There are 30 of us with our own sphere of influence. We have returned excited to do more. We understand the importance of volunteering in our communities, and now we want to encourage those in our circle of friends the importance of making things better for others.

It's like throwing a pebble in the lake, and watching the many circles that ensue. We are all looking forward to seeing how many more circles we can make."

Said Jonathon Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, "We are honored to be chosen as the first partner in 'Delta's Force for Global Good' program. It is demonstrating great corporate citizenship to help build Habitat homes and create decent housing in countries around the world."

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