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Centre for Appropriate
Rural Technology
CART is a life skills
centre being developed
in the rural village of
Sicambeni, located near
to Port St Johns in the
Eastern Cape of South
Africa.
The Eastern Cape is
South Africa’s poorest
region and has for many
years been a victim of
massive skill loss due
to the migration of
workers to the larger
cities in seek of work.
Invariably these
migrants find themselves
living in the already
overcrowded Townships
compounding South
Africa’s desperate slum
culture. Having accrued
15 years of experience
working in several
African Countries,
building communities
with the homeless, CART
was formed as a centre
to tackle poverty in a
more holistic way. CART
aims to give the local
population the skills
and technology to allow
them to live self-sustainably
without the need to seek
work outside of their
own villages, ultimately
allowing the migrants to
return to their
homelands.
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CART's primary goal is to
complete the self
sustainable model,
serving as the epicentre
to the surrounding
village of over four
hundred families. CART
aims to empower and
actively involve the
local community at each
stage of the process and
in the projects decision
making. This approach of
involving the community
in their own development
allows for individuals
to gain an understanding
of the self and for the
environment in which
they live.
Technology developed
here is being taught to
and implemented within
the community to produce
a fully sustainable
village. We aim to teach
all the necessary skills
to live completely
independently from
government control,
these range from food
production and waste
management to soap
making and energy
production. This
sustainable village can
then become a living
example to other
communities around South
Africa and globally.
The main focus in
today’s climate is
SURVIVAL.
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