Lion the Dog (in watercolour)

In the suburb of Hout Bay there is an 'informal settlement' that goes by the name of Imizamo Yethu, which roughly translated means 'through collective struggle'.  The settlement is made up of shacks and the residents are primarily Xhosa speakers from the Eastern Cape who have made the trip to Cape Town looking for a job and a better life.  There are also immigrants (legal and illegal) from northern parts of Africa.

Imizamo Yethu is a hodge-podge of people and cultures and despite desperate hardship there are also little gems that can be unearthed.

Lion the Dog is one of them.  

He used to live on the dusty street even though his owner made sure he had fresh water and a meal of some sort.

But Lion the Dog was getting old and his joints were feeling stiff and sore, so Hilary Barclay*, a former nurse and animal lover, decided that he needed a kennel.  Through generous donations, Lion now has shelter and warmth and loves his kennel so much, he "only comes out of it to eat, pee and pooh!"

*Hilary Barclay, a registered nurse and dog trainer, started an animal sterlisation programme in Hout Bay's IY township in 2004 to uplift the animal welfare of pets in this community.  To date they have sterlised over 1000 pets and have thus gone a long way to curbing the animal population.  The original black and white photograph for this pic was taken by Mia Davila who is the publicity and liaison person at DARG.