Cape Town - It has taken most of Colin Abrahams' adult life to build his house.
Block my block, layer by layer of mortar, reclaimed wooden beam by beam, zinc and asbestos roofing sheet by sheet, for 30 years, he has been building.
"Every month, with the little money I make, I buy 10, maybe 20 (cinder) blocks. And I build. Stukkie vir stukkie (little by little).
"These beams I found floating in the harbour, or when someone's shack burns down, or wherever I can find them," he gestures up towards the roof.
Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
His furniture, kitchen appliances, and sanitary ware are all reclaimed. Pre-owned, pre-loved, and not in the best condition.
Pride of place in his lounge atop an old, weathered wood and glass display cabinet, belongs to a big flat-screen TV; the only item he has purchased new.
The battered two-level oven in his kitchen stands on two rudimentary brick and mortar stands; the kitchen counter reclaimed from a long-abandoned bar, the sink collected from a rubbish dump.
Colin Abrahams sits in his lounge. Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
Bare live electricity wires provide power.
"It's not much, but it's home."
There is a mound of wet concrete in the passageway, ready to be added to the growing wall in one of the rooms.
In one of the ante-rooms leading off the lounge area stands a portable picnic table, on top of which are a reclaimed two-plate stove, a catering urn, and an old kettle.
Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
Across the room, reclaimed French doors, one storey above the home below where his brother lives, open to a view from the slopes of the Sentinel over the harbour, which a magnificent view of the Hout Bay beach and Constantia Nek.
Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
He stands looking out, deep in thought. Tears stream down his face as he recounts the labour of love that has been the building of his home over three decades.
Abrahams is of medium build, and speaks in slow, measured tones, his husky voice soft and comforting.
Colin Abrahams is currently part of an EPWP, earning just over R100 per day, but the job only lasts three months. He doesn't know how he'll provide for his family once the job ends. Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
"I wasn't always a good person. I did bad things..." he trails off, drying his eyes with a rag he picked up off a couch nearby.
"But, God is good. He gave me another chance, and here I am."
Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
Abrahams spent most of his life working the seas as a fisher.
Now, without a fishing quota and no crew jobs available, he collects flotsam which he crafts into ornaments to be sold on the roadside, or at the various markets in Hout Bay.
Colin Abrahams poses with some of the ornaments he has created from reclaimed items. Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
He is currently part of an Expanded Public Works Programme, but the opportunity brings little in the way of income.
"I earn just over R100 a day, but the EPWP job is only for three months. I clean up the streets, I tidy up the fire break, I keep the slote (gulleys and gutters of sewage and waste water) clean. I pick up the mess. But when this is done, what must I do then?"
It's taken Abrahams, the eldest of his surviving siblings, all this time to build his home because he wanted to make sure it was solid and secure.
Picture: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
"I don't want my house to burn down... In winter the people's homes wash away. Other people have their shacks destroyed by the authorities. I don't want that to happen to me," he says through more tears.
"I want my family to be safe."
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