What Greenhouse has actually built, where it happened and who it was for.
Greenhouse is a small organisation. We run a handful of projects properly rather than many of them thinly, and everything on this page names a place, a period and the people involved so that it can be checked.
Where a project is still running, we say so. Where a project has a start date and no end date yet, we give the start date. We do not publish participant numbers we have not counted, and we do not describe planned work as though it has already happened.
Greenhouse was registered as a South African Nonprofit Organisation on 29 July 2010 and works from Noordhoek, Cape Town. Our projects run in Vrygrond township, at Marina da Gama, in Cape Town itself and, from 2027, in Namibia.
Four plain facts about the size and reach of the organisation.
Registered as a South African Nonprofit Organisation, 29 July 2010
Projects running or in preparation across Cape Town and Namibia
Communities we work in directly: Vrygrond, Marina da Gama, Noordhoek
Year New Moon Ecstatic Dance began — still running today
Each entry gives the place, the period and what the project actually does.
Vrygrond, Cape Town · running
A women-centred clay and pottery studio in Vrygrond township, built for five mothers and their teenage children. The project converts a section of a local creche — one of the few green spaces in the area — into a working studio.
More than half of the child population in South Africa is brought up by single mothers, and only four per cent by single fathers. After the Fall gives mothers a craft, a place to practise it and the company of other women while they do.
— Five mothers and their teens take part
— Hosted in a section of a local creche in Vrygrond
— Funded by the Clifton ZERO Ecstatic Dance series
Vrygrond, Cape Town · 2024–2025
Weekly movement and dance sessions for preschool children in Vrygrond township, run in partnership with Butterfly Way Preschool through 2024 and 2025.
Volunteers support the local teachers rather than replace them: playing and dancing with the children, running creative and educational activities, and leading story, music and movement sessions.
— Delivered with Butterfly Way Preschool
— Weekly sessions across 2024 and 2025
— No formal teaching experience required of volunteers
Cape Town · 2020 – ongoing
A community arts and cultural-recognition project, running since 2020. Each gathering is held outdoors, timed to the new moon, and carries on from late afternoon into the dark.
The form borrows from historical accounts of Khoi transformation rituals, where the moon’s cycle set the rhythm of community gatherings. Greenhouse is careful about this: the gatherings are not a reconstruction of Khoi ceremony and claim no ownership of it. What they take from that record is the principle that dancing together can do something for a community, not only for the dancers.
— Running continuously since 2020
— Held outdoors, from sunset into the new-moon night
— The Clifton ZERO series funds the After the Fall studio
Marina da Gama, Cape Town · running
Living Islands builds small floating wetlands on the water at Marina da Gama. The structures are biodegradable, the planting is indigenous, and each one works as a filter: cleaner water above, and shelter below for frogs, freshwater shrimp, fish, water insects and the birds that feed on them.
The project exists because dragonflies largely left Marina da Gama after several sewage pollution incidents that destroyed insects, crabs and fish. Dragonflies spend most of their lives underwater as nymphs, which makes them one of the clearest indicators of a healthy freshwater system. The dense root systems beneath each island give young dragonflies somewhere safe to grow.
— Built from biodegradable materials and indigenous aquatic plants
— Sited at Marina da Gama, Cape Town
— Dragonfly return is the measure of success
Windhoek and northern Namibia · 11–23 April 2027
A thirteen-day journey from Windhoek into northern Namibia, including seven days living with San communities. This is preparation and fieldwork for the PEACE Institute rather than tourism.
The expedition is guided by Nadia Ring, whose Master’s dissertation examined indigenous recognition in post-apartheid South Africa.
— Dates: 11–23 April 2027
— Seven days living with San communities
— Guided by Nadia Ring
Global initiative · in development
A global initiative to restore humanity’s relationship with the Earth through indigenous knowledge, education, legal advocacy and community. The Institute is organised in three strands.
Eco Spirituality covers advocacy for nature rights, indigenous worldviews, conscious dance and land stewardship. Eco Education covers indigenous educators, ecosystem-based learning, indigenous permaculture and conflict resolution. Eco Hospitality covers living in a food forest, collective dance practice and cultural networking with indigenous practitioners.
— Three strands: Eco Spirituality, Eco Education, Eco Hospitality
— Builds a worldwide network of people implementing indigenous ethics
— The Namibia expedition is part of its groundwork
Greenhouse has no paid fundraising team. Donations and the Clifton ZERO Ecstatic Dance series carry the running costs of the projects above.
— Clay, tools and firing costs for the After the Fall studio in Vrygrond
— Converting and maintaining the creche space that houses the studio
— Materials for weekly movement sessions at Butterfly Way Preschool
— Biodegradable structures and indigenous plants for Living Islands
— Travel and logistics for the April 2027 Namibia expedition
— Hosting and facilitation for New Moon gatherings
We have not published participant totals, beneficiary counts or financial figures on this page, because we do not yet collect them in a form we would be willing to stand behind. Naming five mothers in one studio is a smaller claim than a headline number, and it is a true one.
As the projects run longer and we keep proper records, those figures will be added here with the period they cover. If you would like to see something specific before then, ask us directly.
The details a funder or a donor may want to check before giving.
Greenhouse
081-983-NPO
29 July 2010
South Africa
299 Village Lane, Noordhoek 7979, Cape Town
Registered South African Nonprofit Organisation
Volunteers give six to ten hours a week and work alongside the preschool teachers, the clay studio and the wetland build.
Donations are processed securely by PayFast. Greenhouse does not store your card details.
If a figure or a claim on this page is not clear enough, write to us and we will answer it.
Greenhouse NPO (Registration № 081-983-NPO) is a registered South African Nonprofit Organisation, registered on 29/07/2010.
