In Harare, Martha met Rev. Lulama Ntshingwa, Chief Ecumenical Officer of the Eastern Cape Provincial Council of Churches. Lulama was a champion of the fight against apartheid, a former teacher, life insurance salesmen and supervisor at Mercedes-Benz, now an Anglican priest. Lulama was able and willing to work to found a non-profit organization that would expand micro-banking into the townships in South Africa. He introduced the idea to the Eastern Cape Provincial Council of Churches in South Africa, where he was the Chief Executive Ecumenical Officer at that time.

In Canada, Martha Deacon spent January to March, 1999, speaking to faith communities from Halifax to Vancouver to test interest in supporting The Townships Project. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Back in South Africa, in April, 1999, Rev. Ntshingwa and Ms. Deacon traveled extensively within the Eastern Cape Province to ascertain community interest and willingness to support such a project. Mdantsane, a sprawling community of over 1,000,000 people, set up to serve the needs of the city of East London in 1963, was identified as a place to begin the micro-banking project. which was officially launched on August 1, 1999, in the presence of Dr. Nelson Mandela and Mrs. Graca Machel, his wife, who can be seen in the 1999 video.

The Townships Project is intended to inject immediate hope into the South African communities in which its agents operate by providing small loans for business creation, and by providing the incentive for South African communities to work together to help its own members. The Townships Project was seen to give Canadian and South African communities the opportunity to get to know one another on a personal basis, for moral and spiritual support, and information exchange. South Africa had been isolated from the rest of the world during the many years of apartheid. We believe the gap in information about its current aspirations and problems can be closed through projects such as this.

Back in Canada, Canadian Memorial United Church, in Vancouver, donated $15,000 and INASMUCH, in Toronto, donated $10,000 to seed The Townships Project. Since these initial contributions in the spring of 1999, over $500,000 has been raised to support the project. By December 2007, more than 3000 loans had been made through its agents. Each loan changes an average of 5 lives, which means that the loans which have been facilitated by donations to date have changed about 15,000 lives. This results in a "cost per life changed" of significantly less than $50.

In November, 2000, 23 Canadians went to South Africa on a study tour to visit clients in Mdantsane and enjoy some of the fabulous scenery and safari experiences of that country. Another tour took place in November, 2005. Please contact us if you are interested in participating in future tours. Tours such as this and many fundraising activites continue to strengthen the relationships between Canadian and South African partners in the development of The Townships Project.

Many of the committee members and board members who are instrumental to the continuation of The Townships Project have visited it in South Africa. In the summer of 2003, Ms. Bongi Ndubaza, a Manager with the ECMFE, an agent of The Townships Project, visited with supporters of the project across Canada.

The Townships Project is actively seeking a commercial banking joint venture partner in South Africa in order toexpand the impact, the reach and the sustainability of its work.