They have been hit by heavy rains, serious transport disruption and what are being described locally as "sandstorms". But still there is no breaking the resolve of the more than 1,350 Irish volunteers who are toiling on the southern tip of Africa for the benefit of poor shack-dwellers.
More than 200 of the workers, who are spending this week building houses under the Niall Mellon Township Trust (NMTT) "building blitz", were forced to spend their first two days in South Africa in borrowed clothing. This followed the discovery on Friday that their chartered flight from Shannon to Cape Town had been overweight, necessitating the removal of most of their luggage from the cargo hold.
It was an inauspicious start for what has been described as the biggest exodus of Irish volunteers for a single overseas project.
The charity was forced to supply clothing to the affected volunteers until their luggage arrived last night on a separate flight.
There was a further setback when NMTT's three other charter flights from Ireland were delayed for several hours because of an accident at Cape Town airport.
The last of the three did not touch down until 3.30am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the weather has turned against the workers, soaking them yesterday with heavy rain and buffeting them with strong winds.
Deirdre Grant, director of NMTT's volunteer programme, said: "We have had lots of eye complaints because of the sand that has been blown up on the site.
"Quite a few people have had their eyes washed out, or tested, by our eye doctor."
One volunteer required stitches to his leg after falling from scaffolding, while another went to hospital complaining of a chest infection.
Ms Grant said such incidents were only to be expected with such a large group travelling.
"We have had to draft a risk management plan. We have a comprehensive medical plan too, with 20 doctors and nurses on site," she said.
"Also, because it has 'special events' status, we have had to fence off our site. We have 13 police officers in the area every day."
Despite the difficult conditions, morale is high, and work is running on schedule. The volunteers, 80 per cent of whom are from the construction industry, are attempting to build, by next Saturday, 200 homes and a community centre.
The community centre will be accompanied by a landscaped park designed by celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin, who is also on site.
The work is taking place at Freedom Park, Tafelsig, a township some 40km (25 miles) outside of Cape Town.
A total of 1,155 men and 225 women have travelled from Ireland for the event, including about 30 administrative staff, journalists and other observers.