Delivering to the Scott Family

Here's the Scott family in Mbekweni with the new bed we delivered today. Mrs Scott looks after ten people in her small, two-roomed home. I have a lot of respect for her.

The last picture shows some of the Scott household. They are holding the 'goodie pack'. This includes a pack of stickers for the children to decorate the beds, and a funky Certificate of Ownership. Each family is also given a short contract which includes a maintenance plan for the beds.

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Delivering to the Mbovu Family

Today the Mbovu family received their bed. They seemed truly grateful. I was so pleased how the bed fits perfectly in the room - snug! See how the one single bed is replaced by five beds, plus the integrated side tables.

The room also serves as a lounge. With the bed doubling as a couch (the second bed is chair-height), it's perfect!

Here's the before and after pics:

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Delivering to the Pula Family

Last week we finally took some photos of the bed at the Pula home in Mbekweni. This is one of the saddest households that we've worked with so far. There are seven people living in a one room shack of roughly 16 sq/m.

We replaced their double bed with a four-bed version of the Nested Bunk Bed, thus doubling the sleeping capacity in the same area.

When I went back last week to take the photos, the room was filled with smoke from a fire lit to warm the room. It was hard to keep my eyes open, let alone breathe. It is such a tragedy that people live like this.

The visit has been a stark reminder that extreme poverty is still rife in South Africa and that there is much work that we, the people of South Africa, can contribute towards.


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Delivering to the Mbula Family

Today we finished installing the bed in the Mbula household in Mbekweni. The Mbula family have already spent a week with the beds and seem to be loving them. The bright blue colour looks great and I especially love Miss. Mbula's bed spread!

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At Footprints, Lanseria

While in Gauteng, we also delivered one of the Nested Bunk Beds to Footprints children's home in Lanseria. What an amazing family - with 24 children, all living on a beautiful farm. It was a great experience being there. Here's a pic of Lucky helping build the bed (albeit with some fear due to the family's pet snakes!!):

At SABS, Pretoria

Just got back from two days in Gauteng. The first was spent in Pretoria, at the Design Institute at SABS. Tsai has entered the bunk beds into their annual design competition.

Here's some pics of the bed in their foyer:

Delivering To Cecilia, Blue Downs/Eerste Rivier

Today we set up one of the bed units for a lady who looks after a large number of children in her home in Blue Downs/Eerste Rivier. The bed looks great in her smart lounge!

Delivering to the Makamba Family

The Makamba family received their bed this morning. We are really getting the hand of installation now; the team is running efficiently and we are in and out within three hours.

Mrs Makamba was a pleasure to work with. She is now thinking of extending her home and moving the Nested Bunk Bed to the new room. This will mean even more space for the family of seven.

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Delivering to the Sambokhwe Family

The Sambokhwe family received their bed unit today.

As the first picture shows, the bedroom had three large wardrobes in it. Unfortunately these had to be moved to another room in the house in order to fit the bunk bed. We are discovering that often the Nested Bunk Bed is too big for these rooms to be used in a practical way.

This has opened up a space of exploring new ideas and new ways to innovate. Any suggestions are welcome! At this stage we are wondering how to incorporate storage space into the bed unit. Of course we are also looking at renovating houses and creating larger rooms by knocking through walls.


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Delivering to the Guzi Family

Eleven people live in the Guzi home, a two bedroom home in Mbekweni, where we are halfway through delivering twenty units of the Nested Bunk Bed. These have been kindly paid for by the Pick n Pay Ackermans Family Foundation.

In the past, most of the children would have slept on the floor either in the bedroom or the lounge. Now, the small bedroom in the Guzi home can comfortably sleep at least five children, making a huge impact on the wellbeing of this family.

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Delivering to the Tose Family

This afternoon we were in Mbekweni again, this time installing a bed for the Tose family.

A journalist from the local newspaper, Paarl Post, visited this family with me (Sam). The delivery of the bed units will be covered in the paper, due for release on 24 July. This will be great exposure and will hopefully lead to more funding for the beds.

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Delivering to the Mkhetshane Family

The Mkhetshane Family in Mbekweni received their Nested Bunk Bed this morning. It was a new experience for our assembly team - cramped and dark conditions made it quite difficult. The bed definitely brightens the room!

This lovely family have already expressed great appreciation. Since I first wrote this post, they have commented that the bed has drastically improved their sleeping conditions. In the past, according to the eldest daughter, the ground water would rise in the winter evenings and they would wake up with drenched mattresses and bedding.

It is a privilege to provide this family with a bunk bed that serves the whole family and that means a healthier household.

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