Farewell to Sam

We are sad to announce that today is the final day at Shoebox Homes for Sam Adams, our Project Manager.

Sam has been with Shoebox Homes for over a year and has had a huge impact on the organisation. He has facilitated the delivery of beds to over 60 families/homes and he has had a massive impact on our organisational structure. For this, and your friendship, Sam, we are truly indebted. We wish you the absolute best for the future.

(Sam's absense will mean less posting until further notice...Thanks!)

CPUT Students working with Shoebox

On Monday, Shoebox Homes gave a presentation to a class at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). It was a group of roughly 30 students, all in their third year in the department of design.

These students are going to be spending the next 4-6 weeks researching and designing new products for the Shoebox Homes range! We are thrilled for this opportunity to connect with some talented young designers. They are working on a design brief that will expand our range with space-saving, low-cost furniture that is suitable for the mass market.

What is also great is that we at Shoebox can offer the students an entry point into the design market. The products that match the brief will be manufactured by Shoebox and marketed across the country. The students will then be paid on a royalty basis. This is a win win situation!

Partnerships Beginning to Materialise

In the last ten days we have had some in fantastic interactions with two different groups. Firstly, PayProp, a property company in Stellenbosch have expressed an interest in working with Shoebox Homes. This is great news - they are a highly skilled and committed company and there is a great synergy between the areas of work of PayProp and Shoebox (both in the property/design/space and innovation fields).

Secondly, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology have given us the opportunity to link with their third-year design students. A class of roughly 30 students will be spending the next 4-6 weeks... More on this in the next blog post..

And Some Quiet Times at Shoebox

Business is very quiet at the moment unfortunately. We are waiting on new funding to come in before we can get going again. It's been a hard start to the year for this reason. Very slow - not just for Shoebox, but for most of the companies we work with too.

At the same time, it is so exciting to anticipate the growth we will have as soon as funding materilaises. New products, new ideas, new deliveries, and more lives impacted! It's going to be great.

Exciting Times

Shoebox Homes has had lots of exciting experiences of late: Here's an overview:

• Free Range Films have been filming our work for a documentary to go on SABC.
• Next week CNN will be filming Tsai and the beds too!
• We have had discussions regarding funding from some churches in the UK and in Cape Town. We hope to deliver seven new beds to their project in the next month.

Watch this space for further developments!

Delivery to Volunteer House at Living Way Campus

This week we installed two two-bunk beds at the Living Way campus near Masiphumelele in Cape Town. The beds have gone into the house where volunteers will be staying. Photos to be added soon!

Living Way has just moved into their new premises and will be offering training in skills such as baking, building, computers, and sewing. It is an exciting new venture and one that Shoebox Homes is privileged to support.

Good luck Living Way!

Competition!

entries should be emailed to info@shoeboxhomes.co.za

2009 for Shoebox Homes

What's in store for us for 2009?

NEW PRODUCTS BY NEW DESIGNERS!

Earlier this year we conducted some research in a few disadvantaged communities. We asked residents their furniture needs and preferences. With this information we have formed an exciting design brief that will be sent to designers across South Africa and beyond.

These designers will submit new space-saving furniture designs for Shoebox to market and manufacture and deliver to those living in over-crowded spaces. We are excited to see the new designs and believe there is a wealth of untapped design potential in this field.

Here are some current design ideas that we like at the moment:

Shoebox Year Ending

Shoebox Homes is quiet at the moment... We pack up our office for the summer holidays next week, reopening on 8th January. As we begin to look back at 2008, wee see that it has been a full year and that great strides forward have been taken. We have:

• Finalised the design of the Nested Bunk Bed
• Found an excellent manufacturer (Woodform)
• Researched (and are developing) other space-saving furniture
• Qualified, if not won, 5 prestigious design awards
• Manufactured 40 of the bed units: a total of 200 beds!
• Distributed the beds to over 55 homes across South Africa
• Created safe, comfortable, dry, and spacious sleeping conditions that benefit approx. 300 children!
  

This is a huge impact!

To the Shoebox team of management, manufacturers, fundraisers, assemblers, and drivers, well done! You can be proud of the amazing impact you've had on this exciting journey!

And to the many wonderful funders, thank you for your generousity. Your contribution has made all of this possible and has been an integral part of the development and delivery of the bunk beds.

2009 holds many dreams for us as Shoebox Homes... More about that in the next post...

Focus on: Ashley Stemmett

Ashley Stemmett is currently the DIY editor at Home Magazine - SA's leading Decor, DIY, Gardening and Food magazine. He has a long history in design and is particularly interested in multifunctional furniture and how it can benifit the lives of people living in particularly small spaces. His involvement with Shoebox Homes followed the 36sqm Challenge - where he was one of the 'judges' on behalf of Home magazine. He now enjoys the exciting collaboration with Aram, Charles, Sam and Tsai and looks forward to seeing how Shoebox Homes products will benefit communities in the future.

Here's an example of Ash's great work: a beautiful multi-purpose coffee table and storage facility:

Third Bed to Bathandwa Children's Home

It is with great joy that we delivered the third bed to Bathandwa Children's Home this week. Our generous donor, Mr John Philips, kindly sponsored the bed that went upstairs in the room of the older children. It has replaced old and damaged beds that the children used to sleep on.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Philips just two weeks ago, during a visit of his to Cape Town. I showed him the beds installed at Bathandwa. Thank you, John, again for your support and generousity.

Last Bed for 2008!
Sadly, this is the last bed to be installed for 2008. We are awaiting new funding before we can start manufacturing the next order of beds. Over 90 requests for beds are pending!

Here are the pics of the new Nested Bunk Bed at Bathandwa:

Shoebox Goes Green with the AgriPlanner Course!

This week I (Sam) was at a fantastic Agri-Business course. Designed and run by the South African Institute of Entrepreneurs, I was thoroughly impressed with teh course content and the experiential way it was presented.

Agriplanner trains small-scale farmers to make a living from their land. We learnt basic farming skills such as what crops to grow in Cape Town and how long each one takes before giving a 'return'. We were actually being trained to train others, so we were also taught how to pass on these skills as well as other 'go to market' strategies.

At Shoebox, we aim to support people living in overcrowded and disadvantaged communities. With the Agriplanner course content, we are excited to explore the possibility of supporting individuals to make a living from their small gardens.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Write a comment or send us an email!

Exciting New Products at Headspace at CPUT

Today I was at Headspace - an exhibition of work from CPUT students. CPUT, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, have a great design department and I have enjoyed connecting with some of the staff and students.

Of particular interest, of course, was the space-saving designs. I saw some great work by the students. Interestingly, all of it was made of Xanita, or X-Board. This is a recycled, low-cost board that is made just outside of Cape Town. I am not convinced of it's long term durability, however, it is great to see such an innovation in this area.

Here are some pics (low-res), of the students' work:

Photos from Saartjie Baartman

Here are the before and after pics from the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children in Surrey Estate, Cape Town:

Busy Week!

This week we have been very busy finishing off the delivery of the beds sponsored by the Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation. Bringing the total delivered bed units up to 59, we delivered the following:

1. Two more bed units to Langa residents, through the SOS Family Strengthening Programme. These went to the Kewana and Cira Families. The Kewana home is pictured here:



2. Two bed units to The Salvation Army's Carehaven (increasing their capacity rather than replacing older bunk beds). Here's a picture of Sam with Captain Alexina.


3. Lastly, another bed went to the Saartjie Baartman Centre (see next post because there are lots of pics!)

Thank you to the Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation for your generousity and valuable support. We could not have done this without you!

Home of Hope, Milnerton

Yesterday we delivered a two-bunk and three-bunk version of the nested bunk bed to Home of Hope. This immaculately-kept home for young women, based in Milnerton already had very modern bunk beds. The Shoebox Homes donation has allowed Home of Hope to use the existing beds in one of their other facilities.

It is great that the bunk beds can benefit people in need both directly and indirectly! Here's a photo of Peto, the house supervisor, with the beds:

Delivering with SOS Family Strengthening Programme

This week we delivered to Langa, a relatively small and established township close to central Cape Town. We were working in partnership with SOS - an organisation that runs children's villages and a 'Family Strengthening Programme'.

We delivered three bunk bed units, again sponsored by the Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation.

1. The Manele Family, before and after:



2. The Makuluza Family


3. The Norman Family

Care for Kids Part Three - Completion!

Last week we installed the final bed unit with the Care for Kids programme. This bunk bed, sponsored by the Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation, went to the Plaatjies family in Khayelitsha.

The Plaatjies home (a shack) was initially too small for the bed. However, the Care for Kids team supported the family in extending the home. The bed now fits and the house is bigger!

[photo removed]

Delivering to the Njila Family - last house in Mbekweni!

This week we finished delivering the twenty units to Mbekweni! It's been a great experience spending time in Mbekweni and we have met and worked with some excellent people. Thanks to Ikhwezi Community Centre for facilitating the entire process and to the Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation for their generous funding.

Here's Sam with Mrs Njila and some of her children:

Black Umbrella's New Site

Our sister organisation, Black Umbrellas, launched their website this week. They are a great organisation - supporting emerging black business in their formative stages. There is such a crucial need for this in South Africa. Shoebox Homes is so proud to be associated with Black Umbrellas. Check out the site by clicking on the logo below: