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!

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:

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!

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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:

Care for Kids Part Two

Two more families, both supported by Care for Kids, received their beds this week. Care for Kids appears to be an awesome organisation that is well managed and having a big impact on orphans and vulnerable children across Cape Town.

The Gunuza Family
Before:

After:

The Ruiters' Family
The second family has a particularly exciting story. Their church community decided to add to the donation of the bed and redecorate the childrens' bedroom! It looks stunning with bright lime green walls and colourful fairy-tale curtains.

Before:

After:

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Care for Kids

This week we began a new project with Care for Kids, an organisation that supports churches looking after orphans and vulnerable children. Care for Kids is run from The Warehouse, a trust in Wynberg, Cape Town that forms the social-outreach arm of St John's Parish.

Together with Care for Kids, Shoebox Homes is installing beds in five different home across Cape Town. It's been a great week and we have met some wonderful and grateful people. The first two homes received their beds this week:

1. The Beukes Family, Gugulethu.




2. The Mabanga Family, Mxengi.

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Delivering to the Hlanza and Mbembe Families

Two beds were installed this week in Mbekweni, bringing our total to 19! Our target is 20, so we've only got one more to go!

Mrs Hlanza received three beds in her home, improving the sleeping conditions for the seven people who live in her home (the room is not big enough to take the full five beds).

Before:
After:

Then we went over to the Mbembe home, who actually live in Fairyland very near Mbekweni. Like Mrs Hlanza, Mrs Mbembe also received three beds. However, after some design suggestions (simply rearranging furniture) more space will be created and we will be delivering the last two beds in the next week!

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Delivering to the Daweti and Lufele Families

We have almost completed our delivery to the twenty families in Mbekweni township. This week we delivered to two more:

The Daweti family did not have space for all five beds, so we gave them the three-bed version. They were immediately thrilled! There are a lot of people living in this three-room home, so the impact of the beds is immediately felt.

At this house we also did some design work- removing an unnecessary internal wall. This has opened up the kitchen/lounge, creating a lighter and more spacious room. Design and renovation work is something we want to increase at Shoebox.

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The second home, the Lufele family, also received the three-bed version. The beds neatly fit in their second bedroom, which used to have only one single bed. We have thus increased the sleeping space by 4-fold, a huge impact for this lovely family.

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Delivering to Bathandwa Children's Home

Last week we delivered two bunk beds to Bathandwa, a children's home in Khayelitsha (about one hour outside of Cape Town). The two beds, sponsored by a gentleman in Canada, have replaced 5 rickety old bunk beds that were literally falling apart.

The new mattresses that come with the beds have replaced spoiled and thin mattresses that the children used to sleep on.

The beds have also doubled the play area in the room - a vital need for children, especially in wet winter days.

Bathandwa's staff have expressed enormous thanks. They have shared the positive impact that the beds have made on the lives of the children and on the home as a whole. This whole experience has been very fulfilling! Here are the before and after pics:

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After:

Delivering this week - Tete and Mtini

This week we delivered to four different homes! It's been a full week! We started on Tuesday, with two beds in Mbekweni: for the Tete and Mtini families. Here are the before and after shots from Mbekweni. I will write up the other deliveries in their own post

Mrs Tete asked for three beds in one room and for two to go in the other. I think it works very well. It's great to have a product that is flexible enough to do this.

Before and after at Mtini's

Delivering to Sive Nathi

Today was a special day. We built two of the Nested Bunk Beds at a children's home in Black Heath, Cape Town.

The home is called Sive Nathi. Lorraine and her team of care-givers look after a large number of disabled children. I was humbled by the faithful and generous love that they give to the children.

Here's a picture of each bed. What a privilege to be involved in a job where I get to meet people of such high calibre, serving those in need with great joy and commitment!

To Sive Nathi, we hope the beds serve you and the children with more comfort, safety, and space in your special home.

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.

Before:



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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:

Before:

After:

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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