By Frerieke van Bree

The birth of the ‘informal settlement’ (= the official name for ‘township’), goes back to the early 1900s, when the diamond and gold industries required workers from rural areas to come to the urban centers to provide labor. In the 1950ies the Apartheids regime and their Group areas act was the cause of forced removals, resulting in even more separation and the growth of the informal settlements.

1994, the end of the ‘separation’ (Apartheids) regime and the beginning of a free movement for any South African human being, meant a flow of families trying to find their luck away from the rural areas. The Townships experienced another huge increase in number of inhabitants.

2009, 15 years later, still 1.5 million people occupy ‘shacks’ (the structures constructed from waste material, mostly consisting of corrugated iron and timber)

Why is that number still so high? What is holding urban planners back from developing the empty sandy fields within the Townships? What is holding government back from replacing the informal settlements by RDP Housing?

A lot of people blame the so called ‘corrupted leadership’ within the country. I think that is an easy way out of facing reality and taking responsibility.

This week I attended a debate that was organized by the architectural firm I am working for, www.makekadesign.com. The main intention of the debate was to bring together different stakeholders (interested in urban planning and development within formal and informal settlements, the South African ‘Townships’). The goal was to continue the conversation about cooperation and development (No, it’s not a new conversation. Actually 15 years of talking has already past).

Talking, talking, talking…South Africans are good in talking -shit-. Where is the action? Where is the talk without judgment? When does the ego finally realize that success is not measured on the amount of talk about it, and has nothing to do with result either. Real success is to be found within the intention and the actions that are taken by compassionate individuals.

What made the debate this week different from all the previous ones in the last 15 years? >> Its’ location was quite unique: in the township. The ‘white jewel’ is a beautifully designed, modernistic building, shining bright. Yes the jewel is shining bright but also standing lonely on the Sandy grounds of Township’s Khayelitsha Central Business District (to be). The opening to the public will hopefully happen soon and it will then become clear if the architects and clients’ (city of Cape Town) intention was truly in benefit of all people, with needs identified from within the community…

A few kilometers up the road you’ll find the Lookout hill Center, constructed in 2003 with the goal to attract tourists and create a new market in the Township. This beautiful -but empty- building (it has almost not been used at all the past 5 years) reflects in my opinion a typical greedy consumer society development. Although I am not sure about the actual intention behind the building, the implemented current policy is in no way serving the community (local community is not allowed to use it and the flows of tourists are lacking). This makes me wonder who was suppose to benefit from the profits of this tourism market anyways? A sad story. The few local community members that occupy the craft market (that lacks visitors!) give meaning to an empty place, falling apart by the lack of maintenance..

Why do tourist not get to the lookout hill in Township Khayelitsha? Where is the ‘white’, wealthy man? Where is the ‘black’ brother that is celebrating life in the Suburbs?
The answer is mostly to be found in the fear that exists among above mentioned groups. This is a fear for hatred resulting in criminality.

Is that fear grounded? No. I have been going in and out the Townships for the past years and have only once seen a criminal action. My brother has once been threatened with a knife and forced to hand over his belongings in safe place, The Netherlands. Does he walk around fearful now?

Unfortunately, we create monsters. In the society of exclusion there will always be those who need to fight for the material that is to be said to be the road to success. The ego is a master in misleading consciousness…

What creates this fear? Or better: why do we allow the voice in our head to tell us that we need to be fearful? My two cents… a lack of understanding cultures.

Steven Otter writes in his book Khayelitsha, Umlungu in a Township: “This way of thinking comes from ignorance and stupidity, a combination that ruled our land for almost fifty years, and one that very nearly ruined the lot of us. And if, as white people, we continue to keep a distance between ourselves and the black man, how will we ever know him? How can we pass judgement on someone we don’t know? There are thousands of Ta-fumsas and Madibas out there, but we whites ignore them and do our best to encourage them to become the thugs we so desperately fear.”
(Steven has been living in Khayelitsha among the black community for a few years in 2002 and 2005.)

I highly recommend this book to every white person out there, to understand the communities in the South African Townships and more important, the spirit of Ubuntu:

“Umuntu ngumuntu nga bantu” an old Xhosa saying - meaning a person is a person because of other people.

Our Western consumerism tells us “to have is to be”. My status is measured on the material possessions I have. We become very individualistic, protecting our belongings from our neighbors. Our perception of community is very different from the African community of sharing.

Urban planners in South Africa are -unfortunately- predominantly white and brought up with the ‘Western perception of community’. We mirror our materialistic world view upon a community of Ubuntu. We tell them to put a fence around their house to be protected from criminality …while in fact we increase the criminal madness with our individualistic approach. By fencing each house, the street becomes no-mans-land, which can also be called: criminals playground!
…and so do we keep our own created fear alive and are able to proof our misleading fear-monster right: township is dangerous, black man is dangerous. You white fools! Wake up.

To go back to the debate this week, the main things we were talking about (that interested me) are cooperation and documentation.
Cooperation between:

• Government (local, provincial and national > at the moment they often have conflicting requirements > how to get them on one line?)
• Business (work together with the potential -previously underprivileged- entrepreneurs in the Townships: how to stimulate this?)
• Transport/infrastructure sector (streets and transport nodes need to be ‘owned’ by the township dweller. Including a part of the public domain to the place you call home will lead to maintenance and crime prevention. “houses are built on foundations with walls and roof. Homes are built with things much deeper and less concrete” (Sandile Dikeni in the book Shack chic)
• Urban planners/architects (think about your intentions! Get rid of the ego, listen, learn to understand cultures)
• Community (how to -include- members of the community in the development process. Yes, a debate -open to the public- in the Township was a great first step. The language should be understandable for all, and members should be invited to come. The needs of the community need to be included in the policies and development plans that are being created)

Documentation: share knowledge. Don’t reinvent. Be creative in your ways. Use modern social media.

Instead of blaming the local and national governments of corruption (I am not saying corruption does not exist)…let us all focus on how to understand Ubuntu from our Consumerism glasses. Learn to understand cultures. Listen.

Credits:
- Image MPC Khayelitsha by David Southwood
- 3d virtual images by Virtual Africa.
(explanation: image 1: on top of the Lookout hill in Khayelitsha, spot me and the Afrigadget girls on the pic! image2: Khayelitsha, Bonga Drive. Thank you Tinus from http://virtualafrica.co.za for this wonderful way of illustrating these words!)

By Frerieke van Bree

I just spoke to Nico, my young friend in Mozambique. He goes to grade 10 (15 years old). He and his family live on a small farm near Prado de Xhai Xhai. They live in extreme poverty (< 1 dollar a day), but are happy! Nico is a very clever and hard working young man, who told me he really needs a bicycle to go to school. His family shares a mobile phone. I have been trying to reach them the past weeks and finally got through now, so great! It is just incredible to know that this young man (Nico) has the ability to reach out and create possibilities through new technologies. I am so enthusiastic about Mobile Technology in the 3rd World!

So now what?
a. I want money for Nico’s bicycle and
b. I’ll figure out a way to get the money/or bicycle there

When and where did I meet Nico?
…a few weeks ago I was very lucky to be taken on a holiday by my mum and brother, who flew in from The Netherlands. We’ve rented a car and basically drove to the places that inspired us at that moment. One of the things we did was a visit to Mozambique. Our rental car was having a hard time on the roads full of potholes, our eyes enjoyed each and every bit of it. What a wonderful country! What an extremely friendly people (especially compared to South Africa…I guess the absence of the the fear oppression -Apartheid- provided space for a community to be developed, rather then a culture of segregation and aggression)Stepping in a different world, separated from this “luxury” South African world. No big shopping malls, not a lot of cars (yeah sure in Maputo), mostly:…no running water, no electricity, no money, no technology. Rural, like really rural. Small villages, compiled of traditional woven or clay houses, fruits and small farms.

Coconuts and palm trees all along the road, just like ..cashew nuts…in plastic bags floating in the wind, lots of them connected to a tree. The roads are full of Potholes, women and children walking. Baskets of fruit and wood on their heads. Some bicycles. Lots of Vodacom and Cell C. Mobile phones everywhere! no landlines. no computers. but hey…they all have mobile phones…can you see the potential!

Mozambique has been independent since 1975 and was colonized by the Portuguese (you don’t come far with English!…I was lucky to being able to communicate in Spanish). The civil war (between ‘82 - ‘92) has its scars visible all over the country. Firstly all the do-not-enter signs everywhere….the land mines dangerously waiting for some innocent child to play freely. Secondly the ruins all over the place! Each little village has the remainders of what used to be a great and wealthy place, beautiful buildings, not being touched by anybody at the moment.. the informal trade gathers around the previous villages.

We met Nico while setting up our tent in Prado de Xhai Xhai. He wanted to make some extra money for his studies, which he got by assisting us to set up camp. After that he invited us over to his house in a small rural village, where we met his father and little brothers. They climbed up the palmtree to get us some fresh coconuts! (check video!). It was such a delightful surprise to being able to connect with a family, together with my family from a completely different back ground.

More video will follow. Pictures are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9399948@N05/sets/72157608360281208/

by Frerieke van Bree

I don’t consider myself a real ‘techie’, but I do have a strong passion for technology.
And although the word ‘geek’ is often used in obsessive computer/technology/connectivity situations, looking at the explanation on Wikipedia makes me think: Yes I am a geek. A big one. I am obsessed with combining my passions (humanity, technology, design, leadership). I am a people loving-passion following-intercultural connecting-voices facilitating and human empowering GEEK.

Last year I attended the Web of Change conference in Canada. Being among some of the brightest web focused changemakers from The States and Canada was extraordinary. People like Peter Deitz, Marc Laporte, Michael Silberman and many others inspired me to hold on to the thought that technology can make a difference in the lives of many underprivileged people. Attending the (mostly white) Wordcamp South Africa (a gathering of fans of the open source blogging software Wordpress ) opened my eyes to how big the gap between technology implementation in the privileged (mostly white) and implementation and usage in the underprivileged (mostly black/colored) communities is.
Recently I visited MobileActive08 in Johannesburg. A (to me) very inspiring, but also overwhelming mix of geeks, techies (including Google, Microsoft,..), funders and implementers, who all  make a difference in the world through mobile technology. I was blown away by what is already being done with the mobile phone in the developing world. A few personal highlights: meeting Erik Hersman and getting to know the crisis report enabling Ushahidi and listening to Guy Berger and his Journalism project The News is Coming in Grahamstown, South Africa.

Being at those conferences made me feel like being back at University. Our faculty of Architecture was considered to be the ’soft’ faculty of the Technical University of Delft in The Netherlands, other faculties used to make jokes about the ‘cut and glue’ course we were attending. The 80% male-20% female rate in Delft, being the only girl on our Windsurf association board, living with 4 bright men in a house…it all made me feel like a black sheep in a world of Men and Technology. And after university it was: being a woman in the building industry, being a woman in a (unfortunately still!) predominantly white-male dominated South African society and now I ‘torture’ myself with….visiting technology conferences…

My insecurity at conferences tells me: What am I doing here? Where’s my IPhone/blackberry/apple computer? How do I talk tech? How on earth do I catch up with all knowledge in this audience? It is like being back at University…..I don’t belong here.

Fortunately, my secure and balanced me says: does it matter? My vision is clear, my passion is big.
Go and explore girl, make those connections, learn as much as possible.

Major Non-profit organizations have their own Technology consultant on board and come up with the most creative and innovative uses of technology on the ground. Great. But….
I wonder: How to get the message of what is possible with technology out to the many “heroes in underprivileged communities”??? How to hear the needs and ideas of young brights minds in the developing world??? How to empower Africans by African ingenuity??? How to have Africans say NO to the brain drain? How to have Africa really be in the hands of Africans!!

I enjoyed reading Ethan Zuckermans words on bridge figures {…we need bridge figures, people who can help build connections between cultures. We need xenophiles, people who are interested in the whole world and in building conversations that break out of the homophily trap.}

If people ask me what my secret skill in life is I say I am a connector and facilitator. I facilitate a space where the one can meet the other, where people from The developed West meet the poor South, young meet old, You meet Them, They meet YOU and YOU get to know YOURSELF. I facilitate a space of no judgement, listening and curiosity. A space of fun! and smiles

Back to the title of this blog post: {How To: technology and implementation}

How to improve the implementation of Technology in order to eradicate poverty/empower the underprivileged/bridge the implementation gap?
My two cents…

• Improve the language of technology: right now it is too techie and not easy accessible for all. It can not be read/reached by the communities on the ground that know best what is needed in their village.
• Include (underprivileged) youngsters!! The bright minds of the future should be included in the conversation of today! Let them be inspired and generate ideas!
• Support bridge figures! Give them a feeling of -belonging- in the world of Men and Tech! Create (more) scholarships for fancy conferences!!

I am so happy that I was able to step over my own foolish insecurity and explore and exchange at the above mentioned conferences. Great things come out as a result! Me being the connector enables underprivileged students from Khayelitsha to become mobile reporters on Afrigadget !!!

I promise I will never doubt the impact I am making in the world and the fact that I matter…
I have experienced a shift from ‘not belonging’ to a ‘knowing who I am and what my passion and purpose in life is’
Being a bridge is the best! Thanks COSAT learners! And thanks you Tech-savvy global inhabitants!

By Frerieke van Bree

“The City of Cape Town sponsored the Khayelitsha Festival Business Tour because we believe it will stimulate growth and development among emerging businesses in Khayelitsha. Further investment is essential to addressing the key developmental challenges of the region. We need to increase business and job opportunities in order to improve living standards and promote overall growth in Cape Town’s economy.”  So says Cape Town Executive Mayor, Helen Zille.

Businesses, social entrepreneurs, NGO’s, governmental structures, musicians, youth and other individuals from different (local) communities gathered this weekend in the OR Tambo hall in township Khayelitsha, Cape Town to celebrate and further explore the potential and opportunities that this emerging place (township khayelitsha) offers during the 3 day event, the Khayelitsha festival!

Our friends of the Heart of Healing (you’ll find Rufus of the Heart of Healing in the above photograph) co-organized this 3 day festival, which is based on the very successful Soweto Festival that has been organized over the last 3 years in Soweto, the black urban area in Johannesburg.

Three days of music, entertainment and information market attracted young and old, rich and poor. The Khayelitsha festival (that says on it’s website to be “free”) did leave out the poorest though… It was heartbreaking to see all those individuals (mostly youngsters/children) begging at the gate in order to collect the 10 Rand (to be compared more or less with the price of one bread and a pack of milk) that the entrée would cost them.

I received some free tickets for the COSAT students to attend the festival. One of the COSAT learners, Dinono even performed live on stage! Dinono shared her poem with lots of passion and dedication with hundreds of youngsters around the stage. Well done girl! (unfortunately, the sound of the attached video is very bad, but please be inspired by this young individual that is so full of fire). Dinono…please share your poem with us here online?! And also your story about it and around it!

What an opportunities in Khayelitsha. It is a booming business…you better be there and be there now, because hey….(soccer worldcup) 2010 is around the corner and before we know, all shacks will be replaced by mixed used developments! Apartments, retail, offices, public nodes….a diverse and lively place for all! (at least….if we choose to make this happen!)

It takes a woman with balls (respect for Cape Town mayor Helen Zille!) to be a stand for transformation and development!

Local government officials within the building department that we (architects) are dealing with, seem to lack these balls to take responsibility and make the decisions that will enable investors/architects/community to make development plans reality. A few weeks ago, after a meeting I had within the community (to design development plans together with community), I spoke on the phone with one of those (local) government officials and was told to “stay away from local community, because we (government) will be hold accountable for the false hope you (the architects) create and as a result, the community will blame us (government).”…yeah sure…15 years after the end of Apartheid and still so many people struggle to keep the rain outside of the tin board structures and try to avoid being raped during the dark night (no street lights) on their way from shack to public outhouse…. Who to blame for this mister local government official? Why do you choose the way of no commitment, no passion, no action?

I see the Khayelitsha festival, with the created connections between investors and potential as a first step in the process towards actual implementation of development plans.

It takes secondly more individuals like Helen Zille in council who understand that risks need to be taken to see actual transformation in Africa. It takes government officials in the building sector who are willing to take responsibility, who are willing to open their eyes towards development and are willing to work together with passionate planners/developers/architects (like us www.makekadesigns.com). A Paradigm shift within council is a crucial step in the process towards actual implementation. It is an important shift that will lead to improved living standards and increase of economic situation in the Township!

Opportunities can’t be seen unless we choose to discover our blind spots….it takes courage and commitment to take on this new paradigm of thinking. This challenging exercise might appear to be a very scary one; shifting away from the known to the unknown (away from our comfort zone) is not something that we do on a regular base….not a government official, nor you or me…Opportunity and transformation will be experienced if we choose to do so!