in loco program

in loco fellows’ blog series #2

April 1, 2018By 2 Comments

MY TWO MONTHS EXPERIENCE AS A FELLOW

I have been staring at my pc for some time now, cracking my head on how to go about the task given to me or should I say that I volunteered to do.

My name is Thandi Mokoma, an Alumni of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Lesotho. I studied Architecture Technology (Associate Degree) and this is my story.

I have heard about ‘blogging’ before but never really had any interest in it, so believe me when I say this is my first blog. In just a few paragraphs I’m going to sum up the two good months of experiences as a rise in loco fellow. The program is like an adventure, one never knows what to expect next and what challenges and knowledge are just around the corner. The fellowship has taught me more than I had imagined, as a newly graduated Architecture Technology I feel my duties are diverse and ever changing, and these are some of the learnings I would like to share with you.

BUSINESS TRAINING

I guess before going for the business training workshops, I had my own thoughts and assumptions of what business training is all about, how formal the working environment is, the formal language used and specific corporate attire, and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. But to my surprise it was filled with fun, laughter, games and loads of new knowledge. We had fun energisers now and then, short dramas and educational games amongst a few. One of the many things we were taught at the business training was entrepreneurial skills and means of making your business known.

 

GUEST LECTURES

You know when they say ‘dreams come true!’ that’s exactly what happened to me. Being part of rise gives me a platform to meet people from different companies and organisations like World Bank amongst others. I had the opportunity to present our work to people from diverse cultures, race and backgrounds.

In addition, I had direct conversations and interactions with people from big companies attending our presentations. Some of the representatives from these well established companies would pick our brains on how they can make their own projects succeed with regards to what we are doing with the community project we have partnered with, God’s Love Centre, and the business-training workshop.

ATTENDING MEETINGS

Life can take you to places you never thought of going. I never pictured myself getting all dressed up going to a meeting, let alone negotiating with ‘the big bosses’ but that is what’s fascinating about my job at rise. I was not pinned down to one task and that really allowed opportunities that widened our horizons. The more we can test our limits and capabilities the more we will learn about ourselves.

I didn’t know much about scheduling meetings, attending meetings and how to adjourn a meeting. And my God, apparently there’s a specific way of giving handshakes!! Who knew?

ONE ON ONE MEETINGS

The first time we were made aware that we will be having one on one meetings with our coaches, I was reluctant and skeptical about them, little did I know how much I would learn about myself.

The questions asked got me to realise that I have been making excuses and barriers on why I haven’t started a business and maybe the biggest reason is the fear of failure. The meeting broke the ice, and a few days after I began making quince jam and I’m proud to say I SOLD EVERY JAR!

As I sign out, I would like to thank everyone who has read my blog, my coaches and my fellow workmates and team members who have made these two months an experience never to be forgotten.

With this program I believe I have exhausted most of my capabilities and yet we are only 2 months in, this has truly been a great learning experience and I will forever be indebted to all those who gave me a hand. Looking forward to many milestones in the remaining 6 months.

 

 

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in loco program

Construction update

March 9, 2018By 0 comment

New piece of land acquired

Our community partner, God’s Love Centre (GLC) is overcrowded with 50+ children living in a 2 dorm-room house. Since the land on which the orphanage is located is quite small, we acquired an additional piece of land just 1 km up the road from the existing site. There are 200,000 orphans in Lesotho, which constitutes 10% of the population. Most of the other childcare facilities are also full to capacity, so unfortunately it is unlikely that the need for more housing for orphans is going to be resolved soon.

After a lot of discussions with GLC and the community at large, it was decided that the younger children up to 13 years old should remain at the existing site along with the Pre-school, and the adolescent youth from 14 upwards should be located at the new site, which will include various small businesses including an Internet Café, vegetable gardens and a piggery.

The in loco fellows are busy designing, planning, compiling the Bill of Quantities and negotiating with suppliers the best possible rates in order to keep construction costs down. Final drawings will be submitted to the authorities in March to obtain the building permit approval.

Refurbishment plans for existing site

The in loco fellows are busy planning all the improvements needed on the existing site including installation of water harvesting tanks to solve the problem of shortage of water, partitioning the dorm rooms so that children have more privacy, expansion of kitchen, re-allocation of pit latrines to make better utilisation of outdoor space to create play areas for the children as well as increase the vegetable growing areas and installing a roof over the converted shipping container where the pre-school is located so that the classrooms don’t get so hot in the afternoon sun. Renovation works should commence later on in March (subject to funding).

                              

Existing site                                                                                   Proposed layout for refurbished site

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News

rise update – March 2018

March 6, 2018By 0 comment

We are excited to share with you our first newsletter. A lot has happened in the past few months. Here are some of the highlights…..

Organisational strengthening of our local partner GLC

Our community partner God’s Love Centre (GLC) , is a home for orphaned and abandoned children. An integral part of our partnership with GLC is not just to improve the quality of lives of the children living there with refurbished and additional buildings, but also to help the GLC leadership gain access to skills and networks they need in order to excel in the running of the childcare facility. This includes strengthening their governance, financial management, communications, quality of care, fundraising and overall management. A series of weekly leadership trainings have started and will continue until end of September.

 

 

in loco fellowship launched in Lesotho
Twenty of Lesotho’s most promising young entrepreneurs have been selected to join an 8-month design & build fellowship program which will run from February to September. Read more.
Read the 1st of the in loco fellows blog series here.

 

 

 

Participatory Design Workshop
An intense 10 days of learning about human centred design and then putting those learnings into practice by going into the community and finding out their exact challenges, needs and wishes for a better quality of life at the orphanage. The in loco lead Architects, Pedro Clarke and Luca Astorri visited Lesotho from Portugal and Italy respectively to run the workshop. Read more.

 

Basic Business Skills
Training of Trainers

10 dedicated youth leaders were selected and trained as business coaches on how to facilitate basic business skills to low literary participants.
We can’t wait to see what small businesses are launched once these trainings have been implemented! Read more

 

 

 

Construction Update

Since the current GLC site is already overcrowded with 50+ children living in the 2 dorm-room house, we had to acquire an additional piece of land 1 km up the road from the existing site. There are 200,000 orphans in Lesotho, which constitutes 10% of the population. Most of the other childcare facilities are also full to capacity, so unfortunately it is unlikely that the need for more housing for orphans is going to be resolved soon.

After a lot of discussions with GLC and the community at large, it was decided that the younger children up to 13 years old should remain at the existing site along with the Pre-school, and the adolescent youth from 14 upwards should be located at the new site, which will include various small businesses including an Internet Café, vegetable gardens and a piggery.

The in loco fellows are busy designing, planning, compiling the Bill of Quantities and negotiating with suppliers the best possible rates in order to keep construction costs down. Final drawings will be submitted to the authorities in March to obtain the building permit approval.

Refurbishment plans for existing site

The in loco fellows are busy planning all the improvements needed on the existing site including installation of water harvesting tanks to solve the problem of shortage of water, partitioning the dorm rooms so that children have more privacy, expansion of kitchen, re-allocation of pit latrines to make better utilisation of outdoor space to create play areas for the children as well as increase the vegetable growing areas and installing a roof over the converted shipping container where the pre-school is located so that the classrooms don’t get so hot in the afternoon sun. Renovation works should commence later on in March (subject to funding).

                             

Existing site                                                                                   Proposed layout for refurbished site

Partnerships are key

All of this work would not be possible without key partners. Throughout the planning of the program, partnerships have been formed with the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) as well as Limkokwing University and Lerotholi Polytechnic. Read more.

Changing the face of architecture in Lesotho
Part of our mandate is to increase awareness and get people thinking outside of the box when it comes to architecture, which we are doing in 3 key ways:

  • Guest Lecture Series
    The first of which took place in February with Luca Astorri who spoke about his experiences in architecture in a development context building a school in a Nairobi slum area. March’s Lecture will be on “Creating your own Sustainable Space” by T’siu Moorosi 16th March at Lerotholi Polytechnic’s lecture theater.
  • Film screenings and Debates – in partnership with Alliance Française about the role of architecture for the wider community. Check out our FaceBook page for upcoming events.
  • Architecture Library – since Lesotho doesn’t have one we thought it’s about time it did! We are asking any visitors coming to Lesotho to bring architecture books with them and any nearby architecture firms in South Africa are also welcome to make donations!

Donors

BOND Events continues to be our main donor and has pledged to donate $1.67 for every $1 raised from other donors up to a value of $50,000 in 2018.

We are pleased to announce two new donors this month:

Vodacom Lesotho who is going to sponsor the 6 female in loco fellows as part of their Gender Equality and women empowerment initiatives.

Agara Foundation from Malta, is currently fundraising for laptops and volunteers to come to Lesotho from Malta in August to set up a computer lab at GLC and give the necessary software training on how to set up and run an Internet Café. 

How can you get involved?

Thanks to your generosity, we have raised over $50,000 so far through donations, sponsorships and the purchase of art from our fundraising event rise in the city.

However we still need to raise another $100,000 to make this project possible. Every $1 counts so please join us on this journey of learning and invest here.

You can:

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in loco program

in loco fellows’ blog series #1

March 3, 2018By 0 comment

 

My name is Palesa Rapolo and I’m a 2017 graduate from Limkokwing University having graduated in Interior Architecture. I just completed my first month as a fellow in the eight-month in loco program by rise. My first month into the program has been inspirational, educational and fun. The atmosphere in the office is incredible, I get to go to work and do one of my favourite things in life, work while listening to dumb jokes and having a good laugh.

 

One of in loco’s goals is to train its fellows to be successful entrepreneurs, so for the first week we had a series of business training sessions where I learned to stop using money or capital as an excuse of why I can’t run my own business. We had a series of guest speakers who were truly inspirational. They shared with us their journey of how they started out to get to where they are right now. One of them named Malefetsane Mohlomi, said he started out with just his laptop and his mind. That really got me thinking, ‘why haven’t I? Who am I not to be successful? But then everything happens in its own time, I’ll tell my story someday.

 

My favourite part has got to be the participatory design workshop, not only because of the food, but most importantly what I got to learn from it. Going out to God’s Love Centre (GLC) and getting to know the people we are going to be designing for and hearing from them what they wanted instead of assuming we know what’s right for them. The sad part is that we can’t meet all their needs, but I hope that what we’ll give them will make a huge difference.

 

 

My second favourite part is definitely the trip to Morija, one of Lesotho’s most important historical and cultural sites. Morija has some of the oldest buildings such as the first Evangelical Church. I came back with a lot more appreciation for traditional methods of construction, and I’m definitely looking forward to going back there again.

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in loco program

in loco fellowship launched in Lesotho

March 1, 2018By 2 Comments

Twenty of Lesotho’s most promising young entrepreneurs have been selected to join an 8-month design & build fellowship program which will run from February to September 2018. The fellows consist of 14 male & 6 female graduates and diploma holders from cross-disciplinary areas including architecture, civil & electrical engineering, construction management, interior design, carpentry, social welfare & community development from Lerotholi Polytechnic, Limkokwing University, National University of Lesotho, Institute of Development Management and Central University of Technology.

in loco has an innovative and unique approach to the Design and Build Training Programs. Created to have a real impact in the lives of all participants our approach builds on the Live Projects teaching model and learning from life, skills sharing and capacity building.

in loco engages with local communities, local NGOs, students and young graduates from local architecture and construction courses, as well as international participants with an interest in architecture, development, sustainability and the built environment.

This year’s inaugural project takes us to Maseru the capital of Lesotho, a country land locked inside of South Africa. Here, the in loco fellows will carry out much needed construction work to improve the quality of life for orphans who currently live in very cramped conditions in an existing orphanage called God’s Love Centre (GLC).

Following a “hands-on, bottom-up” approach, we will be working in close collaboration with members of the local community on the completion of this building and simultaneously start the design and construction of new dormitories, facilities and external play areas on a new site about 1km from the existing site.
At the same time, the fellows will go through a practical entrepreneurship-training program helping them to set up their own businesses and a pipeline of community construction projects throughout the country, with a particular focus on rural and semi-rural development.

Read the first of a series of blogs by one of the fellows – Palesa Rapolo. Stay tuned to follow their progress!

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in loco program

Participatory Design Workshop

February 28, 2018By 0 comment

An intense 10 days of learning about human centred design and then putting those learnings into practice by going into the community and finding out their exact challenges, needs and wishes for a better quality of life at the orphanage. The in loco lead Architects, Pedro Clarke and Luca Astorri visited Lesotho from Portugal and Italy respectively to run the workshop.

The in loco fellows learnt about various participatory design activities before going into the field and put these methods into practice. They split the community at GLC into 4 groups – children, two groups of adolescent youth and staff and spent an entire day collecting data and information.

 

 

 

 

 

Then came back to the studio, analysed the gathered data, identified the gaps of information and went back out into the larger community to collect more info and met with Ministry of Social Development, Maseru City Council, community members living around GLC’s existing and new sites as well as local entrepreneurs. They then put their findings together, presented to GLC who were given the opportunity to prioritise their wish list according to importance so that the fellows could then design accordingly which they are busy doing now.

 

A visit to the historic town of Morija, was also an important part of the workshop, so that fellows could learn about vernacular architecture and building techniques, including seeing the country’s oldest building made out of mud bricks built 130 years ago!

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News

rise in the city Raises Funds and Awareness

October 31, 2017By 0 comment

 

NEW YORK CITY, October 31, 2017 – Our inaugural fundraiser, rise in the city, took place on October 25 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk St, New York. The inspiring art exhibit, auction and social gathering was attended by over 280 people including many leaders from the design and architecture community.

Distinguished architecture firms, designers, and artists from 15 states and 11 countries created 76 original artworks for the event. The art was magnificently displayed at one of the oldest surviving gothic-revival synagogues in the USA.

Artists combined elements of one of 100 assigned “blocks” around New York with representations of Lesotho, the location of rise’s architectural project and beneficiary of the fundraiser.

All the artwork is available for auction at www.32auctions.com/ritc2017 So far 27 pieces have sold for a total of $15,000, and the event raised another $15,000 for the project through sponsorships and ticket sales.

Prominent judges Michael Sorkin, Jack Travis, Laura Starr, Suzanne Mecs, and Oliver Needs selected the top 10 pieces using specific guidelines.

The grand prizewinner was designer Abiy Dejene from architecture firm BOKA Powell, sponsored by TriPyramid Structures for his plaster relief sculpture Mother Lesotho. Abiy won a 10-day trip to Lesotho to participate in the in loco workshop, which will combine local talent and international expertise in a hands-on learning experience to construct a dormitory at the God’s Love Centre Orphanage in Lesotho.

Abiy was presented with a traditional Lesotho blanket and hat and says, “I feel very honored. I was not expecting to win I was just glad to be part of it. There were many really great arts and artists at the gallery. I want to give back for this good cause. By being part of the fundraising I wish to help inspire the Lesotho people and help build strong community though education, resources and the right opportunity to gain experience.” The runner-up was Beauty and the Beast by Audrey Matlock and Rohan Cherayil from architecture firm Audrey Matlock Architect sponsored by Oakheart.

Event highlights included remarks from His Excellency Mr. Kelebone Maope, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Lesotho to the United Nations, live African entertainment from Nigerian band Floxy Bee, and a cocktail reception with lots of networking and dancing.

Proceeds will go directly towards the construction costs of an orphanage called God’s Love Centre (GLC) in Lesotho, that is in desperate need of additional space for the children to sleep, eat and play. rise is co-founded by BOND Events as an integral part of its corporate social responsibility program.

 The program’s social enterprise component will also establish an Entrepreneurship and Work Skills Development Program for the orphans, as well as build the management capacity of the GLC’s staff.

“We are thrilled with the success of our first rise in the city fundraiser. The feedback has been outstanding, and we are well on our way to our fundraising goal of $75,000. It takes a dedicated team to pull it all together, and I’m grateful to them, to the participants, and to the artists and sponsors who made it all possible.” says Daniela Gusman, Founder of rise.

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