Act 3: Taking Care of Business
Introduction
Once we became familiar with the layout of Flamingo and its residents it was time to take further action on the plans decided with the community. First, was building many different play structures in the settlement and second was to network with all the surrounding resources for building a crèche. Beginning construction of play structures for the future park area would allow us to leave behind tangible evidence of our time spent here and the initiatives of the project itself; while networking with NGO’s would allow us to leave behind the knowledge of how to reach out to these many resources. Scott had previously suggested the idea of building a playground so the community could use it as soon as it was built and once a space was cleared from a shack that was demolished. Members of the community really loved this idea but their main concern was to build a crèche. As we could only do so much within our time frame, we decided that the community could help us build the structures to learn how they are constructed and they would also be left with the resources to be able to build a crèche when we leave. These projects allowed us to work with the community in hopes of starting a movement that will be continued throughout the reblocking process. We loved that we finally had the opportunity to work with the community in a hands-on exercise that would benefit the residents both immediately and long term.
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Scene Summaries
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Scene 1: Meeting the Contractors
This meeting was the first time we met the contractors in charge of the reblocking project in Flamingo Crescent. We had never met these people even though we had been working in Flamingo for a few weeks. This was a really big day for us because up until then we had no idea when the project would actually start; if it would actually start. Now we knew that since the contractors were there, the project was truly going to happen and it was going to happen soon. It would still take a long time for it to be completed but it was hope for the community that it would really be done. Not only was it important for us but it was important for the community because they were finally getting new homes.
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Scene 2: Breaking Ground
In every meeting thus far when prompted about the construction timeline, the project manager, Leon, played off the casual commitment of contractors with a joke. However, when we arrived in Flamingo Crescent today, we found construction had begun on time. A worker was searching for the sewage pipe height so that installation could begin. We then moved into our meeting space to find that the community was ready to sit down with us and critique our CAD layout. Volunteering their opinions, they showed CORC and ISN what they wanted. This day brought new motivation to do our best with the project because things were moving forward and the level of community investment was clearly evident.
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Scene 3: If You Build it They Will Come
After completing the planning process, it was now time to begin the implementation phase of the community upgrading. We presented the ideas we had about creating movable park elements and decided on creating a rolling log made out of recycled tires from a nearby warehouse. The entire process took four days. The first day was dedicated to getting supplies, the second with painting, the third with building, and the fourth with its integration into the community.
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Scene 4: Visiting ELRU Opens Doors for a Crèche in Flamingo
After several attempts, we finally were able to schedule a meeting at ELRU. It proved to be an enormously useful local resource and could provide a number of helpful administrative uses for the potential crèche.
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Scene 5: A Living Virtue
Three members of the Flamingo Project Team met with Fiona Franks, the founder and Operations Manager of Excellent Life Child, an organization we made contact with through our visit to the local library. Fiona filled the team in on past efforts to start a crèche in Flamingo Crescent and her organisation’s involvement and investment in these efforts. After introductions and a brief meeting in Flamingo, we took a short drive with Fiona to Belthorn Primary School, where E L Child was based. We learned about E L Child’s virtues based approach and saw the land that had been intended for Flamingo’s crèche three years ago.
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Scene 6: Meeting a New Potential Stakeholder
Thanks to another project team, we were able to network with an important new lead for the crèche development. After a thorough discussion about the history of African Politics and the founding of the Center for Early Childhood Development, Eric Atmore, the Director of the CECD, expressed serious interest in pairing with WPI to upgrade and or build crèches with each project team.
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Scene 7: Meeting with the CECD: “Let’s do it.”
In a follow up meeting bringing more stakeholders together at the Centre for Early Childhood Development, Eric Atmore was so impressed by the Flamingo Crescent community and the efforts of the WPI project team that, without a second thought, committed his resources to following through after we’ve gone and designing, constructing and facilitating a crèche on site.
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Scene 8: Bringing Green Innovation to the Crèche
A meeting with a new potential stakeholder illuminated additional options for both funding and designing the potential crèche in Flamingo Crescent. Stephen Lamb, the founder and director of Touching the Earth Lightly, brought new ideas to the table about returning natural value to informal settlements through incremental upgrading addressing the three major concerns “food, fire, and flooding.” The crèche and multi-functional innovation centre in Flamingo could act as an introduction to Stephen’s eco-shacks and bring both economic and social wealth to the community.
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Scene 9: Final Stakeholder Meeting
This meeting included ISN, CORC, the City ISM Department, WPI, and the community leaders in a discussion about the Flamingo créche proposal and other new tasks for us. The main questions at hand were how the community should contribute to the créche and what organizations should be associated with it. By the end of the meeting it was determined that WPI should be the main party backing the initiative, allowing the project to diverge somewhat from ISN and the City’s guidelines.
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Scene 10: Saying Goodbye to Flamingo Crescent
We went into the settlement on our last day to say our goodbyes to the people we had spent the last term with – the community, the NGO’s, and the city officials we had worked so closely with. The atmosphere was mixed – sadness and uncertainty being masked by the joy of the reunion. As a going away gesture, pictures, shirts, and certificates were awarded to those individuals we had worked most closely with. We left the settlement feeling pride in what we had accomplished this last term and the friendships and partnerships we had forged.
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Reflection
Building the park elements was definitely a rewarding experience, not only for the members of the project team but also for many of the community members and city officials. When we began, some of the members of the community were hesitant to get involved but once they saw the community leader, Mark, pick up a hammer they swarmed to help us. Throughout the construction we found many difficulties that we had not foreseen such as the drill battery dying, not having enough screws or nails, or simply the structure we were trying to build was much more complex than the instructions led us to believe. The part that impressed us though was that when things like that would happen, community members would be the ones to provide us with the appropriate tools or to suggest alternatives to what we had on the paper. Not only did they help our plans but they directed them. Their involvement and investment in this process makes us know that these pieces of play equipment will be taken care of and respected by the community.
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Moving Forward
When we came into the community, the biggest concern we heard was for the safety of the children. We helped them find a way to bring their own creativity and resourcefulness to address an important problem, and have fun doing so. The community came together for this build and the children now have a safe place to play, away from the road. Construction would be one of the last things that we are able to do in Flamingo; but we would be leaving behind new playground equipment, planters, crèche resources, and the initiative to think of innovative ideas that they could implement as Flamingo is upgraded. The work we did with the community, the City, and the NGOs helped to facilitate this rewarding process and lets us know that we have helped create a group that would support this project once we were gone.