Scene 2: Community Initiative

Background

The plan for this week was to get quotations for the crèche materials and relay this information back to Eric Atmore in order to confirm his financial commitment to the project so the building could begin. Terrance had planned to visit a few building suppliers with the team in the morning and there was a meeting with Eric set up for later in the day.

Cast of Characters

The WPI Flamingo Team – Jacquelyne, Malina, Andres, Justin, Kristin

WPI Advisors – Scott & Steve

ISN – Terrence

Community Members – Elizabeth, Lenrika, Mark, Yolanda, Auntie Mary, Elrico

Build It Employees

LTD Building Suppliers Employee – Colin Bester

CECD – Eric Atmore & Sarah Atmore

Setting

Flamingo Crescent Informal Settlement

Build It Hardware Store

LTD Building Supplies

Centre for Early Childhood Development

Scene

We pulled up to Flamingo Crescent and were greeted warmly by those around as we looked for Terrance. Once Terrance was found, we quickly discussed the day’s plan. It was decided that Terrance and Elizabeth would accompany us to the building suppliers while Marky stayed behind to wait for the City of Cape Town to arrive with transportation to pick up tires for the playground. We then got in the van and ventured on to our first location, Build It. Here we explained to the employee’s the goal of the project and showed them our bill of materials. After some discussion, a quotation was developed in order to construct the structure of the crèche and pipes and wood members were purchased for the drainage and frame for the cement. With this, Terrance decided a second quotation was necessary.

Justin and Terrence Discussing Materials With a BuildIT Employee

Everyone piled back into the van and headed to LTD Building Supplies down the road. Terrance lead us to the back of the store where Colin Bester, a guy he had previously collaborated with, was working. Together we talked through the plans, receiving feedback on our material list based on Colin’s knowledge of construction. Revisions were made to the list and a second quotation for the project was created. Colin also showed us the different types of materials he was suggesting we use and explained their benefits to us so we could relay the information to our sponsor. Based on the feedback and pricing received, it was collectively decided LTD Building Supplies was the better option for this project.

Throughout the day, we handed out Cape Town Project Center t-shirts to the community members and stakeholders that have played crucial roles in the project so far. The community members were appreciative of this small gesture, which showed us how important it is to acknowledge their roles in the project. We all reconvened outside Lenrika’s house to take a group picture in our matching shirts. At this point in time, Mark informed us that the city truck did not show up, but he hopefully had a tire connection that would not require a truck.

The WPI Team and Community Leaders Wearing the Cape Town 2014 T-Shirts

We brought back all of the information collected today to share with Eric, Sarah, Steve, and Scott at the scheduled afternoon meeting. At our 2:30pm meeting we shared with Eric the current design and cost estimates. At the start of the meeting, we gave Eric his WPI Cape Town shirt and pulled a bit of a prank on us. He told us we had flipped the South African flag on the shirts. Immediately we googled the flag to check and then he told us he was joking. He gave us quite the scare.

The meeting started off with coffee and donuts, the CECD always spoils us a little. We had prepared packets of the final design, bill of quantities, and quotes from local construction for everyone. We filled Eric in on how the design had progressed since last week, including losing the second story of the building and changing designers. Eric recommended some design changes and we flagged key design features for future thought. When it came down to the money, Eric was willing to write a check if CORC was willing to pay for labor and tools. At the end of the day this was the most important detail moving forward with the construction of the crèche. We sense more meetings in our future before a final, final, UPDATED, final design is achieved. However, in the meantime Terrence is clearing the lot and preparing the slab to be poured for the crèche in Flamingo.

Reflection

One of the most important lessons we took away from our meeting with Eric was the importance of keeping all of our partners on the same page. We began talking about how the toilets had changed from being on the back wall to the left wall when Eric did not know that the designer had changed and the crèche was no longer two stories. We had to rewind. It is easy to forget that although we go to every single meeting and are always in the loop, some of our partners will not know what was discussed at particular meetings.

More progress was made towards the actual construction of the crèche. Once we had gained some momentum in that direction, besides planning, it was easier to take more action steps. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling and begin construction of the structure next week.