waterworks waterweeks NO.1 cape town september 2018
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waterworks waterweeks
Cover image: A grafitty in Salt River Cape Town.
NO.1 cape town
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content INTRODUCTION 6 VOL 1 RESEARCH
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VOL 2 BRAINSTORM 34 VOL 3 MAKE 58 VOL 4 DOCUMENT AND PRESENT
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SHOWTIME 106 REFLECTION 120
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What would my day like without water from the tap
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Introduction My first serious encounter with this thought was when I was planning my trip back to Cape Town. The city in which I have lived for half a year and of which I am dreaming to live in forever. Cape town is going through a period of serious draught and it is not guaranteed the city will escape this struggle soon as the dams are not filled . Citizens are asked to be utterly conscious about their water use. I started to wonder, what would it be like to live without water? How will a developed city function without the precious liquid? What are the consequences for daily urban life? How would I function in these circumstances coming from Holland where there is too much water.
pools and a jacuzzi. These people now have to face the same problem. Moreover, when day zero comes and the taps run dry, everyone will be in the same line. So a very urgent and very common concern. Will this situation lead to more friction or lead to a getting together of polarized social layers?
I believe water-shortage; however bad the situation may be, brings along an opportunity to get people together, generate new ideas and invent new solutions. Now is the chance to value the people who were never admired for their tough living conditions in townships and informal settlements. They will have the constrainedly obtained knowledge of how to survive in these circumstances. It is time to listen to this knowledge and to act In the light of the city of Cape town, accordingly. I believe the people who I also wondered what this would “have been there done that� have the mean for the social standards power to invent new, simple and suswithin this divided city. In informal tainable solutions to make urban life settlements and townshipshere there in water-shortage easier and manhave always been people who have ageable. I want to bring these solubeen living in a situation tions to the right people and to start of water-shortage in informal newcollaborations where experience settlements and townships but also meets knowledte. people who own two swimming lotte
Waterweeks,A project initiated by Lotte de Haan A young social designer graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven. She believes in equality, inclusivity and empowerment. She is also an upcycle fanatic .With this project she hopes to give a stage to people with vernacular knowledge on living in a city dealing with watershortage. The waterweeks aim to bring people together while working on a common concern. She will share her valuableexperience in design and design-methodology.
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meet the makers This are the participants of the waterweeks workshops. They will research, brainstorm make and expose inventions on wateruse. They are all residents of townships or informal settlements. They will benefit from their experience on living with water-shortage.
Before starting the workshops I wanted to get to know them and learn what their worries, concerns and thoughts are on watershortage. Are they afraid or do they care at all? Meet the makers and get an insight in their minds.
“ It starts to become a mess already after a few hours without water. You can not clean and flush the toilet. Imagine what happens after a week”
Nontuthu Langa township, Cape Town.
“ the water in informal settlements is chaos, they should make sure the taps and the toilets are 100% safe to use any time”
“ I remember when I was young I would thinkg I would fall into the sky if I would jump in the deep water. Because I could see the
“I replaced watermeters at people their homes so I was the face of the restrictions people had to start dealing with even if they didn’ want to”
Lonwabo Vimbi Philipi township, Cape Town.
Wanda Langa township, Cape Town.
Lwandoor Langa township, Cape Town.
“ We should find out new ways of preserving and collecting water. Maybe every house can have a huge bucket on the top to catch the rain. Especially in winter”
“ The taps shut down one day and we had to ask water from the neighbours. But then my husband said ... well, something to the neighbour and we could not get it anymore. There is tension when you ask water when someone is paying and you are not.”
Anathi Langa township, Cape Town.
Ivy Langa township, Cape Town.
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cape town “Water is life. Water has two abilities; it can give you life and it can take it away. Because water it can give life because it is always there and it can take your life when it is not there. That’s it
"I was a plumber before, we had a big project with the pipes in Eastern Cape. but there was no more money. But now I do know how to use tools."
Johnney Langa township, Cape Town.
Nonsiceko Langa township, Cape Town.
“I am imagining when they turn off the taps we will have to start waiting in line. What do you do then? I don’t know maybe it could even be nice to socialize in the line.
Bhuko Langa township, Cape Town.
“ When people have to start paying for water, there will be less money for education, medicines and food. This is not good for Langa.”
“From my background I have always learned to be careful with water. I wash my clothes when I shower and I make sure I always have drinking water at my place”
Khanyisiwe Langa Township Cape Town.
Feni Langa township, Cape Town.
All of these makers are part of OURWORKSHOP in Langa Township of CapeTown. A place which encourages black talented artists and designers to learn design skills, -processes and -research. They support each other in their work and are in the process to become a community led workshop. It is a very special place where talents can be discovered and developpedWithin this environment the workshop series Waterweeks will take place. Within one month, We will touch all the phases of a desing process using the topic of watershortage in urban life.
“We should be way more aware of the water we use and the water we waste.”
Ace Langa Township Cape Town.
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miss Nontuthu busy in OurWorkshop.
the challenge What can bring local residents of area’s dealing with water shortage to the water discussion? This question I asked myself after having the idea water shortage can be a potential social equalizer. I am convinced people who find themselves in the actual situation of water-shortage are coming up with innovative, cheap and simple solutions because they simply have to. I want to find out what those solutions are and how these solutions can be connected to the right techniques coming from the developed parts of the world. Make knowledg and experience meet in order to grow, develop and upscale solutions.
But first things first; how do I actually motivate a local community to think about their vernacular knowledge on a new level. Upscale and value seemingly ordinary habits? Creating a new playground where ideas acquired by vernacular knowledge can be valued. By inspiring, sharing information, and creating together! This is a start of an exciting journey exploring new solutions to water shortage together. Four water weeks will take us through a design process exploring the topic of water-use in the Langa township community.
how to activate this bunch of creative minds?
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PRESENTS
GAIN DESIGN THINKING EXPERIENCE AND WORK TOGETHER WITH LOCAL ARTIST OF LANGA ON THE TOPIC OF WATER. WE WILL CREATE POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS IN A SITUATION OF WATERSHORTAGE. WE WILL LEARN HOW TO:
RESEARCH
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BRAINSTORM
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MAKE
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DOCUMENT
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Get introduced to several design research methods and do some fun research excersices to wateruse in daily life. Gain insight in our behaviour towards water and the issues the watershortage might bring.
With the insights gained from the research. Let’s get crazy ideate, invent, sketch, make models a.k.a. make brain childs
Learn how to photograph and document your work in an vintersting way so people will be intrigued. Contextualize, present and curate.
SIGN UP BY SENDING A MAIL TO OURWORKSHOPCT@GMAIL.COM PLACES ARE LIMITED! R.20 PER WORKSHOP + VOLUNTARY DONATION
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by Lotte de Haan A young social designer graduated from Design academy Eindhoven. She believes in equality, inclusivity and empowerment. She is also an upcycle fanatic. With this project she hopes to give a stage to people with vernacular knowledge on living in an urban environment in a situation of watershortage. The waterweeks aim to bring people together while working on a common concern. She will share her valuable experience in design and design methodology. More info at www.lotdehaan.nl
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the full waterweeks program which I designed for the participants to run through a design process
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Promoting the waterweek workshops around Langa township. We are putting up posters and see how people are reacting to the idea of having workshops about water. We do not really get any enthusiastic remarks of any interest from people who ask what the workshops will be about.
For some it is more interesting to see there is a white girl hanging pictures then what is actually on the picture. I took some workshop participants with me to show how to make promotion for an event you might have. It was new to them you should tell, invite and spreak the word for people to come to your happening.
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amanzi
amanzi; water in isiXhosa most comon language in Langa. In Langa the contact with water is very urban. With Urban I mean there is hardly any natural spring. Eventhough the oceans are
closeby, people do not go out to enjoy natural sources. There is no money to do this. For me water also means Leisure but in Langa township water means work and effort.
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VOL1.
RESEARCH Introducing a design thinking process and several design research methods to the Ourworkshop maker community and the other workshop attendees. We will tackle the topic of water and wateruse in a creative way.
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mr. design thinker spark/trigger
wide research topic deep research design question modelling/ solutions protytype test/detailing
product
How do I explain the design thinking process so it is relatable to the atendees of the waterweek workshops? A diagram will not work so I invented mister design thinker. Explaining the design process from the trigger on its head, going through the research, the work put in modeling untill the detailing of the shoes to get
At 11AM we are ready to start the workshop. Or Heath and me are ready to start the workshop. The rest of the members is having some African time. Plus it is raining today. These variables count up to 45 minutes delay. Which a given. The image projected on the workshop wall is welcoming the participants. Most of them from Langa. They sit down and wait for me to start. Their faces have an unimpressed gaze over them. As if they brace themselves for some girl, coming to tell some story which they will forget soon. I suddenly feel an uncertainy crawling up on me. Who am I? Who am I to come to Langa township and to tell a group of creatives how they should think‌ But I start and it rolls. I explain the design thinking model. From research to product. guided
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by the was-A-machine project we run through the process. Was-a-machine is a washing machine made out of plastic waste and can be tumbled using different power sources like a bicycle or a windmill. The project is mend to inspire people in disadvantaged positions to start making solutions for a situation of water shortage in an urban environment. In a way that it is affordable for them. The project came from the trigger water-shortage till the product washing machine out of plastic waste. The audience is getting more and more enthusiastic. Johnny, an assiduous female portrait painter, is even considering to try upcycling one day. Anathi immediately wants to start because “When I know how to build this machine I will never have to pay lobola!� Was-A-Machine reached its goal.
If I know how to build this laundry machine I will never pay lobola LOBOLA Dowry for a bride payed by the groom to the parents of the bride. The better the girl the higher the lobola. Can also be payed in cows.
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The workshop continued with briefly introducing design research techniques and possible projects which could come out of it. Reaching out handles on how to take on projects using a logical process and ways to find out new and different information about a topic. I touch upon image research, mapping, interviewing and experience research. During my presentation. I can see the attendees paying more and more interests. Sparkling eyes show me they understand what I am trying to convey. I see little new ideas coming up. Especially experience designresearch is received well. I illustrate the method with Two Dutch guys undergoing a process of giving birth through electrodes on their belly. To experience what women have the go through. The workshop members, mostly male, are astonished but also a little challenged. Time for action. A small assignment I made up is put in practice as a warm up exercise. Blind mapping of the Guga s’Thebe. I ask them to make pairs. One of them ties on a blindfold and the other guides the “blind-one� through the space. They should pay extra attention to their senses. How does a familiar place sound, feel, taste, smells when you cannot see? There is a slight hesitance on putting on the blindfolds. This feels weird. But it is a safe tiny step out of comfort-zones. And after a minute or two everyone is comfortable and is just fooling around with blindfolds on. Reflecting on the small assignment makes the participants realize this is what a blind person must feel like and how heavily we rely on our vision. It is special to see people realizing themselves what they just have done and how they could use it in the future when they would have to make something for someone else.
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It is easy for you to take pictures because you are white Then the big assignment; Back to water. The duo’s are sent into Langa Township with a disposable camera and a list of activities around water to take pictures of. The amount of pictures is limited and therefor the participants will really have to pay attention to their surroundings. They will have to look critically and preselect before taking pictures.
When discussing the experience of this research technique, it appears not to be that easy to do image research in Langa by residents of Langa self. People are not keen to be taken in picture for several reasons. Loyd thinks people in informal settlements do not pay for water and therefor waste more water. The moment someone does research to this situation people might be afraid they will have to pay in the future. Another social issue is the complicated game of favor and envy which makes the tension rise between inhabitants of informal settlements. Some do not like it when someone else coming from the same community is having
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a successful event happening in their lives. It is all or no-one in their philosophy and therefore, hesitant to provide their own neighbors with information and knowledge. It can even be dangerous. The air of empty promises and projects which never happened is also an omnipresent hurdle which has to be taken all the time. ‘Of course’ white people do not experience any problem with taking pics. People are used to be taken in picture by white people. It is a big mindf*ck. But having discussed these abrasive insights, the crew enjoyed the exercise and also came to some other findings. “you are way more aware of your surroundings when you have to take pictures. It is very special” according to Ace. With the awareness came the realisation of how much water is wasted in the environment of Langa. We don’t know yet what will be the results of the disposable camera’s so something to lookout for. All together it is a great start of these four waterweeks.
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Nashiphi in Langa researching some wateruse.
a selection Some of the pictures taken. A few of them are surprisingly good! Here a small collection of them.
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VOL2.
BRAINSTORM Learning different techniques of generating ideas. Think out of the box and to come to new solutions and designs.
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an image I drew during my own brainstorm sessions before. I used it as an inspiration f for the workshop participants to show it is not the point to think of limitations during brainstorms but of possibilities. How crazy they may be...
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By having the programm in the room people were more calm and attentive. It made a clear schedule for the day. It is something what does not happen in the surroundings of informal settlements often. It is a "western" way of going through the day. Structured and organised. I felt like I had to be careful with implementing my ususalities in the workshops. Nothing should look too formal to not scare people away.
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Victor’s water Victor lives in Langa township together with his fiancÊ Mimi. One of the workshop participants photographed him while carrying two buckets of water to his home. An activity already heavy enough not even mentionning Victor missing one eye. We invited him into Ourworkshop to tell his SPECIAL story about water and water-management. The participants had a chance to learn interview skills and found out a lot about life on water shortage.
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Anathi: Viktor can you tell something about when you started to have the crisis of your taps being closed down in your house hold. So, can you give us some information on how it began? And how are you concentrating on it from how it began? Victor *Xhosa* A: Viktor’s parents passed away 15 years ago so he ended up being the owner of the house. Then he started having people who were renting also in his backyard. But the people were over-using the water, so the bill of the water was too high. They over-used the water so the city of cape town they tried to shut the water of their household. Viktor didn’t work, and he was left alone in the household. That water needed to be shutted you know. So, he would go to find water in the Hostels. There is a hostel which is nearby there. But, when he would go there people would chuck him out. People would say he needed to go to a community tap. There is a tap for everyone in the community. But now they don’t have that tap that is standing separately. They need to go to the hostels and have that water. The people in the hostels they don’t normally pay for the water their water is just free. The household in the hostels but the people from the hostels they would backcheck them you know. So ya, this was the information that I have from now. Lotte: Is there anything victor still has to add to the story? V: *Xhosa* A: Viktor is willing to answer every question you can uprise with in this situation of water. How he still survives with this issue of not having running water in his household. What he does to make a living out of this water.
Heath: He makes a living out of this water?
H: How many people use the water every day?
A: He will go and collect it. In his house there is no water. He is not even working so, that amount of money he couldn’t pay it so he is the one who has that household now. Everything depends on him. So, he will go and take this big bucket. With this huge bucket, I catched him that day. With this huge bucket. You know carrying some water. I asked him if I could take a pic and he told me how he is surviving like this. The people of the household are fed up with this situation.
Victor *Xhosa*
Ivy: Because he is collecting water every day, I would like to know how much water he needs to collect for his household per day? How is he using it? Victor *Xhosa* A: He will collect two buckets, so it is twenty liters. So two twenty liters for necessary cooking and drinking. Then he would also have this big blue tank. And that big one he normally uses to wash and also do some laundry. Because it is more big and it can collect at least too much water. Those two are just for cooking and drinking and the big one is also for washing. Gina: Is the big one for rainwater? A: For rainwater? It isn't necessary to use it for the rainwater because they do not use it for drinking. Janet :So where is that water for the big one coming from? He is fetching it? By hand? A: By hand, yes! J: He does not have a wheelbarrow? A: He would still pick it. He still has his boys there around the area they will still help him to carry some.
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A: OK, jaaa he recently has some people who are in the backyard. In a shack. He has three of them living there. And then he is also with his brother. he lives inside the house. Those people he is sharing it with. Richard: So he is the one who ]is making sure that the people in the backyard got supply of water. A: So he supplies also the people in the backyard. So when they are thirsty they have to look upon him. Yah he must make sure. L: Can I make one suggestion? It is important to write down what you want to remember when someone is giving so much information. It is like you are leaving your tap open and letting the water just waste. Catch the running water. Lloyd: So, what about the bath room? Victor *Xhosa* A: To flush in the bathroom, Normally he doesn’t play with the water. After a session of washing himself, the water that is left there is also the water he will throw to the seed yard. He will normally preserve the water as much as they can R: I have two questions to ask. Are there many houses in the area which have that have his predicament? Are there houses that are shutted of from the water supplies. The way he is surviving or is it only him? Victor *Xhosa* A: It is not only mister victor who has this situation. There are others who are in the same trap with him. But there are some who fortunately
cape town still have some families who are still helping them, and they still have some children, so they have some moneys that are coming from government. He is not translating what he said A: No, I’m just, OK why I am saying because he does not have parents anymore that is one thing you must know for sure. I am giving a full stable issue.So, Richard some other households that are in the same trap as mister victor. Which also do not get payments from the government which is called umQamQam.* R: That’s where I was heading. That was why I wanted to know if there are houses which are in the same predicament. I want to ask my second question. Have you ever tried to go to the ward with this issue. Or go to the social welfare with this issue? I know when they cut of your water supply, it means there has been a default in paying avnd or some thing of that sort. They cannot just cut it. So, right now, as we see we don’t know who was wrong there. We do not want to go there. But he cannot retrieve that water. Did he go or try and seek some assistance from the water counsellor? Because that is why they are for. Is he whipped up? Or did he go to the social welfare to seek some assistance or something of that sort? Victor *Xhosa* A: OK, this issue of mister Richard he asked him did you go to the city council and ask for assistance for this shortage of water that they have taken from him? He couldn’t go there because he doesn’t have no one to assist him because he needs to maintain himself. He is the only one left with the house you know. So now he does not have the money to travel to town to visit the council.
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The eye he lost, needed more maintainency... R: But Anathi what I am saying; there is no need for him to go to the council we have got ward councilors in our communities, why can’t he just take a walk to his house and they are there for our problems. There are payed for that. So, if he can go there, sit down with the ward counselor and tell the problems. He can take action and send someone by his house to assess the situation. He will be the one who will go to the city of cape town to tell the city council. If he hasn’t done that. I’ll advice he should do that. If the ward councilor cannot help him with that there are other people to get his water recollected, It is a health hazard. Not only to his household but to the whole community. You understand. Honestly speaking you should try and see the ward council. Victor *Xhosa* A: In that street he lives it is not an official street. They don’t even hold meetings. Every street has normally a street community. Things that should be done in that street. They will have their agenda’s how they should follow the rules of the street but in that street there its freedom. They don’t even have meetings you know. J: I am asking are the people, the people mister victor is fetching the water for, do they pay him? Is he making a living fetching water. And how much do people pay? Victor *Xhosa* A: He does also make the job of doing some tuting** with the water to make some money. A: He would normally get 10-rand madam.
J: If he had water coming to his house, he could also sell that. So, would he like to have the water re-connected? … Would it be a good thing to re-connect the water or would he rather not? Victor *Xhosa* A: Jaaa he also wants the water again coming to his house. He wants to live a normal life like other people. Cause he is really getting a hard time to get this water from there you know. Especially when it is cold. J: He could be selling coffee G: How far is the tap where he gets the water from? Victor *Xhosa* A: Ah so, it is closeby from the hostels, do you remember miss Lotte it is in that street. The brown ones in that street he is getting the water from. L: So how far is that? Like 10 minutes walking A: Not even it is closer, less … L: Yes, but with 40 liters of water… A: Mister victor since you have this situation of being lost with water. Especially we now have some rain, didn’t you try to come up with your own solution? Even now, since it is raining. To make things easier? To create something else for collecting water instead oftravelling a lot? Maybe inventing something else to collect some rainwater? Victor *Xhosa* A: Ja he has also another trick of collecting the rainwater. He has this big bin you know the big black one and the rainwater will also collect in there.
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I: But you can’t drink that? Why not, I grew up with drinking rainwater. R: No, it is not suitable for consumption. and then he is using the black bin the dust bin. You can still use it for washing. And flushing the toilet. The other thing is; Yes, I agree with you, you grew up with drinking that, but it wasn’t in the city. Understand. There is a lot of pollution. A: That is called acid rain. Our ozone is full of gasses. So at least in Eastern cape you don’t have that rain You will have clean water. So, there it is more clear than this one. H: I saw a motion about like this *acts as if he put a backpack on his back* is it buckets? Do you put it over your shoulder? Victor *Xhosa* A:Buckets with handles. G: Those buckets, the handles often break. So how long the buckets last until the handle breaks? Victor *Xhosa*
cape town A: So, he is using the painting tins. So they least for long time. And he changes them time and again. I: Since this shortage of water and the city has suggested the 50 liters a day what what what, How much water does he use for bathing? Victor *Xhosa* A: For the water to wash he will use 20 liters for washing only. At least he is being honest. R: For me all I have to say; I just want to say he should go to the ward and show him the situation. Because no one will believe the situation he is in unless he tells them. There are so many authorities who are there to help us. They can even drill a hole for him.You should take his papers and meet the right person J: Where is the office for your local ward? A:Next door. So, it is next to the police station. Not even far. R: But that is not a counselor that is the city counselor. Anathi, listen carefully. If he goes to the city council, they will tell him he should pay them. If he goes alone they will tell him, they want the money. So, I am telling you go to the ward counselor. The one that is elected, the one you vote for. It is his job to assist you. Don’t go to the city counselor they will tell you do you have our money? No, so they cannot assist you because they are doing their job. The ward ouncelor is supposed to be the one to go to the city council to negotiate how they can help him. or if that doesn’t work he should go to the social ware fare. If he is not employed, then he is good. Victor *Xhosa* A: This situation he can’t go to those places without having the
street community. Because that is the duty of the street community to collect people who are in the same situation. With a fully feedback of this community how they are really suffering in this situation of water. So, he can’t go and stand-alone there is still other people who are in the same community who are in this crisis, so the street community needs to make a statement. J: May I vote him as chairman of the street community?
" We people, we undermine our rights " R: People cannot live in disqualified situations because there is no street community. We, we as people are undermining our rights, we people. The next thing what we are going to do is go in the streets and burn tires and destroying other street properties supplied for us by the council. Because we are not taking the proper procedures. If there is no street community in the street just skip that, go straight to the ward councilor, he will tell you where to go. They come and check, just try it. It is free.Tell that counselor he is a well-known guy. Do you know him? You can take him. We, Ourworkshop we are there to assist him even I can take him there to the ward counsellor. He will direct him where to go. L: Can I make a remark now? We have now a case study. This is one single person. but if one single person is experiencing this problem and there are more people experiencing this problem like you say” people don’t know their rights” so if you want to use design thinking and we signalized
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a problem now. So, how will we make people more aware of their rights. Maybe you will help mister victor now but then you don’t solve a structural problem. As a designer you have to look at the bigger picture and to see how you can find a solution for victors’ problem that will solve more people their problems. H: The reference to burning tires and what what what is the solution that people have come up with, but that is probably not the best one. R: For the counselor to have a group of people it starts with him. But if you don’t go there and you do not get back to him he can walk around the ward. And change the situation. If he does not go, he cannot raise the money to pay the water bill. He can not afford what he still owns. But if there are more families who can pay. There are more families who are in the same predicament as he but sometimes they don’t want to pay. Sometimes there are being negligent or sometimes they are being strange. So the councilor will look into that but that will stop you from being helped Encouraging *Xhosa* You deserve all the rights, the same as everyone.
*umQamQam. payment you recieve from the gouvernment for school and study fees. ** tuting water = carrying water I did not improve and correct the grammar and spelling of the spoken interview. I wanted to give a realistic view of the language which is used to speak about water and water-shortage within the Langa community. As opposed to the language which is often used by councelors, engineers and academics.
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These questions were written down by the waterweeks participants while interviewing Viktor.
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Socratic dialogue A soccratic dialogue is used to get to a collective idea with a group of people. It is a thought train in which one idea is build upon another idea. The dialogue is moderated by anindependant moderator. This person will guide the conversation. At all timesthe moderator makes sure the conversation is understood by everyone and everyone gets an equal chance to express their ideas. The dialogue does not have an end goal. The travelthrough the conversation is what matters. The group starts with a philosofical question and with the help of each ohters mind the tower of thoughts is build. The dialogue was intruduced to the waterweeks makers to create new and collective ideas about water use and water shortage. It was quite difficult to get through the dialogue with people of two social envirionments participating. There is a diffrent way of thinking and of interpretating and valueingWW matters.
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time to look at the pictures and to strat combining, connecting and generating.
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VOL3. MAKE
In order to make solutions look possible we should materialize them. That is what the MAKE workshop is for. We will be using upcycling as a way of visualizing our concepts and ideas.
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make making as a tool to spend time together
I don't have to spend too many words on this chapter since it is about making, making, making. Stimulating ideas and saying it is possible, yes do it. Go! Play! We use discarded material to make people realize they don't need expensive material to visualize and test ideas. Most of the participants of the workshop and most of other inhabitants of informal settlements have never been simulated to pursue change or creativity. The general mindset you find is "I cannot" or "No one cares anyway". With positive energy I tried to get people over that treshold. When the first things are glued togehter there is no stopping anymore. It is just a matter of starting. Everyone should feel free to make whatever they want to get to the most genuine solutions and outcomes. Everyone gets to work in their own way and with their own chosen material. My job was just to make everyone feel comfortable and to assist in which ever technique required for the projects. We were honored by having three water-engineers into the space to help us make wise decisions on our water-solutions. They helped us to put our feet on the ground again after having soared in the air during the brainstorm sessions. Or did the inhabitants of Langa actually helped them?
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Lotte: Yo water engineers, aspiring water engineers, what did you think about today? Thea It has been awesome, it has been so inspiring. Allister; So much fun. It is nice to see all the creative designs and stuff because we never-ever hear creativity we just hear numbers. We are only number crunching. Andrew: Exactly here you see a real-world application. AL: These guys have a better understanding of what problems they have, and they like, so they have obviously the best idea of how to solve it. So, then we come in with our robotics and trying to get all the numbers
and you notice that is not applicable here. A: Yeah, we can crunch the numbers and optimize and stuff but we don’t have the inspiration you know. The real-world inspiration. So ya coming here and engaging in the community and understanding what is going on in the community has been amazing, especially today.
T: I think it is going to help us a lot to finish our studies and to become engineers. A: For sure for sure I have definitely learned a lot today. About community minded projects and activities and the sort of working with people for real-world solutions. That has been a real inspiring moment for me.
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Today really reignited the flame of my aspiration to become a water engineer
AL: Especially the boy with the cart, hey? A: Yes Anathi (a workshop participant from Langa, red.) with the water carry cart and his plan to change Langa. Mister Langa. Yoh. He spoke about networking and about building contacts and I think I just gained a really cool contact in my list for sure. He also removed the stereo type around Langa and informal settlements. A: We all got a tour of the place as
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well. So that was really cool to understand how the community is working, during your studies you are quite removed from the process so a day like this really brings you back to what is going on in the real-world process, because life you know. T: It so easy, especially at Uni (Cape Town university, red.) to disappear in your own bubble. You are calculating abstract numbers and you miss the why, why are we actually doing this? And I feel like being here actually gets you back to why you want to do this. A: Definitely, definitely, it reignited a flame in a way. I feel like it should be part of our degree, where we come out and work in a design lab like this. Like help out and work within communities. L: Like go out and do something real?
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Three aspiring water engineers visited the workshop, Thea, Alistair and Andrew enthusiastically took the invitation and came to Langa. Initially I invited them to look at all the designs we thought of and to help out making realistic decisions to improve them. The day turned out to be very inspiring for them as well! They had not been out to townships and informal settlements yet whereas there you can find the biggest water-issues which affect people’s lives every day. It is very important people with knowledge about this matter start to engage with real life situations. This is the way to apply knowledge in a useful way. The academic world needs to enter the informal world and learn from the experience of people who learned the hard way. This is what they thought of it.
A: It is not entirely engineering minded. It’s is group minded, it is solution minded. This is missing in our studies but I think it is vital to understand why you are doing this work and how people relate to it. T: Probably off all the people that studied engineering only ten percent actually works as an engineer. But there are people with a lot of knowledge but it is never used directly in this kind of situations. A: Yeah, you can apply your knowledge in a bunch of different ways. So this reminds you of the community and working for people and I think that’s cool. I think we should get
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our class out here. The rest of the class should come and spend a day just working like this. L: There is definitely room for that as well, as long as it is in good collaboration. Because what often happens is that programs like that are received like a kind of parasite plague. “we are going to solve all your problems” and then people with a lot of knowledge come and then the locals are a bit overwhelmed. Sometimes people come here, make a solution in one day, pat themselves on the back for helping out poor communities. After a week the solution is demolished, not in use or used in the wrong way due to a lack of understanding and research. People forget it takes a while to just to understand how it is here. Sometimes you just have to hang out for one month. Just to understand how people live.
AL: There is no personal e ngagement between “official solution makers” and the real world. A: Definitely, definitely, that is a really good point and there is a specific way to go about it but just being exposed to community driven projects and community driven solutions is really something that has to be pushed more. L: That is why it is so good to make something together. You start from the same ground. So for example today, I said to make something with waste materials. It is very broad and open and everyone is like huh? Everyone is in the same kind of awkward situation like: I don’t really know what to do and then you start somewhere together you know. You build something together whatever it might be. You start from 0. These kinds of things
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must happen more so where two worlds end up in an unknown situation together so they have to find a way together. A: Then you make the right decision and you will walk the right path together. AND THEN ALSO UPCYCLING! That has been so cool. I want to focus on waste now. I don’t want to see things as waste anymore I want to see it as stuff that you can use and reuse and re-use. Today has been awesome!
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VOL4.
PRESENT & DOCUMENT "You can have brilliant ideas but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get anywhere" Lee Iacocca Head of developping The FORD MUSTANG
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Pump Lwandoor plasticbottles, pipe
Push cart Anathi crates, jerrycan, sailfabric, old lockerdoor, scrapwood, rope, concreet, broomstick
Watertile Lotte concrete, bottles
Jump Janet boots, rope, yoghurtpot
Shkalo Tank Sizwe jerrycan, scrapwood, glue, spray bottle top, band
Waterfilter Lonwabo plastic bottles, pots
SmallSpaceStorage Lotte concrete, tetrapack, bottles, plastic bag, straws
Leak-a-nator Paballo plastic bottles, hot glue, tape
Windmill Nonziceko plastic bottles, straws, conflake boc, wire, foam, scrap wood, hot glue, tape
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Tap Lonwabo aloe, grass, herbs, cardboard pipe, plastic pipe, tape
Tank Muleki Plastic bottle, jerrycan, spraytop
Waterbag Wanda strap, plastic bottles, tape, plastic bag
Untitled Evy and Gina tetra pack, straw, plastic bottles.
Water project Feni canvas, charcoal, coackie, wax chalcks
Tanks- in our houses, Tanks- in our gardens Khanyisiwe plastic bottles, tube, straws
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projects Aware of water Anele denim jacket, shopper, yarn, paillettes, tags.
An overview of all the projects. In order to talk about your project clearly you have to present it. By chosing what to show and what not you clear your work from exess information. We tried to do this by taking photographs of the works. We chose a white sheet to keep it super clear. I also handed out a small sheet on which the workshop participants could write down what their project is or does. It had to fit the sheet. Surprisingly that was easy for the participants. It might has to do with the township; 'it is what it is' mentality.
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Now, I finally get what you do to make it look nice
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This might be the most important workshop of the waterweeks workshop streak! Because if you make something which aims to solve something but no one sees it, did you really make it? Therefore I organised an exhibition. By presenting and curating the water-inventions in a clean and organized way I wanted the makers to look at their projects with different eyes. To see how a project can look valuable even though it consists out of plastic bottles and how it can unleash a conversation. To make people out of informal settlements value their own ideas and lifestyles first. It is very necessary for the makers to be able to have a serious conversation about their ideas with the visitors of the waterweeks exhibition. To go beyond the possible feeling of being less important and to start discussing the bigger issue that moved the maker to produce the invention. It was not easy to make the participants of the waterweeks see what the point of making an exhibition is. Even the artists found it difficult to set themselves to the tasks of what it takes to prepare a presentable room of works. It is not much fun having to wrap planks in white fabric if you do not understand well what the point of it all is. So, naturally, it won’t happen. Maybe this is a reason why not many ideas coming from townships and informal settlements make their way to the business and industry world.
Nonzaliseko is wrapping found wooden planks in fabric in order to make podiums for the exhibition.
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There is a typical tension between making and action for immediate result and putting effort into preparing something what only will give results later, maybe. People living in townships are often making decisions which lead to the most direct impact. To give an example, in Cape Town it is
cape town possible to buy a single cigarette in a kiosk. This is of course more expensive than buying a pack when you add up all the single cigs. But people often cannot afford a pack. Instead saving for a pack, people are more likely to buy one single cig to satisfy their needs right away. Which is logical, It is said people who live in poor circumstances make “poor” decisions. (bergman, 2016)*. There is a lack of a long term vision. Partly because, speaking in the context of Cape Town, people have been disappointed time after time. Instead of “save something for later” their minds are set to “make sure what you have is not lost to someone else.” What you don’t have cannot get lost. It is somehow more a survival mindset rather than an investing one, a distrust in the
‘‘I have learned
a lot just from today woking on the exhibition
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future. Therefore it is very hard to prepare for a future happening or event in such an environment. What it take is a continuously enthusiastic, ass-kicking motor of the team. Which was me in this case. People work best when given very small, very specific tasks which results in a very small reward every time. For example; hang the pictures on the ceiling after we’ll have lunch. Or please wrap the podiums in fabric with this tape in this way and use this scissors, then I will take a picture of you. It is a complete different way of working then I was used to coming from Europe. We get big tasks and divide it up in small tasks ourselves. Not seeing the point of preparing an exhibition can also be seen as an indication for the visual miscommunication between the
more advantage part of society (in global context but also in the context of Cape Town) and those who live in under-fortunate circumstances. When does an object evoke a conversation and when will it be overlooked? This totally depends on the surroundings you circumcised to. It matters in which environment an object is presented for you to relate to it.What happens when you put something on a simple white podium in an empty room or in a stuffed, dark room? Like Duchamp made his toilet pot a piece of art, what does it take to make the everyday habits, ideas and simple inventions of people in townships an inspiration for the advantaged world? Whereas people in informal settlements are used to an overload of visual impulses, people from town are more used to minimalistic and clean displays. Think about how high-end brands display their products, the space is empty, clean and light. It gives a feeling of exclusivity and luxuriousness. Now compare it to the (art)-shops in townships which are completely packed with all the stock they have. For people from town it looks cheap and without value. Apparently, there is so much of everything so a single piece is worthless. For people in less marginalised places, however, it is a sign of richness and superfluousness. I take the freedom to hypothesize that for people in well-off parts of society, objects need to be presented in a clean, minimalistic and exclusive way in order to make them discussable. Regardless what the actual context of the object is. On the other hand, for people living under marginalised circumstances objects should be presented more accessible and inclusive way in order to even feel allowed to discuss and appropriate it. Objects and subjects, such as water-engineering, which come from the top of the pyramid should be made relatable to personal
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situations for the people in order to start thinking about them. People should realize “Hey, this is also for us!” Plus the opportunity to visualize their ideas in materials that are available for people who do not have much to spend should be offered. So in this case I chose waste material. So with the exhibition I tried to achieve the first point, making sure all the waterweeks projects and inventions are presented in a way that would speak to people from the more comfortable places in society. Seeing all the projects presented well and cleanly evoked a feeling of pride and understanding with the workshop participants. Khanyisiwe told me she finally understood what was the point of making the exposition and why I kept asking her to clean her projects. I made a big deal out of sending invitations and reminders In order to make people from the center of Cape Town head out to Langa and to have them visiting the exhibition. I was Nervous for them to come as my ‘mission’ only would be complete when the two worlds would meet over the inventions and start the conversations. People who live in town, not tourists, are going to townships way to less. There is nothing to get there for them. By making this exhibition I tried to make a spot of interest for people coming from town by having this common concern of water-use and -shortage. Just as a trigger, the contact and conversations were the outcome … … for now.
*Bergman, R. (2016, June 8th). Why do the Poor Make Such Poor Decisions?. De Corenspondent. Retrieved from https://thecorrespondent.com/4664/ why-do-the-poor-make-such-poor-decisions/179307480-39a74caf
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We wanted to collect the thoughts of the visitors or to sketch other ideas inspired by the exhibition, we hung a big paper on which the visitors could write and draw. New ideas which emerged from the proposals in the exhibition were left behind and proved the sucess of the waterweeks workshops.
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reflect What does Heath Nash (really)think?
To find out what the impact of the waterweeks is, was and can be I asked Heath Nash, the creative director of OurWorkshop, to reflect on the process. What did waterweeks bring the inhabitants of Langa and will the impact last? What should change should happen to make the impact last? The email conversation above.
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now further As I said before, waterweeks capetown was a first experiment of connecting knowledge to experience about the same topic. After having done these four weeks of workshops in the townships, I think there is definitely a space for this way of working in socially separated places. For the future would love to set up an information infrastructure experience and knowledge can be exchanged, on the topic of water. Functioning as the link between two worlds, make them realize they are stronger together then alone.I believe this can lead to a more inclusive society in which people learn how to deal with differences while working and making together. When you work together forThe same cause I think you are more willing to accept some differences from others. Hopefully I can contribute to a more connected world which creates chances for people using the things they have already got, especially if they are intangible. Ideally I would create a global database in which is registered the knowledge and practical experience of people and hooks them up with an issue, question
or assignmentthat fits the heir topic of expertise. There is one difficulty, people from the ‘developed world’ would have easier access to such a database, know What their talents and qualifications are and are used to explain them to people. The people with the experience are often coming from marginalized parts in society and need to be spotted or scouted to enter this database. In order to do that there need to be scouts. It needs to start small like the waterweeks in Capetown. In order to reach the big goal, I would need to do more research within communities. Finetune the workshops, gain contacts and trust. Spent time with people to learn.I would have to find the best medium on which to create this database, I would try whattsapp first.In combination with an offline part. If there is any way you are interested to join, help or be part of this Infrastructure please feel free to contact me.
ldehaan96@gmail.com
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A BE ESS UG HE PROGR G ’T FOR S DEAS I