A Final Word

Dear All,

With a final word on the project we would like to share with you that we are all very satisfied with the result! Back in the Netherlands we have presented our experiences at the TU Delft where also the DCE and Movendi were present. Pictures, some illustrations of the plan and the final shops, visualized the happy of excitement: two shops were placed in front of the houses of Piece and Mariam. The final report talks in-depth about the logistics and planning for the bread, explaining the function of the distribution point (the container) and the supervisor, and secondly the role of the bakery, and the relation of the members and supervisor.

Friedl (our contact, who is still in Ghana) has just signed the deal  to deliver the buns for the fast food chain ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken” that is going to start up in Accra! This means that the bakery (that keeps dealing with difficult problems) will still remain growing into a more stable position over time.

Friedl will come to the Netherlands in October, and we will meet with her to hear about the latest progress.

We would like to thanks everyone involved again, for the great help and supportto make this project a success.

For any updates or information, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Greetings,

Sanne, Arno Robert and Anne

 

Implementation & Prototying

Dear All,

Today, we are working at the Ballast Nedam Office in Accra. They have provided us with an extra laptop for the last reporting weeks, an office during workdays, and on top of that we have a driver we can ask for transportation. This has made it possible to visit and communicate so much easier, that the plans for implementation of the project are now arranged and executed in these very weeks.

 

And the winner is..

Dear all,

Today, the report has been sent to all active partners of our project.

We would like to thank everyone that has been actively involved in the process up until now;
Friedl Nelissen (Hope for Life), Henk Kuipers and JC Diehl (TU Delft), Esther (DCE and Movendi) and Boukje (DCE).
Furthermore, Osmond (Lilian fund and Hope for Life) should receive special thanks for all of his effort to organize the group sessions with us. The Bethany guesthouse and bakery employees (especially Booker, Achille and Bernice) for facilitating these days, and help us to make use of the bakery’s facilities for making new product samples. 

As promised, please find the final concept that we will develop and implement in the remaining phase, below. For a full version of the report, please contact the team at makeitghana@gmail.com.

Cheers!

Sanne, Arno, Robert and Anne

 

The second report is on the way…

Dear all,

Right now, already the ninth week of our project, we are half way though; the exact middle of the four months time that we spend in Ghana!
Tomorrow, our report will be finished and it will reveal the final concept for our project.

The past two weeks has proven to be a fruitful time, as many ideas and project directions have all been given a chance. We have first considered and prioritized the most important criteria for the final concept choice. To guard individual input, all of us have questioned for ourselves, what we believe to be the most valuable assets of the project: is it more important to make the business model of the bakery more profitable, or is the main goal helping to create work opportunities for Hope for Life members?

 

Creative Sessions – Hope for Life Members

Dear all,

Today is the very beginning of our 7th week in Ghana already, time flies!
This update will provide you; our sponsors, coaches and other interested partners or friends, with a short summary of the progress of the project up until now.

In the last update, we have explained the activities for the -first- analysis phase. Outcomes of the research for the internal and external analysis formed this first report.
An overview of conclusions and a (set up) project outline was the closing chapter of the first phase.

This draft project outline will not be sufficient without the second phases’ outcome, however, and this update will explain why.

 

End of phase one.

We have spend the last two weeks on finalizing the analysis phase. We did this from our new place of residence on a more central location in Accra. We took the time to get in contact with several branch coordinators from Hope For Life and have had meetings with them across the city. The purpose of these meetings was to get to know the organisation, but also to convince individuals from the organisation about the goals of our project. This investment will pay off in a later stage when we need cooperation from motivated people for the implementation of our concept. We have also used the opinions expressed by the different branch coordinators to find interesting research and discussion areas for the second phase.

 

The First Week

This first week was all about first impressions coming our way. We have arrived last Sunday at Kotoko airport after a pleasant flight of almost 7 hours. Friedl, our contact person, came to pick us up and took us to the Bettany guesthouse next to the hope for life bakery where we have been sleeping, until now. The first phase of the project is aimed at analysing the bakery from the inside out as well as analysing the city of Accra from the outside in.

 

Project plan (Dutch)

Project plan: make_it_ghana

 

The Full Monty

Dear all,

Well.. three weeks to go, and then we are leaving!

This week our Integral Design Project (IDP) has started officially, so from now on this is our main project we dedicate ourselves to: time to make it Ghana!

We have contacted friends, family, organizations and foundations to explain the project and ask for a contribution. Much of the applications are handed in, and the first has returned: 2 big gifts are in! Berenschot (Consultancy company based in Utrecht) donated 2 laptops! We will be using them during the project, and leave them for the Bake for Life foundation afterwards. This is a very useful gift, as we need to report our findings etc. But these fancy machines give us the opportunity to design and print 3D images for concept generation (the laptops can run Solid Works).

Thank you Berenschot!

Furthermore, the project is becoming more real as it is time to arrange our “4 moths-new- homes”. Over the telephone we frequently speak to Friedl Nelissen, who is the head of Bake for Life, and our contact in Ghana.  Of course, we talk to the Ghana experts that already went last year, and look into the other project reports done in Ghana.
We are about to find out the ‘ins & outs of Accra’ now, so.. we’ll keep you updated!

 

Welcome

Welcome on our blog!

This blog reports about our Intergral Design Project. A project that will be executed in Ghana, in collaboration with the organization Bake for Life. Bake for Life is a Dutch organization, linked to the organization Hope for life (founded in 2003). Hope for life was founded with the aim to provide an alternative method for earning a living for disabled people. As part of this initiative, Bake for Life realized these goals by setting up small bakery businesses, that have potential to become successful enough to run on their own. Several Bake for Life projects have proven to be successful. Our team, and our assignment, will be focused on the Bakery that is located near Accra, Ghana. The project will start in Februari 2010.

We will keep you up to date during the preparation and stay  in Ghana and about all the activities and interesting happenings during this project.

Anne, Arno, Sanne, Robert