Progress at Freedom Park

Here's a snap I took today of the Jonkers kids with their friends in the backyard of their Design Indaba 10x10 house, designed purposefully to give them a safe space to play. They no longer have to hang out in the street! This is an example of how adding the element of design, generally missing from the context of social housing, makes a tangible difference in people's lives.

Today the game they were all playing was that they were in a band - you can see the "drumsticks" held by the little guy in the white vest. He had an empty plastic paint can clamped between his knees, and was beating out a skillful rhythm while others clapped and sang. Of course, as soon as my camera came out, they dropped what they were doing to strike a pose - then crowded round me to see themselves! I told them that people on the other side of the world would also be able to see them in this picture, but I'm not sure if they really knew what I meant, having never had access to the internet.

The house on the left that has been lagging behind due to non-delivery of materials from the supplier of the Ecobeams frames is slowly catching up with the others:

The row of single and semi-detached houses is starting to look like a real street!

More bags have been packed to build the columns for the pergolas:

Wonderful, vibrant colours - paint sponsored by Plascon:

Schalk van der Walt of Tech Homes and Chinedum Emeruem of MMA Architects discuss a detail on the plan:

(Photos: Rosemary Lombard)