Wings to fly

Sumita lives in a small rural village in northwest Bangladesh. It’s an agricultural area, most of her neighbours are farmers and the housing conditions are poor. She married young, and has dedicated her life to her family and three children. Now she wants to open her wings and fly.

Sumita joined AzuKo’s Build for safety training to learn how to improve her home. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but soon found out it was much more than a construction course – it was a door to opportunities. After she completed the training, she set her sights on improving her kitchen. She’s a talented cook, and spends much of her day preparing meals for her family. Along with women in her village, she formed a savings group to help each other access finance for home improvements.

She saved enough money to contribute 6,000 BDT (£45), approximately 20% of the build cost for her new kitchen, and we worked with her to design and build it. The kitchen is raised above flood waters with a brick plinth, and the once earthen floor is now cement reducing the need for maintenance and repairs. New walls and roof protect against the intense sun and monsoon rains, with lockable doors so she can safely store utensils. The design encourages cross ventilation, meaning it now doesn’t fill with thick black smoke... and her favourite feature, a kitchen table. She no longer needs to prepare meals hunched over the floor. This is the power of good design.

“Before my kitchen had no walls and a mud floor. It was difficult to keep the rats away. Now we have this kitchen. It’s so clean. I can store food, prepare and cook easily.”

— Sumita

Sumita loves her country of Bangladesh. She used to dream about joining the civil service, but when she became a mother her life took a different path. Now she sees new possibilities for her family, and also for herself.

“When I was young, I was like a bird. I was free. I want to fly. I think I can, I have hope again.”

If our streets could talk, what would they tell us?

Data is a powerful tool. With it, you can understand behaviour and complex systems, make informed decisions, solve problems, improve efficiency and impact. But it’s often ‘owned’ by others, and not accessible to those who need it most.

At AzuKo we believe that place-based data can unlock opportunities, and help communities have a real say in the development of their neighbourhoods. One incredible example of this is the community of South Woodford in northeast London, who we’ve been working with over the past four years. The local South Woodford Society are creating a Design Code – a vision for their area, and set of design requirements that will inform future development. Not an easy task, when representing over 19,000 residents!

South Woodford is in the Borough of Redbridge, in northeast London. The area is heavily dominated by cars – traffic congestion, residential streets used as ‘rat runs’, parked cars impacting pedestrian access and views, and significant air pollution.

Following in-depth community engagement (see reports 1 & 2), four priorities emerged. The area faces:

• Lack of accessible greenspaces

• Poor quality public spaces

• Prioritisation of cars over people

• Loss of key local amenities

But without data, it’s difficult to evidence just how challenging these issues are or set targets for change.

If the streets could talk, what would they tell us?

Well, this is where AppyWay comes in, giving a voice to the streets. The kerbside use data will enable the community to understand just how much of South Woodford’s streets are allocated to sustainable uses, and help them set specific targets for a more sustainable future. With this data the community will be able to pitch for funding to turn their vision for healthy streets and spaces into reality.

Stay tuned for more insights into AzuKo’s Neighbourhood Planning and Design Code work – ensuring communities are in the driving seat of their own development.

(Article originally published in AppyWay / Kerbside Digest)

What is time poverty?

We've all said it... "there's just not enough time in the day!" Our lives are packed full, juggling work and family life. But imagine if on top of all that, you had to search for fuel and harvest your own crops to cook breakfast, walk miles to source water each day, repair your house which is continually eroded by flooding... what time would be left to focus on you?

Low income means less investment in the basic infrastructure of our lives, meaning people become time poor. Time poverty is linked to lower wellbeing, physical health and productivity. Ultimately lack of time stops people improving their circumstances, making it much more difficult to rise above poverty. It's a vicious cycle.

“The most difficult part of my day is collecting food to feed my cows. I walk between the padi (rice) fields, cutting grass for a couple of hours, every day after breakfast. It’s back breaking in the heat.”

— Ranu, Bangladesh

This burden falls disproportionately on women, who often face additional responsibilities at home. On an average day, women spend three times as many hours on unpaid domestic and care work as men. Too busy to visit the doctor, go to school, or earn money to support their family.

At AzuKo, we recognise this invisible currency, and help reduce the time it takes to complete 'unpaid work' in the home. We teach housing design ideas and share products that are more efficient, and we promote construction materials and techniques that require less maintenance, last longer and have high returns (cheaper over time). Read about our construction training in Bangladesh →

An extra hour saved each day, over the course of a year, would free up more than two weeks. Over a lifetime that would mean three years – precious time to build a brighter future.

Imagine what you could do with that extra time?

Author: J. Ashbridge