Groundwork Projects and Tanzanian Students
Our organization, C-re-a.i.d., started in 2012 with the following vision: a place where people are creatively inspired within a hand reach to participate in an affordable and sustainable building culture.
It can only be achieved by focusing on people, considering architecture not only as a transformation of the built environment but also as a social and cultural implementation.
During our summer programs, the Groundwork projects, we involve students of architecture in order to deepen their interest in social architecture and to make them realise that architecture is not a luxury tool but one that can be used everyday.
From July to September they work on a range of different projects that always involve building a physical infrastructure for social, cultural and economical development.
They work closely with the beneficiaries, the community and the C-re-aid team to design a building that is innovative, culturally acceptable and inspiring for the community. Our purpose is to combine new building techniques with the appreciation of sustainable local materials, under tight budget constraints.
Since 2013 more than 15 houses have been built or renovated, with over 50 primary beneficiaries who live in the houses and 200 secondary beneficiaries who were able to use the research and design results.
To participate in this intensive experience the students raise funds to cover the project costs. By fundraising in their social circle, more and more people get to know about the organisation and its goals. The total costs of a Groundwork project range from 800€ to 2500€. This includes building materials, labour and all logistics necessary to complete the project.
The students are also required to pay a 650€ student fee to cover their accommodation, transports and administrative costs.
In 2016 we were able to formalize a partnership with Ardhi University, the Tanzanian school of Architecture. The University is selecting two of their students to be part of our summer program.
We strongly want to involve local students because they are the future of Tanzanian architecture. However, it is challenging for them to fundraise to cover the costs of a project and the student fee.
Until now we have been able to fully fund two of our Groundwork projects for 2016 thanks to our sponsors, who strongly believe in our work and our mission.
Now we have to fundraise 1300€ to cover their student fee.
Should we fail to do so, Tanzanian students' access to an alternative way of doing architecture will be limited by their financial resources.
That is why we are starting this crowd-funding campaign.
Join us and contribute to make architecture accessible to everybody!
