Community Chalkboards

Flexible local platforms
2008

As part of Global Studio, Candy and international students worked with a community group in Johannesburg to learn, exchange knowledge, and help facilitate their needs. One day a little girl was lost in Diepsloot, a township in Johannesburg. She was safely found but it took three days, and local resident Bongani Baloyi saw how hard it was to spread the word that he started a non-profit called Diepsloot Community News (DCN) to improve local communication. After conducting a community survey, DCN and the team started to develop a local radio station by learning the process and challenges from successful radio stations in other townships. They developed a business plan and also explored ways to immediately establish affordable mediums for collective communication. Inspired by a community chalkboard in Liberia by Alfred Sirleaf, they installed customized site-specific community chalkboards in high-traffic areas and left others portable for events and flexibility. The chalkboards give residents a free and accessible platform to publicize events, post jobs, ask questions, form coalitions, and self-organize on a daily basis without dependency on electricity. 2007, 2008.

Team: Bongani Baloyi, Lucky Mkah, Lungile Maphumulo, Tebatso Lebotsa, Selaelo Chuene, Phumlani Suka, Warren Mabona, Lawrence Matshidiso, Sam Sikhosana, Anja Bredell, Jennifer Graeff, Belinda Kanpetch, Crighton Nichols, Elonah O’Neil, Dr. Marc Aurel Schnabel, Michelle Tabet, Candy Chang. Big thanks to Matthew Millar, Happy and Edwin of Spit n Polish, Yolande Kluth, Sam Sikhosana, and Jennifer van den Bussche.

Downtown Joburg

Diepsloot township

 

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