SeatPacks; Bamboo Solar - School Bags for 800 kids

Hey SeatPackers,

We are excited to share a milestone with you! We have now begun production of 1,000 Solar SeatPacks to be furnished for school children in Northern Uganda by late October this year as a collaboration with German based foundations Sterstunden and Saaba Foundation. These SeatPacks will transform the classrooms without furniture or electricity into places where children can sit, write, and even study after dark with safe solar light. 

This gifting is special because it will include early pregnancy workshops for the adoloscent girls in these schools. 

This achievement has only been possible because of your endorsment on GlobalGiving. 

What Comes Next: Parents as Partners

While donations have carried us this far, we want to test a simple but powerful idea:

What if parents, no matter how rural or low-income, could also invest even a tiny amount in their child’s SeatPack?

We don’t yet know the answer. Can a rural parent contribute $1? Or perhaps 50 cents? Going forward, we will experiment with requiring some level of equity investment from parents—even the smallest contribution—so they too have a stake in their children’s learning journey.

This is new ground for us, and we will discover together what works best. We promise to keep you closely updated as we learn from this experiment.

How You Can Help 

As we test this approach, one truth remains unchanged: Your monthly support makes the difference between an empty classroom and a thriving child.

No amount is too small so we encourage you to donate to a SeatPack´s gifting ASAP and spread the word!

From all of us at Zetu Foundation, thank you for walking this journey with us. You are not just donors—you are partners in reimagining education for children low income schools, one SeatPack at a time.

With gratitude,

Arnold. 

Founder and team lead.

Links:

• See how the new SeatPack works and discover schools waiting list

Many weeks ago we had the privilege of joining several members of the Because International team for a really special distribution. A laucnh of Solar SeatPacks: School bags with a solar panel, solar lamp, bamboo chair and writting surface; together with the Shoe that Grows! It was amazing.

We drove five hours outside of Nairobi to a school in a Maasai community started by an incredible woman named Eunice. When Eunice realized the kids in this area weren’t attending school because the closest one was 50km away, she took it upon herself to teach any students who would come.

Because it’s a private school in a remote location, Eunice relied on whatever supplies were donated. The one-room school had an empty dirt floor with just two desks in a corner and a bench with books and other materials along the wall. The blackboards were full, though, and the school’s motto was etched along the rafters of the building: “Seeking knowledge the hard way.”

We were welcomed by students and parents who had walked multiple hours to be there for the distribution. All of the kids had no school bags and most of them were wearing shoes that were cracked and visibly repaired—either inexpensive plastic shoes or leather school shoes. Both are poor options for walking 10–20km daily on the hot sand and rocky terrain.

We introduced and explained that the SeatPack is a backpack containing a bamboo stool and writing surface for students to use in classrooms without traditional school furniture. When we shared that some of them also included solar panels with a light for doing homework (plus an extra one for mom), the room cheered aloud. In an area with no electricity, this was a big deal!

For this community, and similar communities throughout rural Africa, impact products like The Shoe That Grows collaborating with SeatPacks will help remove real barriers between kids and an education. They contribute to other important outcomes, too, like improved health, dignity and confidence. But the basics —shoes that last and fit properly and a place to sit and learn that’s out of the dirt—can’t be overlooked.

Thank you for joining us in this work to remove education barriers with SeatPacks. Every child deserves to make their dreams come true. 

Sincerely,

Arnold Mugagga
Founder at Zetu

Because International and Zetu Africa worked together for our first-ever combined product distribution. This partnership outfitted kids who attend a remote school in a rural Maasai community with The Shoe That Grows for the long walk to school and SeatPacks to provide essential supplies for their classroom and home studies. 

“It's the first time that we've given SeatPacks with solar panels,” Arnold shared, “and to get a cheer from the children and the parents knowing that there's benefit in the school and at home—that was mind blowing. I can’t wait to do this again.”

SEE THE PHOTO BLOG

ZETU is committed to understanding and measuring the impact of SeatPacks and will be sharing with you the progress on something very special called "tap and learn" a wearable wristband designed to encourage children to attend school more regularly and track every step of their journey, while sharing this data with education support to help fil in the challenge gaps they face daily. 

Tap and Learn (TL) wristbands record daily school attendance and unlock future learning resources as a reward for points of attendance scored. The wristbands are in pilot phase in 1 school in Kampala and the reward system is to be tested shortly after that.