In 2012, Caddis Collaborative was hired to design a cohousing project in Memel, South Africa, and cohousing-inspired dwellings in the nearby black township of Zamani. Bryan Bowen, principal and architect at Caddis, got right down to business. He traveled to Memel and Zamani several times and became immersed in both communities.

Now, Bryan and other Caddis staff are deeply involved with numerous community projects in Memel and Zamani. It turns out that if you help women and girls in a community, everything gets better. In addition to community programs such as SheWinS, libraries, and educational improvements, an unexpected project came out of listening to the real needs of community members rather than following our perceptions.

In this video, Steven Ablondi, founder of Memel.Global, talks about the impact Caddis Collaborative has had in the South African communities. The sanitary pad project Steven refers to was spearheaded by a few young women who visited Memel and Zamani as SheWinS volunteers. Caddis was cheering them on all the way! Just one example of how so much more can happen when you’re building community-oriented housing.