ZETU AFRICA

Our mission is to design, build and distribute context specific tools that help to improve literacy (reading and writing) for 10 million African school children by 2030.

To achieve this, we produce school bags that help primary school children to sit and write anytime, anywhere, by turning into mobile bamboo classroom chairs with writing surfaces so as to increase community literacy by easing access to affordable classroom furniture.

Arnold Mugagga is the founder of Zetu Africa and represents the SeatPack in a sales capacity. With an Architecture background Arnold leverages the design process to hold the team accountable to inclusion of sustainable principles  within the product and the production process. Arnold is also in charge or assembling product teams and is current team librarian (encouraging growth habits across the team through dedicated topic readings). Arnold also plays the fundraising role for the SeatPack with organizations and donors. 

Over the last 4 years, the Zetu Africa team has been able to pivot the business financial model and achieve product -market fit (with the buy and give model, selling work and travel bags to finance School SeatPacks for school children at no extra cost), set-up a production facility in Uganda and delivered over 2000 SeatPacks to school children in Uganda and Burundi with an employee retention rate of 95% over the last 4 years. Each member of the Zetu family lives in Africa and works full-time towards achieving our shared vision. 

Having brought the SeatPack from inception into the classroom relying primarily on constant feedback from children to develop relevant SeatPack features, and feedback from teachers and parents to design for proper pricing, the Zetu team is best placed to continue and deepen the feedback gathering process so as to translate it into working product features / adapt the business model to reach 10 million children by 2030. 

SeatPacks: School-bags with bamboo classroom-chairs and writing surfaces for primary-school children to sit and write anytime/anywhere, thereby increasing community literacy.

Over 95-million African school children currently attend class without a place to sit or write (In Uganda alone, over 4-million school children lack classroom furniture) (Tutudesk, 2018). This  can create long term effects on child literacy (reading and writing) at a mass scale for underprivileged children. 

The gap is largely credited to the cost of tree-timber furniture (wooden-desks) averagely at €90 per unit to seat 2-children. With Africa's population projected to over 550-million school children by 2040, where currently 1-desk requires cutting down 1-tree, a very high environmental and economic cost is inevitable. 

In regard to female education and gender equality, the United Nations estimates that one in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their period, which can add up to as much as 20% of a school year. (UNICEF, 2022). 

To solve the lack of classroom furniture, we are using low-carbon Bamboo to make SeatPacks; school-bags that turn into Bamboo classroom-chairs with portable writing-surfaces for African school children in rural / refugee settlement schools studying without sitting or writing facilities (both indoors and outdoors). SeatPacks:

• Require no tree-cutting to produce at scale.

• Costs 80% less (at €15 per unit) than the €90 wooden desk. 

• Provides menstrual purses and sanitary pockets for girls to stay in school during monthly periods. 

• Weighs 600-gram for easy carry by a 6-year-old daily.

• Is proven to serve both indoor and outdoor classes.

• Is waterproof material to keep books dry. 

• Carries up to 60kg over a full school day.

• Requires only thread for easy repair in the remotest communities.

• Its portable blackboard-writing-surface acts as a book for students lacking books.

• Has no leaning surface for better sitting posture and improved attention during lessons.

• Utilizes locally available raw materials and modular design for easy scale of production.

Formative research In Particular user interviews to guide the product improvement process focusing on including desired functions and eliminating unnecessary features. 

Some aspects amongst others that have been developed include:

• Pricing at $15 per unit verses the $90 price point for desks. 
• Inclusion of a menstrual purse for female students to change during school hours easily. 
• Detachable chair component incase some students want to leave the chair at school due to risk of being stolen or taken by other children on the way home.  

Feedback from user interviews has included:

Teacher testimonials on SeatPacks include: Outdoor classes have been easier to carry out due to the mobile nature of each SeatPack, Students increased attention during classes because of upright sitting and consistent attendance of girls even in their period because of menstrual purse in the SeatPack.

Student testimonials on SeatPacks include: Making classes fun to go to (having previously sat on the floor or squeezed 6 children on a 1.2meter desk, easier writing because of personal writing surface, more outdoor classes which are fun.  

Parents and community testimonials on SeatPacks include: Excitement by the children to go to school after receiving SeatPacks, and requests for more units by training of local workshops on how to make the SeatPack. 

Some aspects amongst others that have been developed from interviews include:

• Pricing at $15 per unit verses the $90 price point for desks. 
• Inclusion of a menstrual purse for female students to change during school hours easily. 
• Detachable chair component incase some students want to leave the chair at school due to risk of being stolen or taken by other children on the way home.  

Teacher testimonials on SeatPacks include: Outdoor classes have been easier to carry out due to the mobile nature of each SeatPack, Students increased attention during classes because of upright sitting and consistent attendance of girls even in their period because of menstrual purse in the SeatPack.

Student testimonials on SeatPacks include: Making classes fun to go to (having previously sat on the floor or squeezed 6 children on a 1.2meter desk, easier writing because of personal writing surface, more outdoor classes which are fun.  

Parents and community testimonials on SeatPacks include: Excitement by the children to go to school after receiving SeatPacks, and requests for more units by training of local workshops on how to make the SeatPack. 

Our goal to furnish 10 million children by 2030 is only possible if more communities embrace the SeatPack as a viable alternative to the scarcely available wooden desk. 

We require the endorsement of the education offices at district level to create confidence for schools and parents to buy SeatPacks for their school children. We wish to have strong evidence of the SeatPack effect on children´s learning compared to the wooden desk or wooden bench. This evidence will be shared with education stakeholders in different communities, alongside proven product standards of the SeatPack and production process for different community entrepreneurs (carpenters, artisans or vocational institutes) to acquire production certification. This way, more entrepreneurs across the continent can make and deliver SeatPacks to schools in there country while depending on published evidence and proven product and production standards. 

1. Enrollment and retention: Does SeatPack Increase the number of children consistently attending school daily?
2. Comfort and attention: Does SeatPack contribute to heightened attention during classes?
3. Tree Conservation: Does SeatPack supply using bamboo as raw material reduce the need to cut down trees for tree-timber desk supply?
4. Girl-child education: Does SeatPack increased consistency of school attendance by female school children even during menstrual period days? by how much?

1. How do we gather enrollment and retention data of children consistently attending school daily while using SeatPacks verses attendance numbers of children not using SeatPacks daily. 
2. How do we measure attention during class of children using SeatPacks verses attention of children not using SeatPacks daily. 
3. How many tree-timber desks have been substituted for SeatPacks by schools?
4. How many girls are attending school during there period while using SeatPack and why? Does SeatPack increased consistency of school attendance by female school children even during menstrual period days? by how much?
5. How do we continue to collect this information year round in a lean manner. 

We intend to publish the outputs and carryout presentations at District Education meetings (attended by all school heads) to convert as many teachers as possible to SeatPack endorsees. 

These presentations can present deeper belief in the mobile classroom furniture approach and encourage purchase of SeatPacks by schools, parents and education support organizations. 

We intend to invite entrepreneurs from 1 more East African country interested in piloting the SeatPack in there country and sharing the study results we gather with education stakeholders in their country to convert more endorsees and create more purchase of SeatPacks for school children. 

Our goal to furnish 10 million children by 2030 is only possible if more communities embrace the SeatPack as a viable alternative to the scarcely available wooden desk. 

We require the endorsement of the education offices at district level to create confidence for schools and parents to buy SeatPacks for their school children. We wish to have strong evidence of the SeatPack effect on children´s learning compared to the wooden desk or wooden bench. This evidence will be shared with education stakeholders in different communities, alongside proven product standards of the SeatPack and production process for different community entrepreneurs (carpenters, artisans or vocational institutes) to acquire production certification. This way, more entrepreneurs across the continent can make and deliver SeatPacks to schools in there country while depending on published evidence and proven product and production standards.