SEATPACK

Over 95 million Sub-Saharan African school children have no provision for sitting or writing when they go to class daily (over 3million children in Uganda alone). This is because the previously common wood-based desks are too expensive to provide for every child (average cost being $100 per desk, and 1-tree to furnish 6-children with wooden desks). These unfurnished classrooms make learning for children unpleasant and writing properly very difficult for many children.

With Africa projected to have over 550million children of school going age by 2040, the cost of providing well furnished classrooms will be extremely high economically and environmentally. Re-thinking how to facilitate physical environments for teachers, students and learning material to interact towards students achieving their highest education potential is critical right now.

Our goal is to furnish 10million African school children by 2030, starting with 10,000 school children by the end of 2022 (over 1,000 school children currently furnished in Uganda), relying on design thinking to make informed improvements to  the product-solution, the distribution approach and financing model. 

In response to the overwhelming lack of classroom furniture in Sub-Saharan Africa, we make SeatPacks; School bags that turn into mobile bamboo classroom-chairs with portable writing-surfaces to facilitate proper sitting and writing during classes (both indoors and outdoors) for every primary school child.

80% cheaper than desks and without the need for tree - timber, our goal is to provide sustainable classroom furniture to 10million children with SeatPacks, and conserve 1.6million trees in the process by 2030. We sell handmade Zetu bags in Europe, Japan and North America where each Zetu bag sold, funds one SeatPack for a school child. 

Each Zetu bag has a QR code that is scanned by the customer to remotely see the classroom furnished, and trees conserved by their direct purchase. Over the next 12months, we are expanding our product offering across textile fashion items for our global market, to grow the current buy one give one model.

In response to the overwhelming lack of classroom furniture in Sub-Saharan Africa, we are making SeatPacks; School bags that turn into mobile bamboo classroom-chairs with portable writing-surfaces to facilitate sitting and writing during classes (both indoors and outdoors) for every primary school child.

According to primary school teacher testimonies, the 1,070 primary school students that use SeatPacks are amongst some other points:

• More attentive in class (due to sitting upright), 

• Attend more outdoor classes (due to the mobile nature of each unit), 

• Write better since they no longer squeeze 5 children on a 1.2meter long writing-surface.

This personalized school bag, and bamboo-based classroom chair also eliminates at low cost the need for tree - timber to close the classroom furniture gap for 95million school children, conserving 15million trees in the process of allowing equal access to education across the continent. 

Our goal is to provide sustainable classroom furniture to 10million children with SeatPacks, and conserve 1.6million trees in the process by 2030.

SeatPack is locally built for Primary Schools (ages 5 to 13years) whose primary-school classrooms can not  afford traditional wooden furniture whether due to under-facilitation, post-conflict or post-disaster situations. The SeatPack makes personalized, safe-classrooms possible for rural primary schools even during the covid19 pandemic by meeting covid19 safety space requirements (1.5meters apart) for classrooms .

In a Post covid19 world, SeatPack is ideal for School Children in; Overcrowded yet underfunded classrooms, Outdoor/Nomadic classrooms, Natural disaster/conflict affected schools, and Displacement camp classrooms. 

Over a 2 year period, we have designed 12 iterations of the SeatPack basing on school-child feedback for improvements are currently furnishing sub-urban and rural schools in Uganda. We work closely with the local government to identify schools that are licensed, follow covid19 Standard Operating Procedures and yet lack classroom furniture for there students. 

Currently highly subsidized, the schools pay 0% per unit cost for the entire SeatPack (comprising of a schoolbag, Mobile bamboo chair, and writing surface) since we run a buy one Zetu bag (a commercial laptop bag sold in Europe and Japan) and we give one SeatPack.

We are also partnered with development stakeholders to study the effects of this approach to furnishing classrooms through both scheduled and surprise visits to the schools using SeatPacks. 

Feedback received informs our iterations for the next schools that require the SeatPack, allowing for continuous improvements in our production and application cycles. 

Zetu Africa launched in 2019 to specifically solve the classroom furniture problem. On the continent of Africa, the SeatPack is the only market ready solution to this challenge at the moment. With a deep feedback character, we have improved the product 12 times based on user feedback and continue to do so. We registered a patent to the SeatPack, giving us time to improve the solution and the model (a process that is still ongoing). 

In 2019, we tested prototypes of the SeatPack with Aluminum chair components from China. When the Covid19 pandemic reached Uganda and schools closed, we did not know how long we would wait for the boarders to re-open and could no-longer work with the manufacturer in China. The Zetu team unanimously decided we should find a way to build the SeatPacks 100% locally, without importing any core elements. This is how we met with Bamboo farmers, built and tested iterations with Bamboo because the classroom conditions only worsened due to covid19. 

The Zetu family comprises very complimenting skills that lend well to each other along our joint mission (provide sustainable classroom furniture to 10million primary school children with SeatPacks, and conserve 1.6million trees by 2030). Our culture is personal and human first oriented, allowing for each individual to contribute uniquely to different challenges we face together. The Zetu home is keen to support individual growth while we work together, however different each person's expectations of life are. Self-motivated presence is key for our identity because what we are doing is completely new, we are continuously learning how to do things differently or better. Each member of the Zetu family lives in Africa and works full-time towards achieving our shared vision.

We have a close leadership team that comprises of: 

Daphine Nakalyantya - Production Lead

• Professional fashion designer, Daphine puts feedback and design very well together and her organized nature helps keep local production progressing amidst the unending challenges produced from Uganda. Daphine honestly cares to do better for communities less fortunate or neglected by state resources.

Laura Althaus, Design-thinking lead

• A Phycologist living in Uganda, she is driven to create a fair and sustainable production business. Her expertise in lean operation, firm work ethic and understanding of company culture helps us stay the course while having fun. Laura encourages us to always make our processes as sustainable as possible.

 Arnold Mugagga - Team lead / Impact lead

• Loves sustainable design, background in architecture and design-thinking. Believer in African production and design as a tool for social and economic empowerment. Arnold quit his job as an Junior associate Architect to solve the classroom furniture problem after a visit to some primary schools in Uganda. 

Sharon Nalubwama - Accounts and Finance

• Sharon maintains our fluid operations with respect to the resources at hand. Since joining the team, we have put into place effective processes and policies. Sharon´s ambition is to be part of building an African Unicorn with her accounting contribution.

Our SeatPack goal is to furnish 10million African school children by 2030, starting with 10,000 school children by the end of 2022 (over 1,000 school children currently furnished in Uganda), relying on design thinking to make informed improvements to  the product-solution, the distribution approach and financing model. 

With the Zetu - buy one give one model of selling handmade products (Zetu bags at the moment) to pay for SeatPacks for underprivileged school children, we see the Zetu online shop becoming a network of African makers selling to the global marketplace a range of high-quality African hand-made products (from fashion accessories, fashion items, to household items and niche items). 

Making sense of this model requires capital (both human and financial) to navigate the open global market and position Zetu as a High quality, lifestyle and Impact brand. We need support entering the North American market, and growing in the European and Japanese markets. Our biggest challenge is on the channels and sales end for the Model. We need help to scale the model globally.

(The African market does not favor our long term growth because it is saturated by cheap Asian products difficult to beat on price since we employ local production. The African market buys largely based on price, and not quality from our test results).

The SeatPack suggests that classroom furniture can be a personal extension of each school-child, through their school bag. This creates mobile furniture for indoor and outdoor learning across economically separated learning environments (working well for semi-urban and rural/displaced learners with no classroom buildings). Completely new to the education sector in Sub Saharan Africa, this approach to making classrooms mobile means $18 to furnish 1 child where up to $110 has been required to furnish 2 children as per classroom space regulations. 

As the market ready low-cost solution to furnishing classrooms in a localized and scalable way, we expect the SeatPack to create guidance for the education sector on how to not only solve the lack of classroom furniture, but also how to best create flexible/interactive classrooms affordably.

According to the feedback from schools in East Africa, the SeatPack changes completely what the classroom can achieve even in economically struggling environments, encouraging teachers to be creative in teaching approach and easing the burden on schools with small budgets to compete more-favorably without buying desks to improve children´s writing. 

We make beautiful commercial bags (Zetu Bags) and for each sale, a SeatPack is made and distributed. Each Zetu bag´s label has a QR code allowing customers to remotely track the SeatPack classrooms we create together. This makes the impact accountability transparent and remote. 

By 2025, SeatPack will have allowed easier adaptation of Interactive/flexible learning techniques (by teachers and students) like imaginative play or collaborative learning regardless of the school economic environment due to the mobile nature of the physical classroom´s furniture. 

SeatPack is keen to facilitate proper physical environments for teachers, students and learning material to interact towards students achieving their highest education potential for:

• 10,000 School Children by end of 2022 (Awareness phase and Buy one/Give one model refining and scaling)
• 1 million School Children by December 2025
• 10 million School Children by December 2030

(Where currently over 3million in Uganda and over 95million school children across Sub-Saharan Africa have no provision for a sitting and writing surface during class).

Target (SDG 4)

1. By December 2022, ensure that 10,000 girls and boys attend primary school classes with a personal place to sit and write properly, encouraging them to strive towards their highest education potential.

Indicator

1. Primary school children in 50 Districts across East Africa have a personal place to sit and write properly with the SeatPack, where they did not have this allowance before receiving  a SeatPack.

Target (SDG 13)

1. By December 2022, ensure that 10,000 girls and boys attend primary school classes with classroom furniture that cost 0.00 trees to be cut for there timber to make classroom furniture.

Indicator

1. 10,000 Primary school children have a personal place to sit and write properly with the SeatPack, with 1,600 trees conserved (not cut down for timber in the process). 

Impact

Outcome 

Output

Activities

Input

• Primary school children achieving their highest education potential in Africa 

Students with inadequate furniture 

• Students focus more (better grades achieved)

• More comfort during classes for Primary school children.

• Better handwriting

• Students attend more interactive lessons (indoor and outdoor)

Students without furniture 

• More motivation going to school (Retention)

• Better handwriting for underprivileged Primary school children

• Number. of children with access to a SeatPack 
• More schools affording classroom furniture 

• Local production of SeatPacks, and distribution  to children across Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Funds for feasibility studies, production, distribution and impact monitoring; 
• Dedicated team 
• Technical support to build buy one, give one model globally.

Teachers

• Easier management of children‘s attention during class 

• More motivation to teach 

Number of interactive lessons facilitated by rural/refugee classroom teachers.

Mobilize teachers locally into a SeatPack support community;

Train in use of SeatPack for more interactive lessons by other teachers; 

Parents

• Supports child‘s use of the SeatPack for their  education even at home (weekends, holidays and school evenings).

1,000 number of parents have attended a demonstration of the SeatPack

Partner with organization to raise awareness about importance of education among parents

Inspired by the “traditional 3-legged stool” we are hand-processing locally grown bamboo and combining it with locally made school bags to deliver low-cost, sustainable mobile-classroom furniture called SeatPacks, to 10 million African school children by 2030. 

SeatPacks are School Bags that turn into mobile bamboo classroom chairs with portable writing surfaces, for the over 95-million African school children that attend class without a place to sit and write properly (over 3 million in Uganda alone). This is largely due to the high cost of tree-timber based furniture (wooden desks costing up to USD110 for 2 school children to sit and write). 

Utilizing the traditional 3-legged stool design, locally grown/hand-processed bamboo and locally tailored school bags, SeatPacks create classrooms indoors and outdoors with no tree-cutting involved at USD18 per unit. (This context specific approach to furnishing classrooms discourages tree cutting to make wooden desks, by replacing the tree-timer desks with mobile bamboo classroom furniture units).

Zetu Africa leadership team is majority female led, below 30 years of age. 

• Daphine Nakalyantya - Production Lead
• Laura Althaus, Design-thinking lead
•  Arnold Mugagga - Team lead / Impact lead
• Sharon Nalubwama - Accounts and Finance

We are keen on involving as many local African ladies below 35years of age so as to close the opportunities gap for artisans of this category in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In response to the overwhelming lack of classroom furniture in Sub-Saharan Africa, we make SeatPacks; School bags that turn into mobile bamboo classroom-chairs with portable writing-surfaces to facilitate proper sitting and writing during classes (both indoors and outdoors) for every primary school child.

80% cheaper than desks and without the need for tree - timber, our goal is to provide sustainable classroom furniture to 10million children with SeatPacks, and conserve 1.6million trees in the process by 2030. We sell handmade Zetu bags in Europe, Japan and North America where each Zetu bag sold, funds one SeatPack for a school child. 

Our impact target user (SeatPack user) is a primary school child in Africa that attends class without a place to sit or write daily. Currently this user is part of over 95million school children that attend class without furniture to facilitate their learning process, often struggling to write and read during class. We identify these School children together with the local government education offices, and monitor SeatPack use trough school inspectors. 

Our sustainability model´s target market are individuals living in Europe, Japan or North America who love to use unique hand-made products, enjoy sustainable products and shop online. This customer is part of an estimated €20billion market by 2025. We currently retail online (www.zetuafrica.shop) and are building a wholesale network with retailers across Europe (starting with Germany, Fairling network of 1,800 retailers) and Japan (One retailer).

Each Zetu bag has a QR code that is scanned by the customer to remotely see the classroom furnished, and trees conserved by their direct purchase. Over the next 12months, we are expanding our product offering across textile fashion items for our global market, to grow the current buy one give one model. 

Our impact target user (SeatPack user) is a primary school child in Africa that attends class without a place to sit or write daily. Currently this user is part of over 95million school children that attend class without furniture to facilitate their learning process, often struggling to write and read during class. We identify these School children together with the local government education offices, and monitor SeatPack use trough school inspectors. 

We sell SeatPacks directly to impact organizations for $18 a unit.

Our sustainability model´s target market are individuals living in Europe, Japan or North America who love to use unique hand-made products, enjoy sustainable products and shop online. This customer is part of an estimated €20billion market by 2025. We currently retail online (www.zetuafrica.shop) and are building a wholesale network with retailers across Europe (starting with Germany, Fairling network of 1,800 retailers) and Japan (One retailer).

Our products range from $40-60 wholesale, and $80-100 retail.