In October 2020 we decided to convert a school bus into a mobile grocery store providing access to healthy food and promoting plastic free shopping for our community.
As with everything at ForReal it was clear that we would get involved in the conversion ourselves - we want to learn and know how to turn a vision into reality.
From school bus to mobile grocery store - Watch the conversion of our Skhaftin bus!
So with the help of local artisans, we started this journey - removing the seats, the carpet and (not really planned but necessary) even the floor.
With the support of our interior designer, Bonginkosi Ngwenya, we designed the new look of our Skhaftin bus and bit by bit it turned into a mobile grocery store.
Why a bus?
2020 so clearly showed that being adaptable and flexible is key - the bus allows us exactly this.
We can drive it around in our community, can take it to markets and hopefully one day drive it to schools to show children and young people how plastic free shopping works and how it can help to take care of our environment.
To everyone who has supported us in this journey:
Keith without you there would be no bus.
Rasta for always being there and having a solution for everything.
Liandro for our new windows.
Shadrack for all the woodwork - we absolutely love our cupboards.
Bonginkosi for understanding our dream and translating it into a design.
Gee for our new seats and all the fabric in the bus.
Thandi for the wonderful team pictures.
The bigger story
Skhaftin is part of a bigger story and vision. In July 2020 we started a journey of re-designing our business model with a focus on establishing a purposeful enterprise. A group of 12 young people engaged in a deep process of exploring different options, speaking to experts in different fields, gathering ideas and gaining new perspectives.
In September 2020 we developed 3 different business models, one focusing on access to healthy food. A few curve balls later the idea of a mobile grocery shop for plastic free shopping was born. And from there things moved rather fast.
What started as a business development journey turned into a new business, creating employment opportunities for some of the young people. ForReal!