Our Block. Almost Finished. Wow.

OK, it’s not really our block. However, by producing the donations website for YOU Foundation’s New Baraka project, denkwerk made a solid contribution to the creation of the new community in Dakar. In Baraka – once a deprived, informal settlement in Senegal – the keys to roughly sixty percent of the new housing units are ready to hand over, and we’re as proud as can be to have a real role in this.

The actual applause, though, should be reserved for those who earned it most. Baraka itself did most of the help.

The settlement’s residents have made something amazing possible and created a place that can only be described as a new world. It may sound like a mad exaggeration, but it really is exactly that – madness. Housing, a decently sized school, and forty-seven stores, businesses, and workshops were all made a reality thanks to various donations. Most importantly, a genuinely positive future is now within reach for the residents of Baraka. The project will be ongoing for another two years and will then be fully wrapped up, according to Ute-Henriette Ohoven, founder of YOU Foundation.

Change is possible. And not just in Senegal, either. Change happens here as well – with a project like New Baraka, denkwerk has shown that business and compassion are compatible. A project that helps others help themselves, offering the tools that make a project like YOU Foundation’s so successful. A truly clever project.

Storytelling was essential to the design of the website. Donations need to have a purpose, be fun, and provide transparency. All this is offered by www.new-baraka.com – which turns the often-patronizing act of donating into experiences, involvement, and support.

We want to do more. We want to be behind clever projects that really shake things up. Positive change – let’s turn dreams into reality!