Sustainable bartering system for Africa

26 November 2016.....My name is Scheldon Gerstner and I am currently "trekking through Africa to help those in need"

Please check out my FB Page to catch up on my journey so far.

I am currently stationed in my 5th Town. It is situated right on the Namibian/Angola border, called Rundu(Namibia) and I will reside here for the next 6 months.

I connected with the locals and was informed that alcohol is one major concern in this town, especially amoungst the homeless. they beg for money or even send their kids out to beg and once they receive it, they spend it on booze instead of buying food and groceries for their family.

I am currently implementing a "Sustainable token bartering system", a system similar to being used in Somerset West, South Africa. The homeless can come work in the garden and after an hours work they receive a token... The token(or tokens) can represent anything from a meal to receiving usable products like toothpaste, washing powder or even a pair of shoes.

Within 8 days since arriving in this town, I have achieved the following:

1. Secured a piece of land to build a garden on.
2. Access to tools and material to structure and build a green house and a garden.
3. I have secured FREE accommodation and food for myself in exchange for fixing things up.
4. Organized a tractor to come plough the land free of charge.

---

Project: Sustainable bartering system

Who can benefit? The homeless or anyone who is struggling with basic needs

There are 5 rules. The rules are controlled by a "3 strike system". Once the person has had 3 strikes they will be banned from the project for one month. Everyone deserves a second ( even a 3rd) chance.

Rules:

1. Coming to work under the influence = strike
2. Violent behavior = strike
3. 3 X excuses = strike
4. Signing up for the next day and not turning up = strike
5. Any unethical behavior while on project = strike

1 token = 1 hour of work

FOOD

REWARD	AMOUNT YOU CAN DONATE ( US dollars)	AMOUNT OF TOKENS NEEDED
1 meal(breakfast)	1	1
2 meals(lunch)	2	2
3 meals (dinner)	3	3
Tin of food	1	1
500 g sugar	1	1
500 g rice	1	1
500 g split peas	1	1
500 g pasta	1	1
1 kg flour	1	1
3 X spices	1	1
5 kg Maize	2	1

COSMETICS

REWARD	AMOUNT YOU CAN DONATE ( US dollars)	AMOUNT OF TOKENS NEEDED
Toothbrush	1	1
Toothpaste	1	1
Washing powder	1	2
Dish washing liquid	1	1
Hand + body lotion	1	2
Vaseline	1	1
Roll -on deodorant	1	1
3 X toilet Paper	1	1
3 X Nappies	1	3
2 X Soap	1	1
5 X "ladies stuff"	1	1
1 X Plastic chair	5	5

By "DONATING IN BULK" you can directly impact the lives of families. Depending on product it can last anything from one week to a month. (Please see pictures...apologies not the best quality)

PRODUCT IN BULK	COST OF BULK PRODUCTS	FAMILIES OR PEOPLE IT AFFECTS
12 X Toothbrush	$5	12 X Individuals
12 X Toothpaste	$8	12 X Families
10 X 1 kg washing powder (box)	$20	10 X Families
5 liter Dish washing liquid	$11	5 X Families
6 X hand & body lotion	$10	6 X Families
6 X roll on deodorant	$5	6 X Individuals
144 X 100 ml Vaseline pots (box)	$168	144 X Families
12 X 100 ml Vaseline pots	$14	12 X Families
12 X soap	$4	6 X Families
50 kg flour (makes 100 breads)	$40	50 X Families
6 X Maize flour	$17	6 X Families
20 Liter cooking oil	$31	20 X families
50 X Nappies	$10	1 X baby (for month)
100 X toilet paper	$20	10 X Families
40 X 500 g Rice	$20	40 X Families
6 X 2 kg pasta	$15	6 X families
20 X 500 g sugar	$10	20 X families
12 X 40 ladies pantyliners	$16	lots of ladies
108 tubes of toothpaste (box)	$72	108 X Families
100 X Tins of Food	$120	X amount of families
5 X plastic chairs	$27	1 X family

*Please be so kind to comment on what products you would like me to spend your donations on*

I have also offered the locals Free Boot Camp classes 3 times a week in exchange that they bring me second hand clothing or shoes or any of the products that is part of the token system.

---

My skills include building, farming, fitness and harnessing the power of the Internet. We have a world of information right at our fingertips and I have stolen many ideas from YouTube that I will be implementing on every project that I start.

We are building a Green house for our garden and it will be constructed from timber, PVC piping and 2 liter bottles.

I am here to educate and teach and everything that I make or construct, I constantly tell my "students" the "thought process" so that they can learn from every single experience.

The objective of this project is to teach individuals on how to be independent and make them realize that each of them has it within themselves to change their own circumstances.

On Monday 28 November 2016 my first recruits will be joining me on the project. We will be collecting 2 liter bottles for the green house.

This Green house is going to be one massive structure and I am looking to collect about 3000 bottles. For every 50 bottles collected, my recruits will receive a token.

I constantly keep my FB page updated...if you would like to get in contact or if you keen to come join me on my journey for a bit, please message me on my FB page

---