Mhani Gingi at the SA Innovation Summit
16th –18th September 2014
Cape Town Stadium
The SA Innovation Summit has become a noteworthy South African event. The event aspires to raise awareness in innovation, facilitate collaboration among multi-helix actors and contribute to building the national system of innovation. These aims will in essence amplify South Africa’s competitive edge and accelerate economic growth.
Mhani Gingi was sponsored by The Summit to become one of its exhibitors. The Mhani Gingi team were delighted by this fact and made a promise to The Summit and ourselves that Mhani Gingi was going to be a fun, inspiring, and innovative exhibitor.
We can proudly announce that we kept our promises.
The Summit was a fantastic experience, showcasing innovation and stimulating new ideas. The event had a great balance between informative speeches and fun performances. For an event focusing on innovation, one expects to be surprised. And this event did not let anyone of us down in that regard. We witnessed everything from connected fire detectors that help prevent shack fires, to schoolbags for children with incorporated solar power for after dark homework. The Mhani Gingi Team were truly amazed by the interest around social innovation…which is ultimately what Mhani Gingi is all about.
So what did Mhani Gingi do at The Summit?
In fact, a better question might be: What did Mhani Gingi not do?
Via a wonderful joint effort, Mhani Gingi ended up with a colourful and creative stand infused with Hope Soap soaps and Fettle Fox pottery, as well as earthy elements from Jamie’s Vertical Gardens, and the worm hammock. Not to mention the medicinal plants and our network members’ ecological fruits and vegetables. We got very positive feedback about our stand. It proved itself to be a great meeting point for the whole team to interact with many interesting people from all spheres of society. We strongly believe that some of the contacts we made during The Summit will lead to fruitful and interesting collaborations in the future.
(Photo: Mhani Gingi’s intern, Deidre Huising, was an amazing driving force throughout The Summit. Here she is at our stand)
The Mhani Gingi team had decided beforehand that we were going to be an active force during The Summit. Therefore we were not content with only having a stand. We used all our creativity in order to connect and interact with our surroundings, ultimately ending up in a cavalcade of speeches on stage and dancing routines. Both TV and radio also interviewed us. We did our best to engage with everyone at The Summit and we especially loved to witness how the youth and students got enthusiastic by our message. Mhani Gingi’s founding director, Lillian Masebenza, provided an excellent platform for the whole team to elevate from, daring to task risks in seek of reward – and that platform was and is based on love. Love for sharing, collaborating, uplifting and connecting.
(Photos: To the left, Lillian Masebenza was as inspiring offstage as onstage. She embodies true passion. To the right, Lillian shows that true women empowerment and solidarity is not only her job – she lives it. Here she gives away seedlings and soil to an inspirational woman working at The Summit).
Oh, and did we mention that Mhani Gingi got second prize for best exhibitor at The Summit?!
Lastly, from the Mhani Gingi team to all of you: Thank you for your support! We are truly grateful and we are looking forward to hearing from you soon.