Social Space (Issue 8, 2016-2017) - The Social Finance Issue

SOCIAL STRATOSPHERE
Hot Topics and Happenings
in Social Innovation
Dream Homes,
One (Lego) Brick
at a Time
Build your own Lego house and live in it?
Why not? To alleviate the strain of
urbanisation in Phnom Penh, social
entrepreneur Kongngy Hav set up
My Dream Home, a social enterprise
that aims to revolutionise Cambodia’s
housing sector. It produces lego-like
bricks made from soil and sand, which
are both environmentally friendly and
affordable. Thanks to My Dream Home,
young Cambodians can now build their own
homes at a fraction of the regular cost.
Children in Cambodia, 2013 by Sodanie Chea, via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
https://www.facebook.com/mydreamhomekh
What’s Up, Doc?
Young children often experience anxiety at the prospect
of seeing doctors and getting injections. To address this
issue, Esther Wang, founder of the social enterprise
Joytingle, came up with Rabbit Ray—a patient-engagement
device that teaches children about medical procedures
such as vaccinations and blood-taking in a fun and
educational way. For Rabbit Ray, Joytingle bagged the
top prize of US$15,000 at a global innovation competition
organised by Shell. It retails at S$280.
http://rabbit-ray.joytingle.com
Buyers and Cellars
Californian wine company One Hope has
come up with a sustainable business
model whereby half of its profits are
directed towards various non-profit
organisations. Since it was founded in
2007, One Hope customers get to decide
where their money goes—by selecting the
colour of their wine bottles. Silver ones
buy meals for the hungry, red bottles
go towards fighting heart disease, pink
combat breast cancer, and so on.
By working their social giveback into
their business model, One Hope has,
among other things, helped plant over
50,000 trees and provided about one
million meals to the needy.
https://www.onehopewine.com
Image of wine glass via Flickr
(CC BY-SA 2.0)
Image courtesy of Joytingle
4 Social Space ISSUE EIGHT