The San Francisco Chapter's 1 Burrows Pocket Park, after years of development, recently broke ground, and is well underway with lots of promise as a prototype for similar dead end streets in San Francisco's Portola neighborhood.

We met Ruth Wallace of the Portola Neighborhood Association on site March 27th, as she and a member of the Friends of the Urban Forest, figure out where to plant trees on the slope above the park's future bioswale. She introduces the project and what it will mean for the neighborhood in this 1 minute video.

Wednesday, March 27, noon: David Merkoski presents UX and Brand Design, and the virtues and challenges of storytelling.

More games are ON in South Africa as another Football for Hope Center, QwaQwa, is complete. Centre host loveLife moved into the building February 07, 2013, however now that the accompanying football pitch is fully installed, the organization can run their programs. LoveLife tackles gender inequity, the spread of HIV, and social exclusion, leveraging football as means of gathering and learning.

Design Fellow George Kinuthia, who worked with community partners, developed the design, and oversaw construction of the Centre, sent us his insight from the opening day:

On this beautiful summers day, the humble, mostly quiet settlement of Thibela was graced by yet another notable milestone event - the Football for Hope (FFH) Centre opening ceremony....

You may remember how last summer, damaging floods in Manila started a movement. We raised seed funding to launch a Manila Chapter, headed by an old colleague known for school buildings made from bottles. He's recently written us on progress of the Manila Chapter in its first six months.

The bottle theme hasn't abated an iota - and we're thrilled to see this construction system engaging the community and end users in a recently opened Center for the Aged, captured very nicely in a 3 minute video.

Another Football for Hope center, Mogalakwena (aka Mokopane), opened its doors (and its turf) on March 08, 2013. About 250 people attended the event on International Women’s Day, and the first players to hit this field -- all girls.

当団体の石巻にある現地オフィス「まきビズ」はこの度フェイスブックページとツイッターのアカウントを開設しました。是非ご覧ください。もちろん「いいね」してくださいね。ツイッターは@MakiBizです。

Our reconstruction center in Ishinomaki, MakiBiz, is now more connected than ever - check out their Facebook page! Don't forget to "Like" us! Follow MakiBiz on Twitter @MakiBiz.

Haiti team Construction Services Manager Natalie Desrosiers has a moment to rest after the Haiti Parters Children's Academy dedication to catch us up on the past six months of construction. From composting toilets to structural steel trusses, to sitework and a huge dedication turnout, Natalie provides a visual play-by-play...with help from Haiti Partners Instagramming.