Hello Café supports young girls to open their minds, create opportunities, and gain confidence to help those around them.
According to Statistics New Zealand, there are over 80,000 more girls in New Zealand than boys, yet girls are outnumbered in every innovative, problem-solving industry - this is a worldwide issue, and there’s no good reason for it. We want to change this.
We work on girl power. Hello Café is a place where we encourage girls to think about issues that really affect the daily lives of people around the world. Creative freedom is encouraged, the smallest idea can sometimes make the biggest difference.
Money should never limit the ability to think and learn – Hello Café workshops are 100% free. No catch, just great ideas. Our aim is to help and support young girls who wouldn’t usually get the chance to take part in programmes like this.
The space where you work affects your mood. We understand this. Every girl should feel comfortable to join the conversation in a relaxed and fun environment.
Our workshops are run by fully qualified female engineers, who’ll make sure every young girl gets the most out of their experience. Openness, approachability, and friendliness are traits you will find in each of our ambassadors.
We’re all about interaction and giving things a shot. We don’t want you feeling left out, so none of our workshops will have more than 15 girls – you’ll be part of a close group of girls where you can make new friends.
Each of our workshops has been carefully crafted by important people around the world. We are proud to have worked with industry leaders and organisations like Engineers Without Borders NZ to develop Hello Café.
Everyone should have access to clean water, food and education. These are basic human rights. Sadly a big percentage of people go without these basic needs. What can you do to help improve the lives of others?
Diesel is a very dirty and harmful method of generating electricity, yet it’s commonly used in villages all around the world. How can we help them swap to more healthy and environmentally friendly methods to generate electricity?
Imagine what it would be like being stranded at school with every road blocked or broken by a recent earthquake. How do you fix this? You’ll be in charge of designing transport systems in Kenya and Newtown NZ so that people don’t get stranded in the event of a disaster.
Every year, 250,000 tonnes of plastic end up in New Zealand landfills - that’s the same weight as 42,000 elephants. In countries like Nepal, plastic is valuable as they use it to make new products. Let’s find out how we can turn plastic rubbish into something useful.
Many people around the world don’t have access to clean water, but there are some simple but effective methods to help. You'll be tasked with cleaning up water for communities in Vietnam, Samoa, Vanuatu and New Zealand using sand, cotton, cheesecloth and a few other materials.
In 2015 there were 59.5 million people displaced from their homes due to natural disasters and war. Temporary shelters are needed now more than ever. Your challenge is to design and make a shelter that is dry and safe for them to use.
Flooding can have devastating effects on people’s lives. How can we help prepare them for the worst? Set on the imaginary island of Watu, you’ll make a model home able to withstand the effects of flooding - then we’ll test it by blasting the homes with water.
Have you ever imagined living in a house made out of mud? Over the half the world’s population live or work in buildings made out of dirt and mud. You’ll get learn how these are built and even construct your own.
Imagine what it’d be like not being able to charge your phone or watch your favourite TV show. 80% of Kenyans don’t have access to the electricity grid. Find out how they utilise natural resources such as wind, sun, water, ocean currents and the earth to generate electricity.
Have you ever been busting for a loo but can’t find one? Due to the lack of toilets in developing countries, roughly three children are killed every two minutes because of diarrhoea. You’re going to design better toilets to help the lives of people in Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Kenya.
We’ve searched the length of the country to find inspiring female role models that want to share their awesome experiences.
Each workshop is led by ambassadors who will make sure that every girl gets the most out of her time at Hello Café.
Join in the conversation at our Hello Café workshops.
Each workshop focuses on an issue from around the world that needs an innovative and simple solution. We will cover things that affect local and global communities, from recycling plastics and building relief shelters through to clean water access and designing a loo.
We'll be launching the workshops across NZ in 2017. Check out our Facebook page @hellocafenz for future Hello Cafes!
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