VIRTUAL REALITY DESIGN HUB 

It all started in a small(ish) classroom on the first floor of the Bosco Institute of Social Work. The Director of the institute, Father Jerry Thomas, along with a friend and colleague Robert Ewers, an advisor from Childaid, Germany was able to see the vision and, more importantly, to believe in the cause. They extended a hand in support and solidarity. Their beliefs and philosophy were exactly aligned with the tenets of the Maker movement, ie that the power of a community working together, even when they are working separately is a powerful thing, failure was to be celebrated and shared, not feared and avoided, that young people had a responsibility to the communities they came from, and adopting their places in their communities was the ticket to a meaningful and dignified life.

Oh, and that having fun was priority numero uno.

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And so began the process of thinking globally and acting locally. The small steps and laborious process seemed frustratingly slow and limited at first. Virtual Reality is was relatively unknown and mostly considered to be too 'high-tech' for the everyday layperson. 

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Time is a confusing thing. Looking back now, what seemed like a slow, never-ending slog towards a goal that only existed in our collective imaginations, was in fact, the natural progression of an idea growing muscles and bounding along at a good pace. In fact, at the right pace. It was challenging but not overwhelming. Well, not overwhelmingly overwhelming. It also taught us all that limitation, be it financial or logistical, was a necessary pre-condition to being able to think creatively. 

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This is where the first VR design hub began. And, through the miracle of Virtual Reality, you can actually, literally visit this first Beta-tested version of our extended makerspace! 

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