HOT DESKS!

What started out as a high school project has turned into an engine for change – Talita’s MiDesk invention has so far helped 2000 children in SA 

- MELON RADEBE

IT LOOKS like a cross between a schoolbag and a carry-on suitcase, brightly coloured with wheels and a handle. But the compact little case is anything but simple and its design has been a game-changer for children in rural areas.

Thanks to an innovative young woman, this schoolbag transforms into a desk with a chair, a lamp and a portable USB charger.

The MiDesk is the brainchild of Talita Boodhram (23) from Pretoria. It started as a high school science project seven years ago. Talita and her parents, Farana and Minesh, have since transformed her idea into a start-up business and have provided 2000 units to kids in rural areas free of charge.

“It’s a proud moment for me to see that something that started out as a project in the kitchen at home is now out there making a difference and changing a lives,” Talita says. “If you try writing without a desk or a flat surface you quickly realise what a big difference it can make to a child.”

The kids also find it exciting when they get to see how the desk works. “Their reactions when you demonstrate what the school bag turns into and when you switch the solar light on, is just the most amazing reaction,” she says. “To have a child go ‘whoa’ is fulfilling and motivates me to get more MiDesks out there.”

Talita’s parents, who are both business-people in the mining industry, founded MiDesk Global in 2018, to make and distribute the desks.

They found sponsors to fund the production of the bags and the first 135 were handed out in 2021 on World Literacy Day to kids from Grades 1 to 3 at a no-fee school in the North West.

“It was the most amazing experience,” Talita says.