Edayis's Blog (10)

I am working on creating an online network for the real-world network of
appropriate technology engineers. I haven't charged anything for doing
this work, as it is a labor of love, but their may be an opportunity to
barter my service for something else in the near future.

Where value and desire exist, humans will ALWAYS find a way to obtain the objects of their desires and values. It's common even in prisons, where almost every social privilege is taken away from inmates. Inmates create new currencies INSIDE prison walls to exchange goods and services such as cigarettes, weapons, and physical protection. Here is a paragraph from an article I read that expands on this concept:



From… Continue

One of my ideas would be to turn off the water supply in individual residences, and only have rations of water available from a centralized location in a city or town. Even if for a day, people would get the experience of having to walk a distance for a ration of water, and even for flushing their toilets!



Never mind that the water would already be clean for consumption, while most of the world cannot afford that luxury, at least the inconvenience of having to walk to get the water… Continue

This past weekend I attended the 4th annual symposium of the International Network on Appropriate Technology. Many presentations were made, and among them were various water purification systems. One that stood out was a solar-powered Ice Maker that turned water into clean ice, so that people in rural and remote parts of the world can refrigerate food and milk. The ability to have refrigerated food and milk also helps to generate local economies, as people can sell more of their food products… Continue

(From http://theaquaduct.blogspot.com/)



The Aquaduct is a pedal-powered concept vehicle that transports, filters, and stores water for the developing world. The functional model

was designed and constructed over a three-week period for the Innovate

or Die contest hosted by Specialized Bicycles, Google, and Goodby,

Silverstein and Partners.



The vehicle seeks to address the… Continue

I found this fascinating quote today:

The regime of Meles Zenawi is one of the most favourite clients of the global aid industry on which its existence is hinging. The nature of the industry’s involvement in Ethiopia is such that it has become an international force posing a formidable challenge to the Ethiopian movement for democracy and freedom. Therefore, Ethiopians need to explore and devise better and effective…

Continue

To all EVOKE agents,



In a few weeks, world leaders will convene for a "conference" on the economy of Africa. Although these types of meetings

are fraught with high politics and elitist world views, they are

planning on implementing online technology this time around called, the

" Davos Debate Corner", where they will address questions from ordinary

people.



1) I have posted this video,… Continue

Although we generally have an over-abundance of food in the USA, the issue is more about the distribution of food. I used to work at a Wh*** Foods store, where I was sickened with the amount of food that was thrown away. Dumpsters full of food that went bad, behind the store's gallery of decadence where foodies indulged themselves with high end food products. It was a difficult time working there. Thing is, everyone deserves to have good food. Everyone deserves food period.



So even in… Continue

This organization is really innovative. The problem with the way poverty has historically been addressed is that rather than acknowledging the social and economic factors that contribute to the issue, charities and NGOs have "come to save the day", with ineffective aid money. Dambisa Moyo writes about this problem in her book, Dead Aid.



Rather than empowering those in poverty to have a voice in their own development, aid money is pushed into corrupt government bureaucracies while… Continue

1. "Innovate on existing platforms (We’ve got bicycles and mobile phones in Africa, plus lots of metal to weld. Innovate using that stuff, rather than bringing in completely new tech."

When I read this post I thought of my work in a different chapter of my life, when I worked with a kick-ass grassroots collective that lead workshops with communities literally all around the world about how to build community radio stations by using the existing resources that community… Continue