AfriGadget

When Dipesh Pabari of Camps International sent me pictures of these laptop bags and bottle can holders, I just knew it would be something you AfriGadget fans would appreciate.

The fact that discarded waste is converted to something very useful… Its definitely AfriGadget. I asked Sander Den Haring a few questions about these cool products.

How did you begin your company?

I was born in a small town called Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands but only lived there till i was 5. At that point my family moved to Yanbu, Saudi Arabia where i grew up and ended up spending 16 years. Yanbu is an industrial town situated on the Red Sea and i believe that a lot of the what, who, why and where i am is as a result of this. From the very beginning of our time in Yanbu my parents began a weekly outing to the beach which my brother and i eagerly anticipated every Friday (weekend is Thursday and Friday in Saudi Arabia). Once at the beach we would go out and snorkel virgin reefs in the Red Sea and be stunned by the serenity and tranquility each and every time. My love for the aquatic realm and the conservation of said realm has derived from these expeditions. It led me to complete a Masters in Marine Biology from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in 2000 so that i could work in the field of marine conservation.

In 2004 i moved to Kenya where i have lived ever since. I began work for Buccaneer Diving as a base manager and soon added on the role of resident marine biologist. Under this capacity i was able to instigate a snorkeling program for some of the underprivileged local government schools in Mombasa (Schools to the Sea program) and an artificial reef program in the Mombasa Marine Park. Both these projects had local partners involved as well. I eventually finished full time work with Buccaneer Diving in June 2009 as the Operations Manager of Buccaneer Diving Kenya and currently fulfill only a part-time quality control position within all of Buccaneer Diving (Kenya and Zanzibar).

I really enjoy thinking of ways to create environmental attitudes and the recycled wetsuit product line has been great in achieving this thus far! We are still coming up with new products and refining the existing products. There are no limits barring our creativity.

What was the inspiration for re-using the diving wetsuits?

In the dive industry wetsuits have a finite lifetime after which they become ineffective (have lost their insulating capability), or they become too hole-ridden to use in a professional business. In the past, these wetsuits were discarded. This seemed an obvious waste of material (as for the sake of a few holes, large patches of usable neoprene were being thrown out), so Buccaneer Diving began looking at what could these patches of neoprene be used for. Traditionally we have used smaller bits of neoprene for various “odd jobs” (eg. snorkel holders, buffering/padding material, informal packaging, patch material for other wetsuits), but these “odd jobs” required small amounts that did not need frequent replacement. So we started thinking if there was anything else that could be made and the obvious item was laptop bags. The bottle/can holders soon followed suit as the sleeves and legs of wetsuits already had the obvious shape (they just needed a bottom added). We are currently making the products more of an “item” and also looking into how we can incorporate the production of these products to benefit other charities. these exciting developments will be happening within the next few weeks we hope so definitely watch this space (it’ll be worth it!).

When did you start selling the bags/bottle covers etc?

This is a new venture and its been active for the last seven months, so still very young. We are looking at various other items we can make from the recycled neoprene (placemats and coasters might be possibilities).

How much do the items cost?

Currently the laptop bags sell for Ksh 2500 (about 32 usd) and the bottle/can holders ksh 350 (about 5 usd)

Are they made in Kenya/Mombasa?

They are indeed produced in Mombasa. Again, the story behind the production will unfold in the next few weeks and its worth the wait.

Where can people order? Can they pay by MPESA (Mobile Money)? (Just kidding, but hey!)

These products can be purchased at the Buccaneer Diving base at the Voyager Beach resort, Mombasa. We have not yet explored the use of MPESA in the purchase of these products as they are still young, but who knows what the future will bring. We can also arrange for products to be sent via courier if people are unable to visit the Buccaneer Diving base. Sander can be reached via email sander at green-water [dot] org.

Zambikes is a project that retrofits bicycles by adding a trailer. This is especially useful in rural Zambia (and other parts of Africa) where there aren’t many cars to get the sick to hospital, much less an ambulance.

Watch how the ‘Zambulance’ retrofit is made…

The ‘ZamCart’
A multipurpose trailer

Interestingly, the Zambike project sells and outfits bikes under the local brand name of ‘Amaka Sana’, the Bemba word for ‘very strong’ .

To learn more: Zambikes.org and follow @ACIRFA_Zambikes on twitter

via Timbuktu Chronicles

Spotted in Nandihills, Kenya January 2009.
I saw one just like this in Bungoma, but was not quick enough with the camera to get a good shot. Turns out Zain, a major mobile phone service operator is using these as pre-fab offices in rural areas.

Spotted in Nairobi, January 2008
At Lagoon, a bar/nyama choma (roast meat) joint.

Got more in your archives? If so, please comment.

Taken in the Rift Valley province of Kenya, this picture shows two young boys with their toy tractor. Notice the use of discarded plastic and a few nails. Simply ingenious, simply Afrigadget!

This picture was submitted by Bankelele, one of Kenya’s top bloggers. Thank you very much Bankelele.

If you would like to submit images, please tag them with ‘afrigadget’ in flickr.

Jim is a musician, videographer and member of the Kenyan animation trio Just-A-Band. He needed a consistent light source for his video shoots, and as he puts it…
1. the sun is REALLY powerful
2. but very unpredictable

So he decided to create his own lighting equipment from easily available components that included:

1. 2 cardboard boxes (20/-)
2. 15 bulb holders (approx. 150/- each)
3. energy saving bulbs (the 23-watt ‘cool daylight’ types – 450/- each. Ouch.)
4. a roll of aluminium foil (approx. 200/-)
5. lots of cellotape/masking tape

With the help of his friend Kevin who is an electrician, he went from this

and

To

Contrast his total cost of approximately 7000 Kenya shillings (about $113) with Tungsten lights being sold in Nairobi, Kenya for 20,000 Ksh (about $320), this is a neat DIY project that not only saved him some money, but also shows the African Ingenuity we are always excited about.

Check out more pics and the rest of his post on his blog.

We hope you enjoy these pictures of toys from Kenya and Ghana. They are a sampling of the pictures on the AfriGadget flickr group. The materials used to make these toys are scrap metal, tins, wire, and pieces of leather.

Wire Bikes

Ghana
Colorful bikes

Spray can wheels

Red Dynamo

Wire Motor Bike from Kenya

Cars and Tractor

Tin Cars from Ghana

From Kenya:
Wire Landrover

Wire Tractor

Our friend Ken Banks of Kiwanja.net and NGOMobile wrote about the challenge of mobile phone charging in off grid Africa; noting that this solar powered charger could be one of the solutions.

I quite agree; two years ago i bought a similar solar powered charger that cost $99. The charger pictured above is made by G24 innovations, and costs $20. This is just the kind of technology that AfriGadget likes, because it is not only quite handy to have, but it is empowering and well suited for off-grid rural areas in Africa,  California or anywhere with sunlight for that matter. Ken explains it best…

In some rural areas, where the lack of reliable mains power might be the difference between making it worth owning a mobile or not, a small solar panel such as this could be a deal clincher. Of course, solar energy has been touted as a solution for charging mobile devices for years now, but what’s interesting about this is the cost. Suddenly, it actually seems possible. And by possible, what I really mean is affordable.

Read more about the device.

This one is not exactly AfriGadget, more like an AfriToy, but we love the story nonetheless. The video reporter Ruud Elmendorp visited the small village of Tabaaka, near Kakamega, in western province Kenya. Below is a video showing the master carvers at work, creating soapstone figures of The Simpsons characters. The carvings are available for online purchase through the CraftVillage website. Please click on the image below to view the video.

Al-Jazeera also covered the story last year, focusing on the economic boost of the Simpsons movie on the village, as it saw an increase in the number of orders for the carvings. It is the confluence of popular culture and African handicraft that we particularly enjoyed when it came to this story. If we had our way we would have soapstone carvings of Strongbad! One day.

PS: AfriGadget will have a monthly feature on The World Technology Podcast, which you can subscribe to here. The first issue is now posted. Many thanks to Clark Boyd, the AfriGadget team is quite excited about this.

This is a continuation of Erik’s post on African Modular machines.

The video below shows how the machines are used in wood workshops to make design cutouts, carve out pieces for furniture and to split planks of wood. It is essentially the same machine pieces, motor, pulleys and frame, just customized for different uses. The customization is done in a small industry locally known as Jua Kali or Gikomba, where entrepreneurs like Mr. John Chege purchase them for use in small workshops like this.

When playing the video, please mute it, there is lots of noise from the machines.

Read the rest of this entry »

Motorola plans to expand its business in rural areas of Africa. How? Using wind and solar powered base stations. Afrigadget previously wrote about this technology being implemented in Kenya, below is a short video showing that it is also in use in Namibia.

Via ApproVideo