I stumbled upon the site of this rather oddly named device and immediately thought of Afrigadget. This is a really clever solution to a very common problem. These “Hippo Rollers” would be perfect in Botswana’s rural villages where there is normally a centrally located water supply and the soft Kalahari sand would provide no navigational obstacles. Currently residents make the daily trip to fill a container with water and then carry the heavy load back. (Normally it is woman doing this task I might add). I have seen wheel barrows being used for this purpose but the deep sand makes it rather difficult. Of course the real solution is to provide running water to each home. I am sure I dont know all the facts but it seems to me that this should be possible in Botswana as the population is relatively small (1.8 million) and the Government of Botswana has plenty of cash.
Author: Erik Hersman
Erik is the owner of White African, a blog about technology and Africa. He is the co-founder of Zangu, a new web and mobile phone application that he hopes will change communication in Africa.
AfriGadget is another web project of his, not that he doesn't have enough of those already...
Karts for Rural Africa
Practical Action is a group that endevors to help solve problems in developing nations from the perspective of those in poor or rural areas. One of their projects is to help solve transportation needs.
The programme employs the following to improve transport:
- Introduction and improvement of affordable means of transport such as bicycles, trailers, animal carts, pack animal and push carts
- Development of local level transport services
- Improvement of transport infrastructure such as foot paths and tracks as well as roads
- Non-transport interventions to bring facilities closer to people e. water wells and grinding mills.
The karts shown here were designed to carry 180 liters of water. The owners make money by either hauling goods, or by leasing out the kart to others.
Podcast via FM Radio
(via Timbuktu Chronicles and KenyanPundit)
Broadcast Your Podcast (BYP) could allow Africans the ability to broacast their messages on a local FM channel. This technology allows podcasters the ability to reach the millions of listeners that don’t have access to the web. The BYP can broadcast up to 100 meters, is made to be rugged and portable, and takes easy-to-find 9 volt batteries.
Want to make your own? See Adam Hyde’s tutorial.
AfriGadget: Flickr Group
Have you taken a picture of some great African solution to everyday problems? Maybe you’ve got a picture of some other type of gadget that could be used in Africa.
Well, in order to get rid of the pictures in the right margin, we’re asking you to upload and tag your Flickr photos “AfriGadget”. A Flickr Group has been created at: http://flickr.com/groups/afrigadget/ and we’d love to have you start populating it when you have something to share.
Better yet, think of becoming a contributing author on AfriGadget! If you’re interested, email us at: main at afrigadget dot com
How-to Refurbish a Computer with Basic Tools
Kikuyumoja shows us how he fixed an old Dell Latitude using a simple cookie tin. True ingenuity, with an African flavor. (He first tried with a Tusker bottlecap, but it proved to small)
Check out KikuyuMoja’s realm for the full story.