Another Somewhat Quieter Internet Sensation in Africa

Posted on March 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

A  story about an ex-Ugandan warlord and an American NGO’s quest to have him brought to justice has been making a lot of headlines lately. Impressive as the social media effort is, interestingly enough it doesn’t seem to be engaging a lot of Africans. That might be because they’re too busy doing something else….

Countries in Africa have long been on the outskirts of the internet revolutions. No longer. Deep-sea fiber optic cables are making their way to the farthest shores of the continent. And cell phone towers are springing up all over the place which has prompted a exponential growth in cell phone sales and connectivity.

This is also bringing unprecedented opportunities to small businesses, and particularly in rural areas. A terrific example of this is taking place in Ivory Coast where these pictures (from the BBC) tell the story best of what can happen when people get hold of technology and more importantly, gain the opportunity to get fair prices on their goods.

And this is just one story of thousands that are quietly taking place across the continent (and yes, worldwide too) as poor farmers are able, with the help of 21st century tech, to monitor and negotiate fair prices for the goods they so painstakingly produce.

The international organization behind this idea, RONGEAD, works with a local organization to promote development rather than just aid. So, while many Westerners have suddenly learned about the evils of an ex-Ugandan warlord through social media and are busy being appalled, at the same time Africans are taking their own future into their hands with the same technology and moving forward into a more prosperous, peaceful and safe future.

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather McC

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What Price Education?

Posted on March 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

The answer to the above question usually comes up as somewhere between “too much” and “way too much.” It’s kind of strange that, today, when we are both in possession of more knowledge than ever in the history of the planet and it is becoming more and more accessible each hour of the day, that, at the same time, the cost seems to keep going up along with our unwillingness to pay, both seem to be trending upward every day.

And yet, maybe education costs nothing at all except for time? Trends in recent technology have given us the Khan Academy, which has burgeoned into an international sensation. And now YouTube is on-board with EDU – YouTube, making college-level lectures accessible from the top academicians in the world and also free. In addition, MIT has announced that it will be trialling a purely “automated” course online, accessible from anywhere in the world, and will actually give credit for this. In an age of ever-increasing student population, demand for the best education, and limited physical classroom place, this opens up even more possibilities.

But how do you value all this? More importantly, how do those people involved in educating the future leaders, scientists, poets, engineers, etc… of the world, get paid for what they do, when lots of what they do can now be found for free?

Maybe the kids can all just educate themselves? (As these street kids in India, somehow managed to do.)

I don’t think so. I believe the true purpose of good teaching is now clearer than ever before. We can’t just stuff kids heads full of facts anymore, push them through tests and grade levels, and then toss them out into the “real” world where they have a piece of paper that will assure them, at the very least, a job at a factory, fast-food outlet, retail company, or in an office somewhere.

Why not? Because those jobs are disappearing. Fast. Really fast. The robots are coming. (They’re flying, zooming, clicking and clacking into our lives, and even folding shirts.) Those basic jobs are going away forever.

There is really only one choice for us, not just as Americans, but as humans, to survive and thrive. And that’s to teach our kids to innovate, create, engineer, design, explore, shape, tool, express, write, sing, dance, act, even play, their way into the future. The future holds a multitude of jobs for scientists, engineers, craftspeople, writers, designers, architects, chefs, gardeners, and teachers, but not a whole lot of positions will be open for line jobs on the factory floor folding shirts.

How we teach our children to survive and thrive in the world to come will be largely dependent on our teachers. That skill is certainly worth paying however much it is worth. Because it’s priceless.

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather McC

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Eradicating Deadly Diseases Forever

Posted on February 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

Something really cool is happening in India. Something that most people haven’t taken much notice of but which is truly astonishing and worthy of celebration across the globe. The deadly disease of polio has almost completely been eradicated, and India may be declared disease free within the next few weeks. This is a remarkable achievement for a country once deemed an epicenter of the disease.

Is it important that we ask ourselves: what worked? The disease is still present in three countries — Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria — and the battle against will need to continue. Partly an international effort, partly a determined effort by the government itself, and a lot of money through various organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Teams of volunteers from Rotary International also made it their mission to finish polio off once and for all.

India’s intensive effort even has extended to setting up polio vaccination stalls at the closest train station to the Pakistan border. Perhaps this self-protective step may even help Pakistan in its own steps to eradicate the disease.

Uganda Man with Polio Using Flip-Flops on Hands to Walk

It would be wonderful if the world would stop and acknowledge India’s incredible feat but it seems we are too distracted with other things. However, I do fervently hope that we do not forget the dangers of this terrible disease and relax our guard. Fortunately, these brave volunteers and health workers have worked tirelessly to make polio history, and for a while, I have high hopes that we will not easily forget.

Thanks for stopping by!

Heather McC

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Can Tech Both Old and New Avert the Coming Aquapalyse?

Posted on February 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

We all know it’s coming: the Impending Doom of the Global Water Crisis when we all end up in the “Mad Max” world where clean water is more valuable than gold. Many in the media and the environmental community are strongly on this dramatic bandwagon and we are bombarded with messages presaging the coming “Aquacalypse.”

And, yes, we are certainly facing some pretty daunting problems worldwide as our population increases, demand for arable farmland goes up, and certain industries (the new and as yet, unknown practices of the gas “fracking” industry come to mind) and countries (China is getting slightly better but recent spills indicate there are still massive problems), seem to be determined to ignore the issue.

But countering this dismal view of our blue planet’s future are some organizations and people working rather more quietly towards a better managed water future.

A very old technology as well as a simple, cheap and smart one is being used again as described here, Peru finds new solution to a very old problem. Fogtraps have been around for a long time (and even, apparently, in the distant future, making it into Frank Herbert’s epic Dune novels!) so it’s not really a “new” solution but it is ingenious, and it does make me wonder what other wisdom from ancient cultures we have not yet discovered. (Peru has a relatively decent rate, 84%, of access to clean water for its citizens, although, as the article says, they need to do better.)

In more recent years, a movement towards better management of our water resources with technology is also taking place. An Israeli company, TaKaDu, is using the latest in software technology to eliminate water waste and streamline existing public water infrastructure. One interesting quote from TaKaDu’s website says a lot: “Water loss, sometimes referred to as Non-Revenue Water (NRW), amounts to 25-30% of the world’s water production.” A lot of this is lost due to easily fixed problems like leaky pipes. Maybe one of the best solutions to the world’s water problems is as simple as calling your plumber.

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather McC

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Ending Hunger

Posted on February 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Wouldn’t it be great to end hunger worldwide once and for all? For a long time, this seemed like an impossible dream. Then, in the latter half of the 20th century, the Green revolution in agriculture began, aid organizations began to look at what really worked, and infant mortality began dropping. Today, a little over half the people who were dying of hunger or hunger-related causes 40 years ago, are lost each day. And that’s with a significant increase in world population!

So what about Somalia? This is about as broken a country as you can find. But, on February 3, the U.N. announced that the famine was “over” (though acknowledging that huge amounts of work still needed to be done). The rains had returned, and people began returning to their homes to plant crops and put their lives back together as best they could.

What seems to have been overlooked in the whole crisis by the media is that, despite the large numbers of deaths and the initial slow response of the international community, the reaction, when it happened, was actually quite quick and effective. Refugee camp space with neighboring countries, Kenya and Ethiopia, was secured; aid organizations even reached out to Al-Shabab and succeeded in getting into previously off-limits territory; the capital, Mogadishu, was re-taken by African Union troops, and the Somali government, previously in exile, moved back in.

Just a couple of decades ago, Ethiopia was enveloped by famine and it took years to get under control. Whatever the international community’s failings this time around, the fact that this famine was relatively under control in less than a year, speaks volumes about changes in the approach of the aid community. Lessons were learned and lives were saved in Somalia, which gives me much new hope that we really can end global hunger and poverty.

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather McC

P.S. For a great piece on current trends which are heading towards ending hunger, see this excellent summary by The Hunger Project’s John Coonrod!

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