06 June 2007

Day 3: Morning reports from the blogs

TEDGlobal's attending bloggers offer great roundups of the two morning sessions, called "Tales of Invention" and "Health and Heroism." Africa abounds in creative energy and innovation, a point made yesterday by Kwabena Boahen and elaborated today by two panels of inventors and health workers.

As always, Ethan Zuckerman has the speaker-by-speaker accounts.

Mweshi writes about finding innovation in new places -- and in places where, simply, no one has bothered to look. As he says: "We have so many great inventors on the continent, and yet we do not have any manufacturing plants":

What stood most about [Bola Olabisi's] talk was her showcasing of lo-tech inventions by some of Africa’s up and coming women inventors and innovators. Definitely an inspiration for a lot young girls and women on the continent and the world over...
... William Kamkwamba created a windmill in Malawi using locally available materials after reading a book called “Using Energy” by Atwater, M. et. Al. His main materials consisted of:
* old bicycle parts
* wooden poles
* plastic pipes
* an old car battery for energy storage, etc. ...
... Ernest Madu put his mouth where his mouth was by starting the Heart Institute of the Caribbean, a facility that has brought world-class medical services to the West Indies at 10% of what it costs to run and provide similar services in the continental United States. His argument is that through tele-medicine technology and education, we can improve the livelihoods of millions of people in the developing world.

Afromusing's detailed roundup of "Tales of Invention" captured a short talk by another TEDGlobal blogger, Erik Hersman of White African and Afrigadget:

Next, there was an excellent 3 minute presentation by Erik Hersman of Afrigadget -- the slides showcased some of the stories covered by afrigadget team, demonstrating how Africans solve problems every day by making tools and using local materials. The main idea he shared is that -- Ingenuity born of necessity. The quotable from him is that **Where others see trash, africa recycles**

Hersman writes about his encounters with two inventors: William Kamkwamba, a young man who built his family a windmill out of scrap parts, and Moussa Keita of Geekcorps:

There are two individuals here at TEDGlobal that it has been a great honor to meet. They are inventors, on the ground in Africa, creating solutions that will work in their area. These are great success stories that need to be celebrated, encouraged and supported. ...

Don at fifthculture says:

Today was about practical solutions and something else, something more ephemeral, transcendent. Under the heading practical solutions Seyi Oyesola pointed out that there is no system in place in most African countries for events such as accidents or chronic illness. His talk was titled "Beyond HIV and Malaria" and in it he stressed the need to get healthy, not just focus on HIV and AIDS.

David McQueen took this great pic of inventor and chemist Moses Makayoto, who is working to focus African innovation on local materials, local solutions, and modernized production.

And then there's Corneille E.N. Ewango -- for whom we need to invent a new term that combines "scientist," "hero," and frankly, "hearththrob." A sort of Indiana Jones of botany, Ewango literally put his life on the line to protect the Congo forest. Ethan has the details.

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