Stuck in a warzone

You've probably been following the ridiculous david-vs-goliath war going on between Georgia and Russia. I think war is dumb and should be used as an absolutely last resort. And stupid men should not rule countries, because they go into war so wantonly...like its a G.I Joe game.

I just read a particularly touching note on a blog somewhere. A Georgian actress wrote this journal entry appeal that ended up on a blog. Its very raw and real. She, like many other innocent people, is stuck in the middle of this war that she had nothing to do with (like all stupid wars).

Run Lornah Run

Lornah Kiplagat, Kenyan (now Dutch) long-distance runner (photo courtesy: PBS/Frontline)

The Olympics are on right now, much to my own delight. I love watching and getting into the Olympic spirit. I always get annoyed with the U.S media's obsession with their own athletes and how many medals they win, but atleast they show the Olympics! I remember being on assignment in South Asia during the 2006 winter olympics, and I was furious that I couldn't catch the opening ceremony. Ten channels were dedicated to cricket highlights (a most useless game, in my opinion), without a single allusion to the world's greatest sport show!

For me the greatest thing is seeing female athletes from developing countries. Women aren't encouraged to play sports or compete in many of these cultures. In fact, they are often discouraged. As I have been told many times myself, "what's the point of girls playing sports...they only get married and work in the kitchen! Sports are for boys only." I still don't get that logic...but whatever! If women end up becoming sports legends, its often because they did it on their own or with the help of a small (1-3 people) supportive group, against the wishes of a vast majority of the people around them. So even to be on a world stage, without medaling, is a HUGE deal! I wish more media stories captured these struggles and celebrated these women.

Back in 2004, PBS profiled one such amazing athlete, a Kenyan athlete by the name of Lornah. After competing successfully in a series of long distance events, she took her money back home to invest in developing the next generation of female Kenyan runners. Its a beautiful story! Watch it here (http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/kenya/)

Imitating Photosynthesis, a breakthrough in Storage technology

Nature's most efficient energy producer and storage device: the green leaf (photo courtesy: Luca5)

Nature's most efficient energy maker?? The green leaf. In a process called photosynthesis, the leaf, uses chlorophyll to capture solar energy, water and carbon dioxide, and efficiently converts it into oxygen, water and starch/sugar. The leaf distributes the sugar/starch within the plant system, releases the oxygen for the world to breathe, and either keeps or discharges the water.

Oxygen is that thing that we breathe in and need to survive, and it is a great fuel source.

For years, scientists have tried unsuccessfully to mimic the green leaf. Then last week, renowned MIT Professor of Chemistry, Dan Nocera, announced a breakthrough. He had finally found a way to artificially mimic the leaf. I think he deserves (and frankly, he just might get it!) a Nobel Prize for this research. Its THAT big!

Why?? Free energy for the world...

To quote PSFK:

Scientists at MIT have developed what may be the holy grail of of solar power. In the past, the problem with solar was keeping the electricity flowing at night. Storing excess energy for use after sundown has traditionally been really expensive and highly inefficient. Now, by mimicking the way plants store energy MIT has created a way to store solar power in fuel cells that can keep power running around the clock.

MIT News reports:

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. “This is the nirvana of what we’ve been talking about for years,” said MIT’s Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. “Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon.”

Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera’s lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun’s energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.

Solar Cookers in Darfur

Different versions of Solar cookers

Time Magazine did a great photoessay on solar cookers being disseminated in Darfur.

The photoessay proves a very important point...that all technology has its place.

While solar cookers are environmentally friendly and convenient in many ways (less labor/time intensive than gathering wood), they've never quite caught on in the developing world. I've never been to a village where solar cookers were being used, even in areas of extensive sun/heat where firewood was scarce! I even came across a couple of villages where the cookers were given away for free as part of some program. The women/families would pull it out when guests came and do a short demo. But for everyday use, they still preferred firewood and its smokiness.

The reasons were mainly:

• most women cooked early in the morning and later in the evening, before the family had awoken, when sun light/heat is at its lowest. During the day, they were out collecting wood for light, heat, and cooking (which solar cookers can't compensate for) and doing other income generating activities.
  
• the last thing any of these women wanted to do was sit out in the hot sun and cook (its the same reason why smoky cookstoves are placed inside the house rather than outside)
  
• flies and bugs are ubiquitous outside (inside too, but they are minimal compared to the outside). Cooking out in the open is simply less comfortable and sanitary. This is another reason for why women prefer to inhale smoke rather than cook outside.
• the cookers rarely come with instructions/training and aren't standardized...you have a problem and who do you go to for help??
  
• Finally, depending on the culture, women aren't allowed or don't feel safe sitting exposed outside the house for extended periods of time when their husbands aren't around. Cooking outside means being more exposed, less safety, or even asking for trouble. Granted hunting for firewood is dangerous, but its more socially acceptable and there are other women around with you when you are doing your search.
  

Yet I do believe that the solar cookers in Darfur have a lot of things in their favor:

a. They come in a kit, which means that they are standardized, and they are buildable (which increases ownership!), and they are transportable. Some enterprising person can even take the same kit apart and make their own.

b. They used fairly locally available materials...again some enterprising person can build their own.

c. They come with specialized training. Most women I had met with the free solar cookers didn't quite know how to use them and didn't have the time to invest in sitting idly for three hours cooking food.

d. MOST importantly, the security situation is so bad, that there is a STRONG negative incentive for them to use the cookers. In some ways, they have no other choice but to use the cookers. They probably also spend a lot of day-time in their homes (it being a refugee camp), to allow day-time cooking rather than taking part in income generating activities as you would in a safer/regular part of the world.

Spotlight: Terracycle

Terracycle Gardening Products (source: Terracycle)


I love Terracycle. Its great for many reasons:

1. it takes waste and makes money on it
2. its eco-friendly
3. (a critical piece that few talk about) it shows us what our trash looks like.

Terracycle is a great model for developing countries that have long been the dumping grounds of the wealthier countries trying to push off their trash problems (eg. U.S.A). Often the ones left to bear the brunt of this dumping are the poorest of the poor. But if the BoP can "embrace the trash," see the value in it as Terracycle does, they could turn their biggest enemy into a cash mine. Here's where outsourcing could actually work extremely well (i.e. Terracycle outsourcing to countries like India, China, and Bangladesh...to name very few).

Another model aid story?? -- Defining a metric of success

photo source: Candace Thecoco

In today's New York Times, Nicholas Kristof tells the story of Beatrice Biira who credits her against-the-odds life story to a goat appropriately named Luck.

Beatrice’s story helps address two of the most commonly asked questions about foreign assistance: “Does aid work?” and “What can I do?”

The tale begins in the rolling hills of western Uganda, where Beatrice was born and raised. As a girl, she desperately yearned for an education, but it seemed hopeless: Her parents were peasants who couldn’t afford to send her to school. [...]

If I'm trying to extract the lessons from this extremely brief story (I'm still not sure how the dots connect, i.e. how the book helped get Beatrice into a prep school and then college), it would revolve around defining the success of "aid." What is a reliable measurable metric of success, particularly in aid??

I once asked a group of inner-city school teachers how they kept themselves motivated. Surrounded by children in drug and crime infested neighborhoods, and goaded down by disruptive, delinquent parents, I wondered how these women and men stayed positive. They said it started with redefining their metrics of success. Many of them admitted that they had started their jobs with idealistic viewpoints - they would "save" all their students from the streets. This soon downsized to half a class, then to a dozen students, then to two, and one... "and just as you are about to give up, one makes it through...he/she becomes your beacon of hope, your reason for being, your success metric...and you go on until the next one happens." This must be exhausting, I reasoned. "Nah...you get used to it...its all about how you define your success metric. Success to me is just getting a kid to start thinking of a future that doesn't involve this life [of drugs and crime]. If even for a second they can experience that freedom, I know I've succeeded!"

In Heifer's million donations, there have been only a few Beatrices...just as there have been only a few seconds of freedom for the students in this particular inner-city school district. So do we just focus on these few success stories?? Can more be done?? Do you think we are being too hard on "aid"? Should we downsize our metrics of success??

A model aid story

Does "aid" work? I don't know.

This question often makes me want to define "aid." What is "aid"? Is it charity? Does it mean giving away large sums of money, or materials, or time?? I don't know. I don't think so. I think that's a really narrow definition of the word "aid." And within that definition, I know LOTS of "aid" projects that don't work. "What works" has rarely been studied. So I do my own studies. When I come across a good story, I run over it several times and try to come up with my own conclusions of what made something work.

This morning, I came across this story on TED. And I'd define it as a model "aid" story. There is giving, there is receiving, there is development. There is even the white man's burden portion of the "west" giving to the "east." Better still is that there is success, happiness, joy, humility, beauty, lessons on both sides, and a great story.

There shouldn't be one "aid" model. Not everyone can go out and do work in the field. Not everyone can give millions of dollars. The best "aid" stories are organic, and are customized around the giver and the receiver (hence the success of the Secret Millionaire). The receiver gets what he/she most needs; the giver gives exactly what the receiver needs (ideally suited to the giver's strengths); and ultimately both the giver and receiver exchange roles. Both learn, both are connected, both are humbled.

Watch this. Tell me what you think.