A good poo joke

Its hard finding good jokes on poo, but I found one (more like it was sent to me), and it cracked me up. For obvious reasons, I decided to spare you all some pictures.

A Congressman was seated next to a little girl on an airplane so he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk?? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the congressman. "How about global warming, universal health care, or stimulus packages?" as he smiled smugly.

"OK," she said. "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?"

The legislator, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."

To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss global warming, universal health care, or the economy, when you don't know shit?" And then she went back to reading her book.

Mo Ibrahim on Good Governance

Mo Ibrahim: Engineer, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, African, Activist, Leader (photo source: Mo Ibrahim Foundation)

Mo Ibrahim is one of my heroes. I first heard about him through a friend of mine, also dedicated to Africa's development. "He is one of Africa's most successful entrepreneurs," he said. I was immediately intrigued. Who was this man who had grown up in Sudan in rather minimal circumstances, who had gotten a PhD in computer engineering, and started one of the world's most successful mobile companies with 500 quid??!! How did he do it, and why did he do it??

So I began reading about him. I read about how passionate he was about the development of Africa's leaders...this Sudanese man who always had a big smile. He had started an innovative Mo Ibrahim Prize for Leadership, and was giving out scholarships to young and promising African students. And I badly wanted to meet him.

Two months ago, I finally did. He was invited to be Chief Guest at our School's anniversary meeting. And he did not disappoint.

The day he arrived, the University had a whole day of activities planned out for him. They were thrilled to have one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs in their midst. The school was buzzing with photographers, and all manner of people in suits waiting to make a big deal about him.

In the meantime, the man himself arrived with an entourage of one (his personal assistant) in a rather non-descript car. No one knew that he was there or to run out and take his picture. He walked in and appeared a little lost, found his way to the photo session where he managed to surprise everyone by showing up with little fanfare. And just as quietly and efficiently as he came, he disappeared after.

In the evening, I showed up at the lecture he was to give. In the tradition of my school to put its best foot forward, the lecture was held off-site at a fancy 5-star hotel ballroom. Half of my work-floor (including myself) was there to usher people in fancy suits around. Mo showed up early, again with just his personal assistant and a throng of Singaporeans following him around. All he seemed to want to do was find a reliable men's room where he could relieve himself and then relax. I think he was happy to just be left alone.

His talk was marvelous. Very honest, no BS. I really liked the guy. He had no frills about him and he was unafraid to say what he came to talk about: that we are mucking up our world with crappy leadership and governance, and that there were ways to fix it. I highly recommend watching his talk here (unfortunately it cannot be embedded). Its eye-opening.

I later had the opportunity to speak with him one-on-one, and asked him two questions:

Who are your heroes??

He said that growing up, he had three people's pictures on his wall: Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and someone else who I can't remember (totally my fault...darn!)

What's the best piece of advice he has ever gotten??

He quoted an Arabic saying he had oft-heard growing up in Sudan. He translated it into something like this, "you come into the earth with nothing, and you will die with nothing." So he wants to make and do as much good as he can with what God has given him in the time that he is alive, because come death, he won't take any of this back with him.

Read more about the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and Mo.

X PRIZE for efficient cookstoves??

Inefficient cookstoves are a major problem for the poor in the developing world. The soot has serious implications on health and poverty; and population growth, and rising energy costs leave the poor with no choice but to forage for their fuel resulting in environmental degradation, . (Picture source: columbia.edu)

One of the organizations I consulted for a couple of years ago, called the X PRIZE Foundation, where I helped develop the Global Development vertical has moved forward with a partnership with IIT Delhi and the Government of India to develop and launch a prize for developing efficient cookstoves.

Approximately 70% of Indian households -- more than 160 million households, comprising about 770 million people – are estimated to depend on simple but polluting cookstoves that burn solid fuel, mainly wood or coal. It also is estimated that approximately 400,000 to 550,000 people – primarily women and children – die of the resulting indoor air pollution each year in the country. This makes the cookstoves problem in India and the potential market for cleaner cookstoves amongst the largest in the world.

The cookstoves competition falls under the X PRIZE Foundation’s Education & Global Development prize group, which tackles major challenges in areas such as learning, hunger, health and water. Addressing the grand challenges of our time, the X PRIZE Foundation generates innovation through incentivized competition. Through the strategic design of ground-breaking competitions with significant, multi-million dollar prize purses, X PRIZE spurs collaboration among the world’s most brilliant minds to tackle the most pressing issues and create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. More here.

Looks pretty interesting and exciting. Definitely a worthy issue. More about the cookstove problem is here and here.

Picture of the Day: Urban Transportation

Desperate needs call for desperate measures. This picture is both amusing and very disturbing. I don't know how authentic it is (i.e. whether that poor baby in the bucket has been photoshop'd in, for example). But I have seen scenes like this play out before me multiple times in the developing world.

Photo credit: Unknown. Someone emailed it to me w/o the credits. I can't find anything inspite of scouring the internet. Do email me if you have anymore information.

Starting a recycling program on my Singaporean campus

I work on this nameless campus in Singapore. Its supposedly one of the best universities in the world.

For all of Singapore's advancement, the idea of environmental consciousness and responsibility have still not made it here. People still eat shark fin soup everywhere, for example, and everything is overpackaged (I've been told its because of the rain...but seriously...
I've lived in some rainy, snowy places, and my stuff remains dry without the overpackaging). Not to mention the waste of paper, plastic and other resources out here.

Among other things, I'm trying hard to start a recycling program at our campus. No one knows what recycling here is. While this is NOT a third world nation, people here just don't get it. Everything goes into the same trash bin and it all ends up in the Singaporean incinerator. What's the big deal, people always ask me!

So I was thrilled when I found out that the University has an Office for Environmental Sustainability (OES). Apparently they do recycling and other stuff. So I wrote them last week, offering to drop by (its a drive away to get between the campuses). There was no phone number, so I emailed. This is what I wrote.

"Hi there,

we are water researchers at XXX at XXX campus. We have been extremely frustrated by the lack of recycling facilities on the campus and would like to start implementing one ASAP.

We'll be on your campus on tuesday, Aug 17 morning. Would you be available for a meeting after 11:30 AM?? We would love to hear your thoughts on how we can work with you to make XXX a greener, cleaner campus.

Thanks,"

Two weeks later (and WAY after my first request for scheduled appointment), I got this email from them:

Dear XXXX,

Thank you for writing in to us!

A list of recycling locations on campus can be found at : ------ website

Do you find that it is insufficient for XXX campus? Perhaps you can suggest to us additional locations and we can forward your request to XXX Campus Management Office(XXCMO). OES will support with recycling bins if XXCMO agrees.

Thank you!

Yours Sincerely,

Office of Environmental Sustainability

Wow. Two weeks later I get nowhere. No sorry. No explanation. No "let's meet up so we can figure this out together." So I went to the website. As an afterthought, somewhere at the end of a badly designed excel spreadsheet, our campus of over 2000 folks has four little recycling bins. I went hunting for them in the rain today. It took me a while to locate one of them. It was sitting as an afterthought behind the canteen. And inside the bin, I found one soft drink can (I know the person who threw it in there). Back inside, at the canteen dustbin where I went to dispose off my food remains, there were about 200 aluminum cans sitting under the little food scraps I threw in.

That says it all.

I have a LOT of work ahead of me...

OES has a great website, twitter feed, Facebook profile and godknowswhatelse. My little office has none of those. Not that that means anything.

Why I've been quiet

A lot of people have been bugging me about my lack of writing on my blog. This is for two reasons:

• I am in Singapore
• I am supposed to start a blog around water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) issues where I work now. Since there was going to be this overlap, I've focused on the other one.

Singapore (where I am at the moment) is a very difficult place to write from...particularly if you like the idea of freedom and have an independent mind (as I do). Say something people don't like, and you get put on a watch list; sometimes punished severely. If you 'google' around, I'm sure you'll find more interesting information on the subject. Essentially, i don't know what will tick someone off and then I end up with my head on a cross bridge (they have a few here!).

On the second, things are moving slowly where I work. There are many reasons for this. They are restructuring, and there is a war about what we can and cannot post, and the process we have to use. And then there is a war about the name, because it has to represent several different institutions at once.

And while these two issues resolve themselves, I'm working feverishly on keeping the rest of my work going. So I've been quiet.

Check out GSBI in Santa Clara University, Aug 26, 2010!!

The folks at Santa Clara University asked me if I would post this on my blog. I fully support this initiative (have already blogged about them before) so I'm doing so:

_____________________________

Global Social Benefit Incubator

Please join Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology, and Society for business plan presentations by the 2010 Global Social Benefit Incubator entrepreneurs from around the world.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Locatelli Center at Santa Clara University

7:15-8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Business Plan Presentations

12:00 p.m.-1:15 p.m. Lunch 1:15 p.m-6:15 p.m. Business Plan Presentations

6:15 p.m.-7:45 p.m. Reception

The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBITM) program at Santa Clara University enables proof of concept social ventures that serve the base of the pyramid to become sustainable at scale. It combines classroom instruction in finance, marketing creation, organizational development, and business planning with case studies, best practices and, most importantly, carefully matched Silicon Valley mentors.

The invited entrepreneurs have demonstrated that their innovations can have a significant impact on alleviating poverty and empowering human development in the most adverse circumstances around the world.

In 2010, the STS Center launched a three-year initiative to focus on “Renewable Energy for the Underserved.” This initiative will explore several segments of the clean energy field including off-grid power and light , second generation bio-fuels, energy saving devices , and related value chain organizations such as technology providers, financial services, and distribution. This year, we have 12 social entrepreneurs that are representing the Renewable Energy Sector in the GSBI class of 2010.

Living and learning together, GSBI participants develop practical know-how and a true sense of community. At the August 26th summary business plan presentations, you will see how the unique GSBI learning environment contribute to the innovative adaptation of technology and models of social change, in combination with validated business plans, to accelerate the potential for social entrepreneurship. We know you will be inspired by the work of the 2010 Global Social Benefit Incubator class and the promise of their innovative business plans.

To RSVP: visit http://www.scu.edu/sts/PublicEngagement/Events.cfm?event=15869 or email us at gsbi2010@scu.edu. For further information call the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Santa Clara University, (408) 551-6027, or email sdale@scu.edu.

If you have a disability and require a reasonable accommodation, please call the Center or 1-800-735-2929 (TTY-California Relay) at least 48 hours prior to the event.