 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
In Peru the level of contamination found in the drinking water of multiple communities is extremely severe, far exceeding those seen in most developing countries. Drinking from irrigation canals and surface water sources that are essentially sewage water, contributes to 1 in 25 children dying before they reach the age of 5. Our solution is to provide a cheap, sustainable solution to this problem by the introduction, development and investigation into household filtration systems. A slow sand filter, of our own design will be compared to a ceramic candle filter design, a presently available commercial biological filter and a filter using a combination of both sand and ceramic candles. Both the extremity of the contamination and the fact that a variation of filters will be tested sets this apart from past projects where only a single design of filter was studied in a region. Tests will concentrate on turbidity and microbial removal and the effects of variation of these filters with adjustments in a number of features. Technical and sociological studies will be conducted to analyze the impact and acceptance of those filtration systems already implemented in the area. Additionally, roots within organizations and communities will be formed and strengthened. These roots will enable further work to be completed that will build upon the results of this project. Download Proposal In Bonito Oriental, Honduras, 26 communities (50.000 inhabitants) are currently receiving contaminated drinking water. Calcium Hypochlorite treatment systems were implemented after Hurricane Mitch (1998), however none of these have proved effective. The objective of this project is to ensure safe drinking water to these communities, using a design that is of low cost, low maintenance and made of readily available materials. An important aspect of the current system's inefficiency is the fact that the chlorine addition to the water is not sensitive to changing inflow rates. Thus, at high flow rates the water will not be mixed with sufficient chlorine. We designed a solution based on an additional pipe branched off of the main inflow pipe. Water flowing through this tube will run through a contracted section lowering the pressure at that point. The flow of the concentrated chlorine will then increase with increase in the water flow. This provides a system that produces a constant chlorine dosage without any moving parts or increased maintenance. Careful consideration needs to be paid to the human aspect of the project. Therefore, a handbook will be written in order to provide detailed descriptions on how the system should be run. While our group is focusing on one village, 25 other communities in the area are experiencing the same problem. Through the use of the handbook these communities could use our solution, too. Our team works in collaboration with a local NGO and with Centro Técnico San Alonso Rodríguez, a strong community leader. Download Proposal
Brazil's program for eradication of child labor (PETI) pays a small monetary stipend to thousands of low-income families so that they can afford to send their children to school instead of putting them to work. These children are required by the program to go to PETI centers after school. Unfortunately, none of these centers have the resources required to create and sustain activities that are appropriate for the growth and development of children. Although the centers have ample space for activities and are staffed with teachers to lead activities, the serious lack of resources prevents the teachers from implementing consistent, stimulating activities. Stakeholders of the PETI project have recently voiced interest in the development of an educational clubhouse for children. We hope to realize their needs, as well as ensure the stability of PETI, by designing a geodesic dome and playground out of recycled materials that have nominal costs and encourage children to build, design, and be creative. We will first construct a handbook for small-scale clubhouse models which we will distribute to the PETI centers. We hope that this will facilitate creative expression among the children from which they may construct a life-size model to build in their community. By giving children the tools to create, we hope to provide them with opportunities to develop problem solving skills that may help them in their daily activities and in future job opportunities they choose to pursue. Download Proposal Perhaps the
most amazing and difficult growth spurt happens during our teenage
years. Issues of identity, emotional needs, acceptance by peers,
and the body and sexual changes all contribute to the turbulence,
filled with questions and experimentation. This self-exploration
is an integral part of growing up, with a little bit of help. There
is a need amongst youth in Japan for a forum where this experience
can be shared, resources can be obtained or referred, in a youth-accessible,
non-judgmental, multi-voiced manner. This project asks to fund the
beta- and business model development and testing to expand the website
qqsite.org: content and structural transition into an interactive
phase. The site aims to equip youth to make important choices to
take the best possible care of one’s self, on their own will
and time. The website is a space where one can be anonymous, free
from physical appearances and expectations from the immediate environment.
Here, more than one voice or social group can be represented. Download Proposal
Our team is presenting a new idea to be implemented in Pakistan to boost its local economies and help reduce the rampant poverty by effective promotion of employment possibilities through entrepreneurship, primarily in technological ventures. This proposal concisely presents the necessary thought process and planning to launch the competition, while the attached document “Proposed Structural Components of Business Plan Competition” provides the details of our idea. Although the proposed annual entrepreneurship competition will accept all sorts of business plans including service industries, the focus will be placed at promoting technology innovation in Pakistan that would support community building and business training among college and university students that would define the future progress in Pakistan. Eligible proposals to our yearly business plan will incorporate the fulfillment of community needs through analysis, design, and implementation of their proposed project. Not only will innovative technologies and entrepreneurship be promoted that would create economic opportunities, but our project will also create a sense of community and achievement among students to encourage them. Download Proposal
The Parabolic Power Project aims to create a modular core unit that concentrates the sun's energy using a reflective parabolic trough and an absorber to store and transfer heat to an application appropriate to rural Lesotho; such as cooking, electricity generation, running a pump or refrigeration. The innovation of this project lies in the modularity of the parabolic concentration unit, its robust and simple construction using locally available materials, and its efficacy as a multi-purpose energy source for off grid applications. This project can be accomplished using materials available in southern Africa and fabrication techniques currently employed at the Bethel Business and Community Development Center (BBCDC) in rural Lesotho. BBCDC has already successfully designed and deployed a parabolic trough unit for cooking loaves of bread, but the current model suffers from flaws in the optics, efficiency losses and is difficult to construct and transport. Our design simplifies the construction, improves the optics and maximizes the thermal efficiency of the parabolic trough in addition to making it modular to increase functionality. The enhanced parabolic power unit will aid BBCDC both in its mission as a leader in education for sustainable development and as a manufacturer and distributor of renewable energy applications. After transfer and demonstration of the design, BBCDC can implement this technology at the grassroots level through existing market mechanisms, alleviating the widespread dependence on expensive diesel, Liquid Natural Gas or Photovoltaic panels for remote power applications. Download Proposal
Use Aerators, Save Water Water scarcity is one of the significant problems faced by developing countries today. India is a country with relatively low renewable water resources per capita; hence it is vital to conserve. In order to address this problem, we would like to better utilize the existing water supply. One method of doing this is by reducing the amount of water wastage. We aim to achieve this objective by implementing the use of aerators in the southern city of Bangalore. Aerators are small mechanical devices fitted to the mouth of a tap. These devices infuse air into the water jet out of the tap, thus giving the same amount of force using a lower quantity of water. Most of the taps used in Bangalore today do not have an aerator installed. We propose to introduce the use of aerators with a two-fold approach – installation and information. Firstly, we will install small, low-priced aerators in public washrooms and dhobi ghats2 all over the city. Secondly, we will inform the majority of households and business establishments of the benefits – both economic and environmental through an information campaign in collaboration with the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board3). In India, priority for water distribution is given to cities. If the water consumption in cities is reduced the excess water would be deviated to rural areas. Hence, we have chosen Bangalore, one of the metropolitan cities. Download Proposal MISSION GOALS 2. Increase
Understanding: Download Proposal
Sistema de Alerta Temprana (SAT) team Hurricanes and
flooding in the Rio Aguan Basin in Honduras have claimed the lives
of thousands of local inhabitants. Government-sponsored Download Proposal Speakeasy is a community-based telephone service that allows immigrants to establish conference calls with social service agencies and volunteer "guides" – knowledgeable community members who perform language translation and provide referrals to social services and neighborhood businesses. Speakeasy differs from other telephone translation services by drawing on language expertise within the community of need. Unlike bilingual operators employed by city agencies, Speakeasy guides are members of the communities they serve, and are intimately familiar with the challenges immigrants face. Guides' services are not limited to one or several agencies; instead, they can assist with any type of telephone call, and can also act as "virtual translators" for face to face interactions. Speakeasy provides a means of civic engagement without the time and space constraints constraining traditional volunteerism. Guides register their mobile and hard-line phone numbers and schedules with Speakeasy and receive calls at the time and place of their choosing. This design allows guides to maintain community ties while simultaneously fulfilling work, family, and other responsibilities. Powered by open source software and “outdated” hardware, speakeasy provides a low-cost, community-based solution to language and cultural barriers impeding immigrants' access to services and information. Drawing on tacit knowledge and informal social networks to overcome real-world barriers, speakeasy also contributes to ongoing community development efforts by promoting civic engagement, building social capital, and enhancing the community’s sense of its “collective efficacy.” A prototype of speakeasy has recently been completed. It will be deployed for a limited evaluation in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood in March, 2004. Download Proposal We would like
to prototype the development of a community environment that complements
the OpenCourseWare initiative, by providing synchronous real-time
support as well as an asynchronous learning experience.
robinhoodonline@yahoogroups.com Download Proposal Lack of access to clean drinking water is one of the largest health problems facing the developing world today. In order to ensure that drinking water is clean, it must be tested for the presence of microbial contamination. The TestWaterCheap team has designed an inexpensive testing device, the Zip Aqua II, which costs only $13! This is much lower than the standard equipment's $1000, a price far too expensive for most small technical centers in developing countries. These centers usually do not test drinking water quality because they cannot afford the expensive equipment. Our invention will allow them to test local drinking water frequently and inexpensively. The Zip Aqua II is a device that allows water to be vacuum-pulled through a filter paper. This is an essential step in “membrane filtration” -- the accepted method for quantitative water testing. Our innovative product incorporates all the necessary features of a membrane filtration device into a unique baby bottle design. Additional components convert these baby bottles into water-testing equipment. The resulting design is both easy to use and inexpensive. Our community partners – the MIT Design-Lab class, a technical center in Honduras, and an NGO working in El Salvador – are eager to test drinking water sources and water treatment systems with our product. By enabling more frequent testing, the Zip Aqua II will help to provide more people worldwide with access to clean drinking water. Download Proposal There are approximately 10 million blind or visually impaired people in North America; around 109,000 blind people in the United States use canes to get around, and another 7,000 use seeing-eye dogs. The need for assistive vision technologies is clear. Over the past several years, statistical methods have dramatically improved the accuracy and speed of computer vision algorithms; for example, it is now possible to reliably detect faces in a video signal at 15 frames per second. We propose to develop a system which will make use of current computer vision technology to aid blind or visually impaired pedestrians. We will produce a real-time, portable system that will aid in wayfinding for blind people, specifically the task of crossing the street. The first concrete task we plan to tackle is the pattern recognition and interpretation of walk/don't walk lights in the visual field of blind pedestrians using 2D input. Through continued academic research and in collabartion with commercial partner organizations such as the Blindsight Corporation, we anticipate that work will be carried on beyond the tenure of this grant. Download Proposal Twenty million disabled people in developing countries need wheelchairs, but less than one percent own or have access to them. Whirlwind Wheelchairs International has designed and produced dozens of technically innovative wheelchairs that are low cost and appropriate to the conditions of developing nations. However, each workshop exists as an isolated entity that has no regular communication with the Whirlwind office or with other workshops. Remarkable innovations that occur at each shop rarely spread to others, and most shops operate below 30% of their capacity because of inadequate funding. Whirlwind’s troubles are not unique; many international humanitarian organizations face similar problems. They cannot afford expensive management systems that are used by corporations to improve communications about goods, services and management practices. Our social innovation is an advancement in two avenues of communication: between humanitarian operations at the field level and between a field operation and the world at large. This decentralized network promotes collaborations and partnerships among non-governmental field operations and greatly facilitates fundraising. Our technical innovation to address this challenge lies in modifying current technology to create social network software appropriate to the limited computing resources and Internet training available in developing nations. We have built a prototype system for implementation in Whirlwind’s Central American workshops. We enable collaboration among Whirlwind workshops that will offer their communities improved wheelchair services and economic enrichment without the need for clumsy interactions with larger organizations in far away countries. Our system demonstrates that we can create community where none existed before. Download Proposal
Young Activist's Multimedia Toolkit Young people usually have the time, the energy, the will, the basic skills, and the right to participate and help improve the quality of life in the places where they live. What they lack is appropriate space, support and recognition. We believe that community technology centers can provide the necessary conditions to support youth activism projects. However, practice has shown that, besides other challenges, the centers lack appropriate technology for that kind of initiative. This project proposes the creation of a set of collaborative and multimedia software tools to support the development of youth-led social change projects. Among others, the toolkit will facilitate common youth activist practices such as drawing neighborhood maps, creating photo albums, handling voice interviews, and sharing information through the construction of websites containing the multimedia elements just mentioned. We use a user-centered, iterative design process that incorporates feedback from participants in local youth activism groups. We expect that the proposed toolkit will be distributed to organizations from all over the world and help create an international network to foster social awareness and the improvement of the quality of life of many communities in need. Download Proposal
|
