[kictanet] Mobile Campaign to Vote for Kenyan Innovator

Mon Nov 15 12:18:59 EAT 2010

Well said, Edith! 

Gilda
Quoting Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.or.ke>:

> Listers and CEOs of all Mobile Companies in Kenya,
> 
> We need to take pride in our "own" and promote INNOVATION by young Kenyans. I
> would like to appeal to ALL mobile operators in Kenya to launch a campaign
> via mobile to get millions of Kenyans to vote for Evans. If we can have a
> mobile to web-link (i.e. get people to vote via sms..which is then
> automatically channelled to the voting site
> heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx<http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx> that will be
> great). I think we have enought techy innovators within the mobile companies
> to make this happen!
> 
> Lets see which moble operator will take up the challenge and lead from the
> front!
> 
> How is this related to ICTs? He intends to use the money he wins to put up
> "an ICT centre, a solar-powered fish processing plant and build more lanterns
> for distribution to needy homesteads in the country". In the near future..you
> never know, this ICT centre could be turned into an "innovation hub" for ICT
> solutions!
> 
> We need to inspire our youth to innovate!
> 
> Over to you to make this happen!
> 
> Edith
> 
> =====================================================================
> Kenyan shines his way to CNN awards with solar lantern
> 
>
[http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/1051860/medRes/212774/-/maxw/600/-/felpfv/-/DNKenya1011d.jpg]
> 
> Evans Wadongo, Kenya’s finalist in the 2010 CNN Heroes Award. You vote for
> him at heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx. Photo/SULEIMAN MBATIAH
> 
> By ABY AGINA aagina at ke.nationmedia.com
> Posted Thursday, November 11 2010 at 20:34
> 
> It all started in a room at his hostel when he invented the first ever
> solar-powered lantern back in 2004.
> 
> His desire to provide sustainable energy to communities was hatched while
> studying Electrical Engineering at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture
> and Technology.
> 
> As he fiddled with an experiment involving the timing of Christmas lights the
> idea to provide an environmentally friendly light source for rural homes
> struck him.
> 
> Today, Evans Wadongo’s initiative, which involves supplying solar-powered
> lanterns at no cost, has transformed the lives of thousands of rural families
> who have no access to electricity and live below the poverty line. He has
> received 200 supply requests from countries interested in his lanterns.
> 
> “We plan on opening an office in Lagos Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and the US to
> meet the growing demands.”
> 
> Coming from a poor family of four children, he relied on a kerosene lamp to
> study at night. At some point he develop poor eyesight because of smoke from
> the kerosene lamp.
> 
> Wadongo, the only African in the finals for the 2010 Cable News Network (CNN)
> Hero Awards, will be travelling to the United States on November 15 to
> represent Kenya at the awards ceremony in Hollywood.
> 
> The award, which attracted over 10,000 contestants form all over the world,
> is given to young persons with innovative projects geared towards eliminating
> poverty and creating sustained social development in local communities.
> 
> The 24-year-old will be relying on votes from Kenyans to clinch the coveted
> award come the finals to be aired on CNN live on November 25. Voting is still
> under way on heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx<http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx> and is
> expected to close on November 18.
> 
> If he gets voted as the finalist he stands to bring home $100,000 (about Sh8
> million) which he says would be channelled towards financing production of
> more lanterns and other economic ventures his organisation supports.
> 
> He says part of the cash will finance a project in Migori, Nyanza, that
> targets to transform the area into a virtual tower.
> 
> “I plan to invest the money in setting up an ICT centre, a solar-powered fish
> processing plant and build more lanterns for distribution to needy homesteads
> in the country,” he said.
> 
> In a media briefing held on Thursday organised by Brand Kenya Limited at NHIF
> building an upbeat Mr Wadongo urged Kenyans to vote for him at the same time
> exuded confidence of victory in the competition.
> 
> During his visit, Wadongo is expected to hold meetings with top business
> leaders and tour several States and institutions of learning.
> 
> “I intend to spend a month in the US and meet with business executives from
> Microsoft and Apple, hold media interviews and address students at Stanford
> University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” he said.
> 
> His innovative programme dubbed ‘Use solar, save Lives’ produces lanterns at
> a cost Sh1,600. The production is funded by donors. The solar-powered lamp
> can light up a home for six hours if it is fully charged by being left in the
> sun during the day.
> 
> The inventor says the life span for the lamp is between six and 10 years.
> Wadongo says he has designed a new lantern that has a radio and a slot for
> charging a mobile phone. This one is still in the test stage.
> 
> Operating from his office in Nairobi’s South B area, which also hosts a
> workshop and employs eight permanent staff and over 10 volunteers each month,
> Wadongo estimates he has distributed 14,000 lanterns to rural communities
> across the country and hopes to hit 150,000 by 2015.
> 
> His group buys excess pieces of solar panelling cut from commercially sold
> panels and collects scrap metal to make the lamps.
> Wadongo plans to train more youths to handle the large orders.
> 
> He says his dream of providing sustainable development to the poor has become
> a reality. “Children can now study, households can buy food with the money
> they save on kerosene, and carbon emissions have been reduced,” he says with
> a smile.
> 
> 
> ________________
> Edith Ofwona Adera
> Senior Program Specialist
> ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program
> International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le
> développement international
> Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa
> Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera
> eadera at idrc.or.ke<mailto:eadera at idrc.or.ke> |
> www.idrc.ca<http://www.idrc.ca/> | www.crdi.ca<http://www.crdi.ca/>
>
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