[kictanet] Mobile Campaign to Vote for Kenyan Innovator

[waudo siganga]

Dear All - I have done my duty and voted for the talented young
Kenyan.

Waudo
On Sat, 13 Nov 2010 10:07 +0300, "Edith Adera"
<eadera at idrc.or.ke> wrote:

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 [1]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

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Kenyan shines his way to CNN awards with solar lantern



Evans Wadongo, Kenya’s finalist in the 2010 CNN Heroes
Award. You vote for him at heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx.
Photo/SULEIMAN MBATIAH

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
[2]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

[3]eadera at idrc.or.ke | [4]www.idrc.ca | [5]www.crdi.ca

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References

1. http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx
2. http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx
3. mailto:eadera at idrc.or.ke
4. http://www.idrc.ca/
5. http://www.crdi.ca/
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