A friend of mine, Walter Bradley, who I credit for introducing me to the idea of appropriate technologies for developing countries, has spun off a new company with two of his graduate students. They recently have been getting a lot of press like this story on MSNBC.
What is appropriate technology? It is the idea of using technologies that are culturally, environmentally, and financially appropriate for the cultures in which they are used. They are often low tech, or medium tech by US standards. They must be locally repairable, locally affordable, and sensitive to other aspects of the culture.
I would give an example but I am too tired... maybe more tomorrow, maybe not.
3 comments:
I see you have a link for PNG Appropriate Technologies, but I didn't know you'd been there, which I assume from your Tok Talk. Do tell! :-)
And did I tell you I have an EE degree? Small world. :-)
Unfortunately, I have not been to PNG. However, a few years ago my university had a visiting professor from PNG, the first man to get a Ph.D. in Engineering from there. My family informally adopted his family for the year, and he and I used to go get coffee frequently, where he gave me lessons on Tok Pisin and stories about the country. It was a great time.
I would go into his office and say "Yumi go kisim copi" (Let's you and I go get coffee) or "Lukim yu behain, Wantok" (see you later, one-talk).
I love the word Wantok. In a country of over 800 languages, the phrase "one-talk" is a term of endearment meaning "we are of one speech, of one mind, we are on the same wavelength".
When do you head to PNG?
Fascinating! Thanks for enlightening me!
We hope to leave in July, but we are dependent (by design, I acknowledge) on God to provide the partners he wants us to have; we need 100% of our prayer/financial partnership in place before we can leave. Fortunately, He has access to all the funds in the world. :-)
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