AfriGadget: Simple Materials to Solve Big Problems

“Sometimes when you’re walking around Africa you come upon something that at first appears mundane. Then, upon second glance, you realize it is actually is mundane -- but it’s still interesting.” Like this shoeshiner who figured out how an old keyboard could make his job easier.

The premise of AfriGadget is to bring to light projects around Africa that use simple, low-maintenance, locally available technology to solve important problems in ways that were never thought of before. Like using a bicycle on a school’s water pump so that children will have fun while they help fill up the water tank, instead of having to cut time off school and walk miles carrying buckets of water on their heads.

In Kibera, Kenya, “one of Africa’s biggest slums,” a group of Kenyan architects figured out how two solve two major environmental problems with one stone: a communal cooker that helps recycle plastic waste and reduce the use of charcoal energy by turning rubbish into fuel.

AfriGadget’s grassroots project is looking for 10 reporters to travel around Africa to unearth more of these creative and sustainable ideas, help spread the word, and inspire more Africans to put their ingenuity into practice.