2012
Happy New Year.
In 2012 Practical Action will help more than a million poor people around the world, we will help people get the vital technology they need, we will work together with them to ensure solutions are sustainable and we will share stories and the experience from our work as widely as possible so that people can copy everything we do.
Not a New Years resolution but our proven way of working.
Have you seen the Victoria Wood voiced over advert for the Dyson vacuum cleaner ‘protected by over 200 patents’ thats exactly the opposite of our work. We don’t want to keep ideas to ourselves but share so more people can benefit.
2012 is the UN Year of Sustainable Energy for All. We need to share ideas and experience if we are to deliver energy to the nearly 3 billion people without decent access.
No Comments » | Add your commentPractical Action selects winners for Leaders Awards…
We’re delighted to announce the primary and secondary winners for Practical Action’s Primary Engineer Special Award 2011.
The final award is given to students who demonstrate a high level of interest and skill in interviewing professionals who work in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics related to sustainability.
This year’s winners are Robert Marshall from Osbaldwick Primary School and Josh Catley from Hornsea School and Language College. Read more.. Congratulations to them both! Your solar powered MP4 players are on their way to you!
Christine Borrett the class teacher from Robert’s class found it good too!
‘The Leaders Award enabled my class to develop their communication skills through interviewing adults from a range of professions related to STEM. The interviews proved to be informative and inspirational, giving the children an insight into the world of work, enabling them to begin to consider their personal career options. This was a worthwhile opportunity which we plan to repeat this year.’
For details of next year’s award
No Comments » | Add your commentSt Patricks Day in Nairobi!
Erin Go Bragh. Spending St Patrick’s day in Nairobi (my second favourite saint’s day of the year) was an experience. It was also a point of perspective on the visit to Kenya so far. There is a huge wealth gap between the rich (very rich) and the poor within Nairobi city and East Africa as a whole.
Over the course of the visit we have met with many donors, perspective partners and government bodies. What is very clear is that there needs to be a unified approach to tackling the issue of poverty across Kenya and East Africa. It is not just an issue for NGOs.
What does this really mean? I’m not really sure at this point that I know, or am intellectually capable of contextualising the enormity of the task. I have felt a warmth to the people of Kenya and feel that there are aspirations to develop the country rapidly in the coming years.
There are many things that I would wish for the people of Kenya and across Africa, but on the day of St Patrick. (within context, however due to the rain today and drop in temperature, the fires were lit today in Nairobi)
Wishing you always-
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain
And tea beside the fire-
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you-
And all that your heart might desire!
May you have warm words
on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill
all the way to your door.
Happy St Patricks Day!
No Comments » | Add your commentSocial Media Club (If you get it, share it)
On visiting iHub Nairobi’s Innovation Hub there were many reasons to be impressed. Not only was the office layout, clean, open and free of the uncreative structures of the modern office environment but there was also a definite and unpremeditated energy of enterprise, entrepreneurship and development.
Positioned on a raised seating and stage area of the office (where shoes were definitely not welcome attire) sat one of my favourite pub games – the unrivalled table football. What caught my eye though was not the game and table itself but a sticker reading the slogan;
‘Social Media Club, if you get it, share it.
In terms of my visit to Kenya and the work of Practical Answers as the knowledge sharing function of Practical Action this phrase is so, so relevant. We as Practical Action do get why, how and when ‘technology’ is an appropriate function of development. In fact it is exactly what we have been doing for over 40 years.
The Social Media Club referred to on the sticker takes you to socialmediaclub.org and locally to Nairobi, socialmediaclub.org/chapter/nairobi
‘Social Media Club Nairobi, where innovators from Kenya will meet for monthly events to share, engage and collaborate with the community on the issues of social media and technology.’
Questions we may want to ask at this stage are,
Who is driving Innovation in International Development?
What place could iHub play in creating change through Innovation?
Why is this connected to development in Kenya?
Where should we start to innovate?
When can we achieve results?
&
Ultimately…
How can Digital Innovation aid the cause of Practical Action?
These questions need to be amplified within the development agenda, particularly within Kenya and East Africa.
The rise of the mobile phone over the last 5 years and the need to be connected to both mobile, internet and social networks 24hrs a day is clearly a priority for a large % of Kenyans in 2011.
I am not going to begin to answer how, when or in what shape digital ‘Innovation’ will play it’s part in the development of East Africa and indeed International Development Globally, but it is fundamentally clear and simple to see that we need many more iHub’s in the world to begin to start on solving the major world issues that we have today.
In consortium with the World Wide Web Foundation, please check out iHub and indeed m:lab and support the work that they are doing in encouraging the rise of Innovation, Investment and creativity within Kenya and East Africa.
iHub – www.ihub.co.ke
m:lab – www.mlab.co.ke
1 Comment » | Add your commentTo blog or not to blog
Hi,
I’m Joseph Nunn, Innovation Executive at Practical Action, a UK NGO with a difference. Practical Action uses technology to challenge poverty working with the worlds poorest women, men and children.
Starting to blog in March 2011 I hope to develop an understanding of the key reasons that Practical Action exists. What drives the work of the organisation and how our founder Fritz Schumacher influences the work that we do today, 40 years into our existence.
I will be able to report first hand as to how our work is helping the people of Kenya in my first visit to the country in March and hopefully this will enable me to comment on how Practical Actions approach is different, what issues we face as a UK NGO working in Kenya and finally what impact our work has.
I will also attempt to comment on how Practical Action is influenced within the framework of International Development.
Using a blog to capture thoughts, observations and general questions will enable me to continue to develop issues of importance and report back over time.
No Comments » | Add your commentPractical Action – our beliefs
Technology is great – it has shaped our world. Yet technological development remains driven by the wants of the rich rather than the needs of the poor. People living in poverty often can’t get the technology they need and sometimes even if they do – it’s a handout given with no thought about how it will be maintained or eventually replaced.
In Zimbabwe I saw desperately needed sanitation schemes failing because no one had been trained in maintenance. At Practical Action we had taken it on ourselves to provide this training when we installed loos and/or water points even though the donor we were working for wasn’t interested and wouldn’t cover our costs. One estimate I saw said we had rehabilitated over 70% of boreholes in Zimbabwe and built many new.
Practical action is different we recognise that technology has to be appropriate. It’s not just about the kit but how it fits into society, how it’s used and owned, shared with others and improved so that it becomes even more appropriate to local situations.
We also believe that development is about more than money and measurements like GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Of course people need enough to survive, but a life lived to its fullest is about so much more than just money. It’s about family, friends, a place in a strong and positive society, having a say in the things that seriously impact on your life, health, laughter and love.
We work to help poor people access the basics they need for a decent life – food, shelter, clean water, and decent sanitation, etc - all things where technology has an important role to play. We also consider how we work. We look for people who are active participants in their own development (‘a hand up not a handout’). Whether its people getting involved in the development of technologies, learning how to maintain them or setting up committees or small businesses to make sure solutions become truly embedded in the community and thus sustained.
We maximise the impact of everything we do by actively sharing knowledge and learning -our founder the economist and author of ‘Small is Beautiful’, Fritz Scumacher, said ‘the gift of knowledge sets people free.
We recognise the finite nature of our planet and that environmental degradation whether from climate change, soil degradation, pollution, or other sources impacts first and hardest on the people who are poorest. Conversely we understand that improving the environment can deliver huge and sustained benefits for poor communities. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 60% of the population rely on small scale farming for their living.
We are a thinking organisation, a technological organisation, even a very clever one but most of all we are about people and making a real difference in their lives.
No Comments » | Add your commentFundraiser seeks funds!
Hello there!
Shamefully this is my first ever blog for Practical Action, even though I have been working here for over a year now! I work as the Fundraising Research Officer within the Fundraising team, although this is a new role which I have only taken on in the last few months. Since joining Fundraising, I have been inspired to actually get up and take some practical action for Practical Action… so in light of this I have signed up to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon through the beautiful parks of London on Sunday 10th October 2010!
I am somewhat astonished I have done this, because for most of my life I have cultivated a pure hate/hate relationship with physical activity. As a child I much preferred the more motionless pursuits of reading Roald Dahl books, or sharing my impressive Barbie collection with my sister, or drawing endless ‘princess’ dresses, or escaping to a perfect Disney world at the cinema. During PE lessons at school, I strived to adopt the positions which required least movement – bowler in rounders, or goal defender in netball, or goal keeper in hockey. Inevitably there would be some horrendous occasions where endlessly enthusiastic games teachers would spot me dawdling reluctantly to the sports field, and attempt to perk me up with the cry of “you can be winger today Ella!”
I hated those days. Chasing an unfriendly ball across a frozen slither of grass, the bite of an icy morning slicing at my throat and a vicious wind whining until my ears were raw, all I would feel was the sheer and utter pointlessness of ‘exercise’.
In fact, I rather enjoyed my stationary self. I didn’t want to be one of those sporty girls with long shiny hair and healthy cheeks. I much preferred being an indoorsy, arty type, with pale skin and a solemn spirit, who sat reading poetry and thinking. I am now somewhat ashamed to admit that at certain points I entertained the arrogant assumption that these intellectual activities were somehow more worthy than physical ones.
This continued throughout my three years studying English Literature at university, where the most exercise I gained was meandering around the streets of Liverpool whilst pretending to be in Paris, or occasionally whiling away a sweaty night in a grubby club dancing to the strains of soul or indie or drum and bass. The drinking and smoking that accompanied such pastimes ensured that the only attitude I had towards my body was one of complete carelessness.
My first job after university involved lots of train travel across the UK, and in an average week I would travel up to 800 miles. This constant movement of my body was punishing; the hours I spent in drizzly train stations waiting for delayed trains simply exhausting. In one three month period I found my tonsils swelling up, reliable as autumnal rain, every four weeks. So in January 2009 I made a promise to myself. This would be my year to ‘get healthy’.
Seeing as I was a vegetarian who drank at least 8 glasses of water every day and enjoyed 7 hours of sleep every night, and I had already given up cigarettes and alcohol after graduation; the only path to a healthier lifestyle seemed to be one of exercise.
So I ventured into a previously unknown place: the gym. I remember feeling as alien here as I did when I travelled in Moscow. People spoke a different language, mostly comprised of scary acronyms: BMI, BIA, PAR-Q, VO2. It took courage to weight my newly trainer-ed feet to the treadmill and not run (or walk) in the other direction.
I was determined not to give up on this embryonic relationship. And over time, I detected small but empowering changes. In aerobics, I learnt the art of a grapevine, box step, squat, lunge, jumping jack, burpee, and relished the magically fast-paced steps my feet could trace. During weights sessions, I discovered that it is in fact possible to tone muscles in your shoulders and back. Before this, ‘muscles’ were something in your biceps, and you only had them if you were an oily beefcake sort of a person. My lovely and wonderfully patient yoga teacher coaxed my ill-used body into strange and exotic positions. Eagle anyone? Downwards facing dog? Lotus? Full bridge? I can do all these and more now. In pilates classes I learnt about the body’s ‘core’, and the unusual stretches necessary to strengthen it. I love the idea that these movements fortify what lies at the very heart of my body.
Nearly two years after I embarked on this relationship, it continues to be one of the most positive things in my life. My favourite thing: a lightness of body and soul that was previously unimaginable to me. When I think back to the sluggishness of my old life I often wonder how I survived. My entire existence was tinged with a sort of lethargy which affected everything. I have now learned how to enjoy my body: the little muscles pushing out the old squidge of fat, the deep clean breaths during meditation or a dance class, the power in my legs after a sequence of sun salutations.
So although I have not yet run anywhere near a half-marathon, it is a physical activity from which I am not shying away. In fact, I am very excited about the challenge I face. It is now just under a month (26 days) until I have to move my body through those 13 miles. Last week I thought it was high time to begin my training officially. I managed to quite happily run 3 miles in 26 minutes, so if I continue at this pace, the full run will take me just under 2 hours. This does seem like a hell of a long time to keep running – the most I usually do is 60 minutes – but I hope that continued dedication and hard work over the next 4 weeks will pay off, and result in a shorter running time.
I plan to keep a brief training diary – so do keep checking back for updates!
One final thought – in Sudan some women walk up to 6 miles to collect water for their families, trudging another 6 miles back through the heat to quench the thirst of their families. In places like Darfur – where conflict is still present – these walking women are vulnerable to mugging and rape. This happens today, and will continue to happen tomorrow and the next day, and the day after, unless we take practical action.
Every mile I run I will think of a woman in Sudan. I will run those 13 miles so she no longer has to walk 12 for water.
Please click here if you would like to read more about Practical Action’s work to improve people’s access to water.
Practical Action and I would all very much appreciate your support – both financially and emotionally! – so if you do feel like making a donation after rummaging around in your heart and your wallet, you can do so by visiting my JustGiving site here.
Thank you!
No Comments » | Add your commentThe Return of the Killer Hobs!
When my daughter was young she had a book in which a bright yellow toilet came to life and started terrorising people – quite mad and not too suitable! I was thinking that here at Practical Action we should create a book or maybe a video about a killer cooker that preys on people who are poor and vulnerable. The return of the Killer Hob?
Killer cookers or rather killer kitchen smoke is not a joking matter but it is one we try desperately hard to get people to be interested in and do something about.
Kitchen smoke kills 1.6 million people each year mainly mums and their children. I heard recently that in Madagascar World Health Organisation figures show that 12,000 people die each year as a result of indoor air pollution (kitchen smoke) and of then 10,000 are children under 5.
As a mum I find these figures heartbreaking.
Practical Action has spent years trying to raise awareness of the issue – you have probably heard me say most of this before before. I don’t mind, I am proud in some ways that I keep saying the same thing – it’s so important – and we still struggle to get people to recognise the issue let alone deal with it.
We have had some successes – in Nepal helping thousands of families change the way they vent their homes and the stoves they use – dramatically reducing the lingering smoke. In Kenya working on stoves and smoke hoods (a posh name for chimneys too me!) so helping families escape the disease and possible death.
The technology isn’t very grand, it’s not even very different but it is absolutely vital.
But to make the difference the world needs to see we need other people to work with us. It was great yesterday to see the issue getting a space in the Guardian Online.
Great that other people are starting to talk about smoke too.
Anyone think the Killer Hob book is a good idea?
Margaret
2 Comments » | Add your commentShower power …
When we arrived in Tingabamba in the high Andes, the sun was shining, the sky bright blue. On our journey back, just 5 hours later, the mountainside and dirt track were covered in snow.
The climate is unpredictable here, but, more often than not, it’s cold. Cold and dry in the Winter and Cold and Wet in the Summer.
Temperatures regularly reach between -10c and -20c.
It’s no wonder then, that families here don’t bathe often. In fact, it’s usual only to have 3 showers per year. Sounds shocking but, faced with the ultimate ‘cold shower’ I know I would do the same.
It’s all change now though. Thanks to solar-powered showers introduced in schools by Practical Action, local children are now having hot showers – 3 times per week!
After 2 weeks of travelling, I was almost tempted to join them!
Helen Marsh
No Comments » | Add your commentMotorcycle diaries
Today we followed in the trackmarks of Che Guevara (albeit 60 years later), crossing the High Andes of Peru by motorcycle.
It’s likely that living conditions in this region haven’t changed much since Che saw them, many decades ago.
At 4,800m above sea level, families live in harsh, desolate and unforgiving terrain.
Why? For their Alpacas.
At high altitudes, Alpacas produce more quality wool and live better lives – even if their owners don’t.
We are introducing simple technologies to help meet families’ basic needs:
- ‘Eco-san’ toilets – Locally-made, ‘dry’ latrines are perfect for families like Victoria’s. She can even use their waste as fertiliser to improve her crops.
- Solar power systems – after 50 years of living in the dark, Fransisco now has 2 lights and a radio (and no longer has to pay for, or be harmed by, Kerosene)
- Improved stoves – Benito and Linda’s new stove uses 50% less fuel (Alpaca dung) and their lungs, just like their walls are no longer coated in soot.
Great work!
Helen Marsh
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Practical Action uses technology to challenge poverty, working with poor women and men around the world.
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Practical Action,The Schumacher Centre,
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