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Slum Cities
Managua, Nicaragua Slums
By the year 2030 slum cities around the world will grow by over a billion people. Most poor people on the planet will live in slums and The Appropriate Technology Collaborative will be there to design new affordable, sustainable products that improve life and provide opportunity. We are developing relationships with people in Managua Nicaragua and Guatemala City to start this new exciting aspect of our work.
Our process in slums will be similar to how we have been working in rural parts of the world. We will listen to our clients and develop new technologies through collaboration.
ATC 2011 Success
Listening – Learning – Collaborating
Last year, thanks to the hard work and commitment of our clients in developing countries, and literally hundreds of volunteers from the U.S., we were able to achieve astounding progress on our goal of developing and distributing affordable, sustainable technological solutions that empower people and promote dignity. Working side-by-side with our partners in developing countries, we installed a water irrigation system that will provide potable water for the 4,500 residents of a rural village in Guatemala and also enable them to begin developing new business models based on having more time to devote to family and jobs.
Hundreds more people in developing countries benefited from our Solar Vaccine Refrigerator (SVR) that preserves life-saving vaccines. Our treadle pump continued to lengthen the growing season for farmers in Peru, New Guinea and 21 other countries. We made amazing progress in finalizing the designs of a remote stethoscope that can save the lives of at-risk babies born in remote areas all around the world Link Here. We are also making great strides in our long-term goal of helping local residents start up micro-enterprises. Graduates of a spring 2012 workshop will prepare to launch new businesses selling a low-cost solar-powered home energy systems that can illuminate houses, charge cellphones, and power computers off the grid. And a women weavers cooperative in Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan will prepare to sell wind turbines constructed from their village’s distinct weaving patterns.
We sponsored 6 World Challenge Design Teams to work and travel in Guatemala, Nicaragua and India. We presented our work at conferences throughout the United States and we were invited to speak in Shanghi China in 2012.
ATC moved our prototyping operations to the new Maker Works space in Ann Arbor where we have access to high tech tools and we started work on a our Appropriate Technology Lab where we have the limited tools found in most low income countries.
2012 will be our busiest year with international projects scheduled for February, March, May and August.
More Soon!
