[As I just discovered, a Turkish company, Ser-Gün, offers solar panels that can be mounted on donkeys as a way to support sheepherders. Wonder how the donkeys feel about their new payload and improved social status.]
This is Africa
Frame Changers #45: Solar Ice Breaker
[Across the ~45 countries I have traveled across, I have never come across anyone who has paid real hard cash for a solar food cooker. Never seen shops in developing countries carry them either. Yet, I see many Westerners obsessed with designing solar food cookers for Africa.]
Frame Changers #44: Smart(er)phones for Africa
[Phones symbolize social status. Poor people are often sophisticated customers with higher quality expectations who are willing to pay more for desired features.]
Frame Changers #43: Water, Bottled
[Bottled water is a rapidly growing multi-billion industry in Africa. Ofcourse, women now have to walk long distances to fetch 20 liter ( = 20 kg) jars of water.]
Frame Changers #42: Truth Serum for Research?
[Local customs often dictate that a beverage (or even a meal) be shared with research participants as part of the data collection process. Alcohol is almost never permitted by universities.]
Frame Changers #41: Gender Bender
[Lack of access to feminine hygiene products is a major reason why girls drop out of secondary school. Will the stigma around menstrual health be reduced if men start repurposing sanitary napkins to solve their own problems?]
Frame Changers #40: Food for Thought
[If we can have 3G networks across the world, why can’t we have food? Can we prioritize long-term food security where farmers across the world are on a level playing field?]
Frame Changers #38: Aid, Trade & the African Serenade
[Which engagement model benefits Africa more? At what price? Is development a zero-sum game?]
Frame Changers #36: Placebo or Nocebo
[Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) in which one group gets an experimental drug and others a placebo are common. Although amends to the the Helsinki Declaration have minimized ethical breaches, illnesses like Ebola that don’t have a cure, bring up a host of medical ethics issues. (In Latin, Placebo = I Shall Please and Nocebo = I Shall Harm)]
Frame Changers #34: Africa, Here I Come!
[BTW, mzungu = foreigner or white person in Kiswahili (Technically, mzungu = confused person)]