Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Center for Rural Technology, Nepal



Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal (CRT/N) is a professional non-government organization engaged in developing and promoting appropriate/rural technologies effective in meeting the basic needs of the rural communities and improving their life support system. Initially it was established in 1989 under the Company Act, CRT/N is now registered with His Majesty's Government of Nepal under the Social Registration Act since 1998. Since its establishment, the organization has been dedicated and actively engaged in upgrading traditional technologies and developing new technologies and effectively promoting and disseminating these technologies to technologies that strengthen the capability of rural poor communities to respond to their needs and creating better options and opportunities for sustaining the rural livelihood.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Africa's future: Donation or Wealth Creation?



Andrew Mwenda is a print, radio and television journalist, and an active critic of many forms of Western aid to Africa. Too much of the aid from rich nations, he says, goes to the worst African countries to fuel war and government abuse. Such money not only never gets to its intended recipients, Africa's truly needy -- it actively plays a part in making their lives worse.

Set your priorities right...



Adjunct Professor and Director Bjørn Lomborg has been heading Copenhagen Consensus Center at Copenhagen Business School since its start January 2006.

Bjørn Lomborg author of Cool It and The Sceptical Environmentalist and editor of the three books on the Copenhagen Consensus: Global Crises, Global Solutions (2004), How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place (2006) and Sollutions for the World's Biggest Problems (2007).

The Copenhagen Consensus Center analyzes the world's greatest challenges and identifies cost efficient solutions to meeting these challenges. The Center works with multilateral organizations, governments and other entities concerned with mitigating the consequences of the challenges which the world is facing.

With the process of prioritization, the center aims to establish a framework in which solutions to problems are prioritized according to efficiency based upon economic and scientific analysis of distinct subjects.

I made a Windmill for my house



When he was just 14 years old, Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba built his family an electricity-generating windmill from spare parts, working from rough plans he found in a library book.

Friday, November 28, 2008

DesiCrew - a rural BPO

DesiCrew is a unique BPO service provider whose philosophy envisions a win-win situation between urban clients and the rural workforce of India. By 2008, an estimated 100,000 villages in India would have Internet kiosks. Given that ICT infrastructure is now available in rural areas and basic computer literacy is growing, DesiCrew is today building a new outsourcing model to provide employment in rural India with a strong social objective. The business model developed by DesiCrew not only utilizes the power of Information Technology to provide quality and cost effective solutions to clients, but also pays close attention to a social agenda.

Pot-in-Pot technology for preservation

Farmers and small vendors doesn't get a fair return on their efforts because of many reasons. Spoilage and lack of preservation facilities is one among them. Every year many farmers all over India, due to lack of proper preservation systems, sell their produce at throw-away prices. Pot-in-pot is an innovative solution consisting of two earthenware pots of different diameters, one placed inside the other. The space between the two pots is filled with wet sand that is kept constantly moist, thereby keeping both pots damp.

Q-Drum water carrier

India is still suffering from water scarcity and transportation problems. In many parts of India people specially women and children have to travel a long distance to get water for their houses. Q-Drum is an affordable solution for this problem. The idea of Q-Drum originated in response to the needs of rural communities for clean and portable water. This is not very common in India but has a great potential to impact millions of lives in rural India.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP EVENTS

Conference on Social Entrepreneurship
Vanue: Dakshinachitra, Chennai
Date: 4-5 Dec, 2008

The programme is broadly categorised under two themes:
a)Macro perspectives on social entrepreneurship - featuring talks, panels, interview, and
b)Tools to build an efficient organisation - featuring workshops


TOOLBOX - an Introduction

TOOLBOX is an initiative to share knowledge and different experience on sustainable and social development. It will share problems and issues that demands urgent solutions. This is an interactive and knowledge sharing platform where efforts will be taken to bridge the knowledge gap between a solution seeker to a solution provider. It will also help genuine people in the development and related sector to build network. TOOLBOX will keep you awake by posting informative and motivational articles, links and videos. It will also keep you updated on events related to social development. Prioratisation and contextualization are the two key principles of TOOLBOX. So open your toolbox today and find solutions for some of the problems that seeks your involvement.