Poor Does Not Mean Dirty

Being in an Information and Communication Technology for Development class, I've been thinking a lot about poorer areas of the world and what I can do to help. I love the idea of getting into the mind and culture of the people you are trying to help and creating ideas and products based on their perspective, rather than your own skewed perception. We have learned about how and why so many technologies fail, and it's usually because we aim to high, we think that by giving every poor African child a laptop we can close the digital divide. We do not take into account our prior experiences and education revolving around literacy and cause-effect flow. I am currently in the process of writing a paper on a new technology known as the GiraDora. This product is so simple in design, yet it provides so many benefits to people in ways that a laptop never could. In essence, it is a physically powered laundry machine and dryer for people in areas without running water. It is efficient, reducing the amount of time required to finish a load of laundry from one hour to nearly 5 minutes. This product will provide so many wonderful benefits for women, not just in saving time, but providing them with a sense of integrity, pride, and their own position within the society, as it can be used to start up a small laundry business, helping them to break out of the poverty cycle. I could go on and on here and basically rewrite my paper, but instead ill just put up a few of the links I've been using to gather my data. There are so many innovative products being designed each and everyday, hopefully I have the opportunity in my career to work on such a project, or even create my own!


edit:  whoops, looks like some links would be useful:

Core 77 Design Awards
BornActivist Blog Post
DesignMatters
^scroll down to find it, and be sure to check out the FAQ!