A Light to Uplift Those in Poverty

Evans Wadongo is supplying (Borgen Project) Kenyans in rural areas with solar-powered LED lanterns for free. These lanterns help families perform everyday tasks and save money that they would otherwise spend on kerosene. Wadongo has been chosen as a Top 10 CNN Hero and he hopes that this honor will bring more support and publicity to his work, and consequently help lift 100,000 households out of poverty by 2015.

- Clare O.

SOURCE: CNN

Maker Faire Africa 2010 Begins in Nairobi

Today in Nairobi, Kenya the 2010 Maker Faire Africa began. Maker Faire Africa offers a great outlet for innovators, especially from the informal sector, to use their talents to create locally-developed inventions which solve pressing obstacles to development. People from all over Africa meet at this faire and work together to create prototypes that meet market needs.

One of the participants, Evans Wadongo, was recently named a CNN Heroes Top 10 finalist for creating a solar lamp to help light up rural African villages. This is the second Faire that has been held, and it seems that it will become an annual event. The Faire continues tomorrow, so expect to see more ingenious innovations!

-Kelli Hanson

SOURCE: AfriGadget