Hacking in Cameroon for profit and entertainment
posted Oct 22nd 2011 11:01am by Mike Szczysfiled under: misc hacks
[Bill Zimmerman] is in Cameroon and has been posting some really interesting articles about life in the central African nation. It comes as no surprise that imported goods can be prohibitively expensive for many of the country’s residents, so building tools and goods is way to improve life and save money. The image above is a metalworking cooperative where any number of products are manufactured from recycled materials, often using tools that the craftsmen made themselves. Their wares are amazingly wide-ranging; crow bars, motorcycle seats, buckets, plows, hammers, knives, cold chisels, and much more. The video after the break shows the tradesmen hard at work. See some video of the cooperative after the break.
But adults aren’t the only ones getting in on the action. Remember [William Kamkwamba] who built a wind generator for his villiage? It seems the tinkering spirit runs deep in the children of Cameroon as well. [Bill] came across some kids who grabbed leftovers like the soles of sandals, scraps of rope, and empty sardine tins to build a steerable toy car.
[Thanks Rob]
very nice. i have seen places exactly like this in se asia and pacific rim countries. a surprising amount of good can actually get done in even the most rudimentary co-op like this.
appropriate technologies organizations that focus on helping train and equip group centers like this to produce goods invariably have far more success than ones working toward supplying individuals with technology. Once they have success, the model can spread easily as well – hand tools and even lathes ARE actually self-replicating, unlike some things.