www.chinapost.com.tw Excelsior (Mexico) City Press (South Africa) ■ SATURDAY ■ ■฀IMPACT JOURNALISM DAY INSIDE TODAY’S WEATHER ■฀IMPACT JOURNALISM DAY International 2 TV / Comics 13 June 20, 2015 The magic of “solid rain,” a compound based Business 3 Classifieds 11 These packs are charged all day while the on potassium acrylate, is that it can store 300 Commentary 4 Sports 15 8 Fushun Street, Taipei, 104, Taiwan children are at school and are fully charged times its own weight in water without causing Impact Journalism Day 5-12 Local 16 Phone: (02) 2596-9971 ◆ Fax: (02) 2595-7962 when the sun goes down providing much Email: [email protected] North Central South any harm to the environment. need light for doing homework. Page 11 28-35°C 27-35°C 29-33°C Page 10

N T $ 1 5 TAIWAN’S LEADING ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER SINCE 1 9 5 2 Vol. LXIII No.283 Total Issues 22,883 ‘Time’ features Tsai on cover

dential election loss to incumbent be with when we were an opposi- its cover. Magazine calls Tsai frontrunner Ma Ying-jeou galvanized support- tion party,” Tsai said in the ar- Tsai Not Concrete Enough: Hung ers when she asked them “not to ticle, while seeming to refer to the lose heart.” Tsai, who described DPP’s status as opposition party Deputy Legislative Speaker and for ‘Chinese’ democratic leader herself as “quite adventurous,” in the past tense. likely Kuomintang presidential was also shown to have a witty The Time story, however, does candidate Hung Hsiu-chu told BY YUAN-MING CHIAO linary skills by preparing a meal sense of humor. allude to the potential salience of Time that she did not believe Tsai The China Post from locally sourced ingredients) Challenge in Economic Policy Tsai’s more conservative attitude to be a “strong opponent.” As Democratic Progressive Party to her various campaign stops toward the role of China’s labor- Tsai’s most likely opponent in the (DPP) Chairwoman and 2016 throughout the day. Time por- Formulation intensive economy on Taiwan’s race, Hung also reiterated criticism presidential contender Tsai Ing- trayed Tsai as “the early frontrun- However, just as Tsai has innovation-fueled economy that is toward the DPP chairwoman’s def- wen (蔡英文) was featured in the ner” in the 2016 presidential elec- been criticized by her opponents nevertheless dependent on lower inition of the “status quo” in rela- cover story of the Asia edition of tion with a “proudly, defiantly, and earlier by influential U.S. labor costs with the growing dis- tions between Taiwan and China. Time Magazine published yester- Taiwan-centric” policy outlook in academics with ties to policy- affection of the island’s youth as Referring to yesterday’s publi- day. which she calls for a new model makers for the vagueness in her symbolized in last year’s Sunflower cation featuring Tsai, Hung said The cover could give Tsai pres- that weans the island’s high-tech proposed cross-strait policy, the Movement. that it was “very good,” though tige yet its description of Taiwan economy from its dependence on report also acknowledged that Tsai, in answering questions she questioned Tsai’s “new as a “Chinese democracy” in the China. Tsai faced challenges in formu- from local media with regard to model” for Taiwan, saying that cover headline also points to the Aside from noting Tsai’s un- lating a new economic model the high-profile Time feature, a nation’s leader needed more challenge in cross-strait policy likely rise as the DPP’s standard that includes the corporate world said that her intention was to “al- substantive ideas rather than faced by the “Taiwan-centric” can- bearer following a series of without going against the more low the international community “constructing sentences full of ad- didate. electoral defeats, the DPP chair- traditional DPP China-skeptic to understand how the people of jectives only.” In Time’s article, reporter Em- woman’s personal branding as support base. Taiwan want to protect demo- ily Rauhala, who is based in Bei- a calculated thinker was seen as “Our challenge is to produce cratic values.” She added that she Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) jing, accompanies Tsai, the DPP having limited resonance initially something that is sensible to both was very pleased that the maga- Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen portrayed chairwoman, from breakfast time until her emotional concession sides without being considered as zine chose to highlight the value on the latest edition of Time Magazine CNA (in which Tsai shows off her cu- speech in 2012 after the presi- a traitor to the friends we used to of Taiwan’s democratic values on (Asia edition) released yesterday. Impact Journalism Day: newspapers unite for uplifting, solutions-based news BY CHRISTIAN DE BOISREDON The idea behind Impact Jour- have more of, is part of a growing this philosophy in their day-to-day a difference. Last year’s articles share the articles you like on the to overcome the challenges they AND THE SPARKNEWS TEAM nalism Day is to show that the movement in the press to feature activities. They are fueled by con- helped contribute to the growth of web and be part of the conversa- face by joining a brainstorming Reading the news on a daily basis media also fulfill their role by stories of hope and change. viction and also by seeing firsthand the projects featured, via an increase tion on Twitter and Facebook. session (beta.makesense.org/ijd). can be a depressing affair. World- reporting on inspiring solutions to Impact Journalism Day is just that this type of reporting has a in awareness, volunteering, orders, You can take part in our selfie And suggest projects we wide, readers and audiences repeat- the world’s problems. the beginning. Each edition has measurable impact on the ground. investments, donations or even via contest by posting a photo of might consider for next year’s edly report that they are put off by The alliance of 45 newspapers, seen a steady increase in the num- When the public learns of real replication in new countries. yourself and this newspaper via Impact Journalism Day (www. how negative the news seems to be. united by Sparknews, presents ber of newspapers and newsrooms solutions, the results can be tre- Now it’s your turn to be part of Twitter (#ImpactJournalism and sparknews.com/ijd). Yet the media’s role is to bring a different vision of journalism: onboard, excited to show their mendous. Readers gain greater the movement! add the @ of your newspaper) or Enjoy your read! major issues and problems to the problems AND solutions can commitment to solutions-based re- understanding of the problems Show the media that this kind the Facebook page of our found- foreground and to keep us alert. make the news together. This porting. Some journalists were ini- and are given the means to en- of news matters. Tell your friends ing partner, AXA (facebook.com/ Christian is the founder of Must the headlines conform to view, along with the conviction tially concerned this content might gage and the hope to believe that and family about Impact Journal- AXAPeopleProtectors). Sparknews and an Ashoka the age-old adage that “when it that quality, solutions-based news be naive or simplistic, but are now they can become changemakers. ism Day, buy an extra copy for Help the innovators and entre- Fellow. For more information: bleeds, it leads”? is something readers aspire to eager to participate and uphold Every reader can and does make your children or your colleagues, preneurs featured in these stories [email protected]

100 researchers help tackle the effects of What goes climate change, thanks to the support around, of the AXA Research Fund comes around A team comprising American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) officials and staff participates in a dragon boat racing competition in Taipei yesterday as part of the celebrations for Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan. See story on page 16 CNA Greece hopeful of last-ditch bailout solution despite warnings of default

ATHENS, AFP eign minister Euclid Tsakalotos. as Moscow and Athens signed Greece on Friday insisted a last- A billion euros were with- a preliminary agreement to set ditch deal on its debt was possible drawn from Greek banks on up a joint venture to extend the and dismissed “terror scenarios” Thursday, following another 1.6 TurkStream pipeline through of a default that is looking increas- billion euros over the two previ- Greece, a long-term project ingly likely, as emergency Euro- ous days, financial website euro- which the Greek government pean meetings continue in a bid to 2day reported. hopes will translate into an up- break the deadlock. EU President Donald Tusk has front payment of some sort. “Those who invest in crisis called an emergency summit of Greece has until June 30 to and terror scenarios will be the leaders of the 19 eurozone agree a reform deal in order to proven wrong,” Prime Minister countries in Brussels on Monday secure the remaining portion Alexis Tsipras’s office said, amid after finance ministers failed of its multi-billion-euro bailout, reports that Greeks banks are Thursday to break the five-month which it needs to avoid defaulting struggling to cope with a rush deadlock between the anti-aus- on a debt payment of around 1.5 of deposit withdrawals, fuelled terity government in Athens and billion euros to the International by the ill-tempered talks with its international creditors. Monetary Fund. Greece’s EU-IMF creditors. French President Francois Hol- Analysts have long warned lande insisted Friday that “every- that a default may set off a chain ECB Raises Emergency thing” must be done to seal a com- of events leading to a ‘Grexit’ -- Liquidity for Greek Banks promise on the Greek debt crisis. Greece leaving the eurozone. The European Central Bank on We must “do everything to re- Tsipras warned in an interview Friday raised the level of emer- launch negotiations, so the talks with an Austrian newspaper on Fri- gency funding for Greek banks by can achieve a compromise, but day that a Greek exit would be “the an unspecified amount following a one in line with European rules,” beginning of the end” of the euro. request from the Bank of Greece, said Hollande, following talks in “The famous Grexit cannot be a Greek bank source said. Bratislava with his Slovak coun- an option either for the Greeks or “There was no problem with terpart before speaking with Ger- the European Union. This would

© Photononstop the financing of Greek banks,” man Chancellor Angela Merkel be an irreversible step, it would the source said, adding that bank later in the day. be the beginning of the end of governors were expecting a “pos- the eurozone,” Tspiras told the itive result” at an emergency eu- Monday Summit ‘crucial’ Kurier daily. rozone leaders summit on Greece Hollande said Monday’s emer- Tsipras’s own office was more on Monday. gency eurozone summit would be conciliatory, adding in Friday’s According to state agency ANA, “crucial.” “I don’t want us to meet statement: “We hope that the the funding cap was increased by only to come to the conclusion final negotiations take place at 3.3 billion euros (US$3.7 billion). that we have failed,” he said. Europe’s highest political level The Bank of Greece had earlier The Athens stock exchange on and we are working toward the insisted that the country’s bank- Friday was alternating between success of this summit.” Environment, Health & Socio Economic risks : ing system was stable amid a small gains and losses. One source described the 450 projects carried out in 32 countries. rush of deposit withdrawals this In a move that seemed cal- 90-minute Eurogroup talks on week fuelled by fresh deadlock in culated to irk other European Thursday as “tragic,” saying that To ensure better protection, AXA supports research Greece’s loan talks with its EU- leaders amid tensions with Rus- Greece had not even raised the is- on risks that matter to us all. IMF creditors. sia over Ukraine, Tsipras was sue of a possible bailout extension. Bank of Greece governor Yan- visiting Saint Petersburg as the Creditors have refused to pay the Gallery.axa-research.org/environment nis Stournaras had earlier met star guest at President Vladimir remaining 7.2 billion euros of the @AXAResearchFund #axarf with the top Greek negotiator in Putin’s investment drive forum. bailout if there is no reform deal, European Union-International The Greek and Russian leaders and the cash will be lost forever if Monetary Fund talks, junior for- were due to hold talks Friday, there is no deal for an extension. Sunday, May 20, 2012

EDITORIAL Teen behavior a call for reflection

An upsetting them, as they in fact did? Would waters of a small lake in southern gan water. I am saying that there better than nasty teenagers. When Youth need more support to news story these not counseling have been a more Michigan. It was obvious that the dwells within each of us a person as individuals or societies we taunt recent days beneficial route in the end? There propeller of an outboard motor had capable of true human compassion, and reject others simply because of about a pair of has also been debate about keeping badly clobbered the poor groggy and a person as well who can be gender, sexual orientation or racial overcome weight obsession high school stu- the boys in school, thus a “no” to creature. cruel and unfeeling beyond descrip- or national or religious background, dents who tor- the expulsion question, but a “yes” Had we left the turtle to its own tion. we are pouring you know what on ccording to a recent survey, most Taiwanese aged 18 mented home- to a plan to transfer the errant stu- devices, it very likely would have To those who want to make human faces. to 29 are dissatisfied with their body shape. When DANIEL J. BAUER less people in dents to a different school. survived quite nicely and gone on scapegoats of the boys who acted Those boys need counseling, yes. you’re overweight, it’s not only the clothes that don’t the Ximen area Let us briefly step aside from this doing its share to bring countless so horribly to the homeless that re- And whenever we find ourselves in has particularly affected those of us scenario. cute little soft-shelled turtles into cent night in Ximen, I say, look into moments of cruelty to others, we A fit anymore. For young people, everything else can who work with local youth. I want to walk now on precipi- the world for many a year to come. the mirror, the mirror of our soci- need counseling too. go downhill from there, including relationships and studies. It is shocking enough to know the tous terrain. Perhaps I need a good But, nasty and cruel kids that we ety and the mirror of your own life. The worst suggestion I heard students poured human excrement head doctor, or perhaps I am trying were, we took no pity on the fellow. Let us at least not deny that there was to keep the students in school, Although teenagers and young adults long to be slimmer, onto the faces of people sleeping too hard to level the playing field We gloated over the creature in all are all sorts of ways to pour excre- but in someone else’s school. Ship it is not always easy to overcome eating habits, especially in public areas of Ximen. The real- here. Still in all, I must do this. I its misery, and dragged it into our ment on the defenseless, and many them someplace else, make them when the environment you live in puts too much emphasis on ization that the youth filmed their must confess. fishing boat. We took him to the a way to be unfair and cold-hearted someone else’s problem! Heaven cruel antics and dashed off to post Long ago and far away (as James shore. to the vulnerable and marginalized help us. brands, snacks and healthy lifestyles. their prank on line only increases Taylor puts it), I was once a boy. Then my friend and I called two around us. In time of great need, almost In response to such concerns, the Taipei City Government our sense of dismay and anger. Boys can be nasty. Boys can be other buddies for “help.” We tied What those boys did was de- always the best place to begin to What a mix of twisted bravado, cruel. I’ll leave it to readers at large a rope around the hapless reptile’s spicable, and they should make heal is at home, at home in familiar launched a free diet consultation hotline to help overweight what a sick need for attention. to handle the question of girls. My shell, and dragged him off into the restitution. The cliche about having surroundings and in the presence people in the city and across the island to overcome weight It is not surprising then that new hunch is that, on occasion, teenage woods. I am too ashamed to say a debt now to pay to society doubt- of people who know us and care obsession. But, this is not enough. letters in recent hours to the editor girls can also be nasty and cruel. more about what we wound up do- lessly applies to them. about us. of The China Post and discussants One time a friend and I had the ing that day to this innocent crea- When political parties refuse to Diet promotion should be part of a wider initiative to tackle in other forums as well have con- incredible luck of coming upon a ture. work together for the good of the (Father Daniel J. Bauer SVD is a this growing social problem in schools and universities. Most tinued to question the reactions of large and beautiful soft-shelled I am not comparing homeless people simply because they want priest and associate professor in people don’t know that Taiwan now ranks 16th worldwide for authorities. Should officials at the turtle that was floating, dazed and human beings in Ximen with rep- to embarrass and make life miser- the English Department at Fu Jen boys’ high school have expelled barely conscious, in the placid tiles that live in swamps and Michi- able for the opposition, they are no Catholic University.) the highest overweight population, while the vast majority of the island’s population has been overweight since childhood. Contrary to all expectations, Taiwan is a country of conven- ience stores, lunch boxes and street foods; an island nation NATO Chicago summit places where too many meals are eaten on the side of the road or in JPMorgan takes big the office. The resulting increase in obesity is symptomatic of an overworked, sedentary society where the cost of groceries political policies in the spotlight is disproportionately high, especially compared to the cheap gamble with change and abundant but ultimately unhealthy alternatives. “The military- defense industries. Boeing and provided key insights into what is industrial com- General Dynamics are the most probably the most complex man- Obesity is not an illness that can be cured with a pill, but plex” was the obvious examples, but in addi- agement challenge on earth. to firm’s risk model instead requires radical changes in habit. To begin with, Tai- theme of Dwight tion a wide array of firms in the Dwight Eisenhower was a bril- wanese society needs to slow down. Slow Food International, D. Eisenhower’s Greater Chicago region provides liant manager, whose record at farewell address weapons, materiel and services the Industrial College of the Armed BY DAVID HENRY was adopted, said Harvey Pitt, a gastronomic movement that began in Italy in the 1980s en- as he completed to the U.S. Department of Defense Forces greatly furthered his ca- Reuters a former SEC chairman. couraging the slow cultivation and consumption of food, could ARTHUR I. CYR two terms in the and foreign nations. reer. The College was established JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s de- “Regulators are going to be a possible answer to this growing social problem. White House, sus- In July 2009, Secretary of De- to rectify the logistical disasters cision to radically change the want to know if changes were taining remarkably strong public fense Robert Gates visited Chicago which plagued American military way risk was measured in its made consistently with the Of course, not everyone will have the luxury of eating or- support throughout that tenure. At to address the Economic Club, the performance in World War I. Ike’s Chief Investment Office is likely obligation to operate safely ganic food everyday, but if an appreciation for eating and the the time, the speech was largely first defense secretary to speak exceptional skills were fully uti- to dog the bank in the develop- and soundly,” said Pitt, who ignored by reporters and profes- before the largely business group. lized in World War II in Europe. ing crisis over the big trading is currently CEO of Kalorama source of those ingredients can be cultivated then perhaps this sors, who generally underestimat- In earlier times, Pentagon heads Chicago was the scene of the losses it has suffered. Partners, a business consulting will influence parents’ decision on what to feed their children. ed Ike. usually chose the Chicago Council tumultuous, hotly contested 1952 The move, which allowed firm. Down the decades, however, on Foreign Relations. Before a no- Republican convention which the bank to disguise the level An initial report on the Recall that the government in 2005 passed laws to restrict Eisenhower’s warning has reso- tably attentive audience he bluntly nominated Eisenhower. The initial of risk that the CIO was taking bank’s results for the first the selling on school premises of the junk food that is still nated with increasing impact, and discussed the wars in Afghanistan front-runner for the nomination in its trading, could become a quarter, made April 13, dis- widely available on school grounds and just outside the school has become a shorthand reference and Iraq, and beyond. was isolationist Ohio Sen. Robert major focal point of investiga- closed the US$67 million fig- gates. Interestingly enough, it is a misconception that Taipei for the inherently dangerous col- Big money is unavoidably im- Taft, an opponent of NATO and tions by the U.S. Securities and ure, the reading under the new laboration of enormous corporate portant but that should not be the the U.N. Exchange Commission and the risk model. It did not say that has the most overweight children. It is in fact rural Taiwan capital and the armed power of primary concern of government Newly elected California Sen. FBI, former regulators said. there had been a change in that has the highest proportion of overweight children. This the state. officials handling national security. Richard Nixon played a pivotal, It also will likely become part models. could be because of a number of reasons: a lack of public Eisenhower, the first supreme References to weapons were bal- and controversial, role in the of investor cases in lawsuits On May 10, as it explained health information, a sudden influx of fast food restaurants commander of NATO, had an out- anced by considerable attention to ultimate Eisenhower victory, in against the bank and its execu- the losses, the bank showed the look and career helpful in under- personnel, an even more complex consequence securing the vice tives. US$129 million risk reading and a lack of sports centers and sporting venues. standing the import of the Alliance dimension than contemporary presidential slot. When JPMorgan Chief Execu- from the old model. On a call summit in Chicago. This is partic- technology. Gates in June 2011 delivered a tive Jamie Dimon announced with analysts that day, Dimon Common problems include high-calorie candy and sugary ularly true given superficial media Gates emphasized the tragedies farewell address to NATO in Brus- on May 10 that the company said the bank had tried the new drinks and, in recent years, a sharp rise in the consumption emphasis on inconvenient security of military suicides. The man sels. He generated controversy had lost at least US$2 billion model, and then reverted to the of meat as well as a general lack in fruit and vegetables. measures for foreign dignitaries, some criticized as a bloodless bu- with blunt criticism of allies for through “egregious mistakes” old one, which it had used for and the possibility of disruptions reaucrat proved to be the reverse. insufficient spending on defense. in trading, he also said for the several years. World Health Organization (WHO) statistics shows that by demonstrators. The speech included post-Cold Managing alliances, in domestic first time that the bank had “There are constant changes there are 43 million overweight children under 5 around the The North Atlantic Treaty dates War threats, and the importance politics or across the ocean, is ex- changed its model for measur- and updates to models — al- world and that junk food was the main contributing factor. from the earliest days of the Cold of our allies. He criticized Penta- tremely tough work. ing so-called value-at-risk in ways trying to get them better War with the Soviet Union and gon emphasis on preparing for Chicago, past and present, ef- the CIO where the derivatives than they were before,” Dimon The WHO suggests that children prefer recreational areas as allies. The Soviet empire and as- unlikely major wars with China, fectively demonstrates this reality portfolio was managed. said in the May 10 conference well as schools that serve foods high in sodium, sugar and fat. sociated Warsaw Pact military Russia and other major powers, of life. The change made the CIO’s call. “That is an ongoing proce- structure collapsed two decades while our most serious immediate portfolio, which totaled about dure.” A debate is now raging across the Pacific. U.S. first lady ago, yet NATO endures. Part of challenges involve unconventional Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen US$375 billion, appear to be That explanation, “does not Michelle Obama and British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver have the explanation is the alliance is conflicts. Distinguished Professor at a lot safer than it actually was pass the smell test,” said Mike stressed that healthy food in schools is a civil rights issue while useful to business of the largest Gates savaged defense industry Carthage College in Wisconsin and gave traders more leeway Mayo, analyst at investment Sarah Palin, on the opposing side, has fired back saying gov- arms merchant in the world — the inefficiency and profiteering. In and author of “After the Cold to make risky bets. The rest of firm CLSA. “It is a red flag for United States. direct manner, the former head of War.” He can be reached at acyr@ the bank’s divisions apparently them to change the model,” ernment interference in children’s diets would be against their Chicago is heavily involved with the CIA and Texas A&M University carthage.edu kept to more conservative mod- said Mayo, author of “Exile on human rights and that parents should decide what their chil- eling. Wall Street,” about the inner dren eat. The old model would have workings of big banks. sounded alarms by showing Banks sometimes refine But what if parents are not adequately informed about that the CIO could lose $129 their value-at-risk, or VAR, healthy eating or do not have the means to buy healthy alter- The Chinese search for money leaves million, or more, in a day dur- models but those commonplace ing the first quarter — a higher changes do not by themselves natives? With this, compounded by pervasive advertising and reading than during the finan- produce such dramatically dif- free children’s toys offered by fast food restaurants, the pres- too many ‘monks holding umbrellas’ cial crisis. ferent results, said Christopher sure on parents is sometimes overwhelming. But the new model cut that Finger, one of the founders of BY DAVID KAN TING healed, because Mao’s legacy of sulate seeking protection, with figure almost in half, to US$67 RiskMetrics Group, which pio- Special to The China Post lawlessness and reign of terror damning information of corrup- million, clouding the view in- neered VAR models and is now Of Mao Zedong’s many pithy have proved enduring. There is tion and murder involving Bo side and outside the bank of a unit of MSCI Inc. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR quotes, one impresses me the neither rule of law in China, nor and his wife. That started Bo’s the danger it faced. That figure The model JPMorgan put Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters must include most: “I’m a monk holding an reverence for traditional values unraveling. was lower than the US$69 mil- back in place shows “a huge, the writer’s real name, address and phone number for umbrella” (我是和尚打傘). Those and ethics. The madness of Mao’s To add salt to Beijing’s em- lion reading at the end of the huge increase in risk,” Finger verification. Names will be withheld upon request. Letters were the words he told Edgar cultural revolution has taken a barrassment, world-renowned prior quarter. said. should be brief, and are subject to editing for grammar, Snow four decades ago at the new form -- the pursuit of money blind human rights activist Chen So far, Dimon has not re- Finding out how the com- style and length. We assume no responsibility for opinions height of the Great Cultural and wealth at any cost. Guangcheng escaped last month vealed exactly when the model pany decided to change the expressed. Letters intended to be published in this paper Revolution, but the late American Kenneth Lieberthal (李侃如), an from his house arrest in Shan- was changed, or why. model would reveal a lot about should not be sent to other publications. journalist and author of “Red Star eminent American-China hand, dong and ran all the way to the Those questions now appear its internal controls and about Over China” did not get it and in- observed that “making money (in U.S. Embassy in Beijing, touching certain to be at the center of how the traders apparently got Address : 8 Fushun Street, Taipei, 104, Taiwan terpreted these cryptic words as China) is a core goal of people off a diplomatic crisis that made regulatory and shareholder the upper hand over risk man- Email: [email protected] “a lonely old monk walking on a throughout that system ... People international headlines. Both cas- inquiries into the losses, which agers, said Finger. Fax: (02) 2595-7962 gloomy rainy day.” What Mao re- are worried that the focus is so es are evidence that there are too are expected to grow. Some Risk controls on traders in ally meant was a pun understood strong that it’s not balanced by many “monks holding umbrellas” traders and analysts at other the CIO were eased last year by even Chinese school kids: “I ethical considerations.” in today’s China, who fear nei- firms estimate the final loss without Dimon knowing, the fear neither law nor heaven” A Chinese central bank report ther law nor God. Bo’s anti-mafia tally could exceed US$5 billion Wall Street Journal reported (wufa wutian 無法無天). reveals that 1,800 corrupt offi- campaign in Chongqing was as the bank tries to unwind its on Friday, citing unidentified But don’t blame Snow for hav- cials have fled abroad and taken often violent and abusive to be positions. Dimon has said the sources. ing been victimized by the tricky US$120 billion with them. That’s sure, but his detention and purge losses could total US$3 billion Traditional value-at-risk Established in 1952. An independent newspaper Chinese language, which is full about US$7 million per fugitive. also lacked due process. As for or more. models are not a perfect pre- www.chinapost.com.tw of pitfalls for foreigners. When I A New York Times report said Chen Guangcheng, the self-taught Lawsuits About Risk dictor — for example, they worked in Ottawa in the 1980s, corruption has become so perva- “barefoot lawyer” who dared only estimate the possible I read a dispatch from Beijing sive that “even good people are to defend the defenseless and Investors have dumped losses for most days, losses Founders Nancy Yu Huang & Y. P. Huang in the Globe and Mail about the on the take because everybody expose the shocking corruption JPMorgan’s shares since the could be even bigger on a few Publisher Jack C. Huang new leadership of Hu Yaobang, else is.” It fuels simmering public and abuse of power by officials loss was announced, push- occasions. But even so, they the outspoken party boss, and anger because the disgruntled in his hometown, he deserves a ing them down more than 17 are widely used as a metric by Zhao Ziyang, the gung-ho prime poor are getting poorer without Nobel laurel instead of years of percent and erasing more than risk managers, traders, and Address 8 Fushun Street, Taipei, 104, Taiwan minister. The story quoted a any outlet to address their griev- incarceration. Where is the rule US$27 billion of market value. investors. catchword in Beijing: “Hu talks ances. The disparity and social of law? Chen was convicted on Two shareholder lawsuits were Changes in such risk models 104 台北市中山區撫順街8號 (胡說 ), Zhao gets jobs done (趙 contradictions pose a grave trumped-up charges of disrupting filed against the company on usually require several layers 辦).” The translation seemed threat to the one-party regime. traffic and damaging public prop- Wednesday, accusing the bank of approval going up the man- Tel (02) 2596-9971 flawless at first glance, but the That’s why Bo Xilai, who until erty. and its management of taking agement ladder, said a risk Fax (02) 2595-7962 saying was actually intended as last month had been a credible Premier Wen Jiabao has been excessive risk. manager at a large financial a joke, meaning “Hu shoots the candidate for the all-powerful Po- fearful of a cultural revolution The SEC is investigating company, who declined to be bull, Zhao follows accordingly.” litburo Standing Committee, had redux, saying the specter will what happened at JPMorgan, identified. Advertising 0800-098-168 (胡說，照辦) tried his “Chongqing model” at come back to haunt the nation the White House has confirmed. Mayo said it is important Subscription 0800-221-519 Let’s not digress too far from the mega-city as its party chief. if “we don’t carry out political The FBI has also opened a pre- for investors to know who at www.ChinaPost.com.tw/subscribe the main topic, which is too seri- His populist and egalitarian poli- reform.” But this reform-minded liminary investigation, accord- JPMorgan made the decisions ous to ignore. This week marks cies, redolent of Maoist cruelness “people’s premier” has cried wolf ing to agency director Robert and exactly when, so they can Email [email protected] the 46th anniversary of the Great and bloodiness, were executed year after year, and now time is Mueller. gauge if the loss is the result P.O. Account 0008800-1 Cultural Revolution, arguably the with little regard for law. But he running out for his decadelong A JPMorgan spokesman de- of bigger problems at the Title China Post greatest cultural, political and had built a grassroots following, quest for the holy grail. We can clined to comment. Spokesmen bank. social disaster in Chinese his- to the dismay and consterna- only hope that the Sturm und for the SEC and FBI declined to “I have yet to hear an tory. It was launched on May 16, tion of the central leadership in Drang that shook China and the comment. answer that makes a lot of Home delivery of standard Taiwan edition: NT$450 a month 1966 by Mao Zedong, the tyrant Beijing. As if by happenstance, world in recent weeks could be “It is logical to expect that sense,” he said. The lack International airmail edition: US$15 a month, Asia and Pacific of tyrants who makes Hitler look Bo got poetic justice in Febru- a catalyst for the long-awaited the SEC will look at this issue” of transparency makes him US$17 a month elsewhere like Jimmy Carter. Now, nearly ary when his thuggish hitman, political reform, thus exorcising of the disclosures, as well as wonder: “What else is falling © 2010, The China Post. All rights reserved. half a century later, the wounds Chongqing police chief Wang Mao’s ghost by taking his um- why and how the new model through the cracks?” inflicted by Mao have barely been Lijun, fled to an American con- brella away. Saturday, June 20, 2015 Page 5

The fight to secure the future of the next generation

CHI-HAO JAMES LO teachers or by new faces constantly. such as the high college enrollment The China Post Hence, TFT was founded upon population difference between In 1989, Wendy Kopp, then an education equality ideals to provide urban and rural areas of Taiwan, undergraduate student in the Princ- quality education to all, and to make regardless of the constant increase eton University, founded Teach for education equality possible to chil- in local college admissions. America (TFA), a nonprofit organi- dren in rural areas. In hopes of improving such issues zation with the goal of eliminating Though TFT believes that edu- of education inequality in Taiwan, educational inequality in the United cation equality is a right given to the TFT eventually came to be. Cur- States. all, the foundation nevertheless rently, TFT holds channeling the The NPO has since been re- acknowledges that education has full potential of any children as its cruiting university graduates and never been equal in Taiwan. Ac- calling, believing also that education education professionals to commit cording to TFT, even with the equality is the key to the future of themselves into serving as teachers advent of the recent 12-Year Com- the Taiwanese society. in urban and rural communities in pulsory Education which promises The foundation now recruits the U.S. for two years of their time. fair education and enrollment to passionate youths to undergo ori- After years of hard work, the cur- students in the entire nation, as well entation and training with TFT to rent TFA corps has become a strong as the increase in university accep- become qualified educators. Follow- organization which recruits over tances, education opportunities and ing the program, such individuals 4000 college graduates annually to academic achievements of children would be deployed to rural schools Courtesy of Teach for Taiwan the cause so that they may impact remain obviously different due to for two years as part of TFT’s full- (Left) Children and staff of Teach for Taiwan (TFT) can be seen in this undated photo. Inspired by the ideals of Teach for America, Anting Liu (劉安婷) from Taiwan began the lives of young people. family background and location op- time teaching program, so that stu- to engineer the blueprint for TFT in June 2012 in response to the growing problem of educational inequality. Inspired by the ideals of Kopp, portunities. dents may have a consistent adult (Right) A teacher from the TFT program and an education alternative service staff member lead children from a rural community in an activity in this undated photo. The Anting Liu (劉安婷) from Taiwan Even though a report from the who serves as their teacher and role TFT model to create a meaningful impact first starts with the recruitment and training of passionate youths from all academic disciplines. began to engineer the blueprint for Program for International Student model. Teach for Taiwan (TFT) in June of Assessment (PISA) in 2012 dis- Teach for Taiwan Helps to culties faced by rural areas of the na- will also receive training to provide the structure and protocols of the Tainan, to embark on a journey of 2012, in response to the growing played that the average mathemat- tion, as well as getting a strong grasp students with supports that are TFT, the organization was able great impact for two years. problem of rural areas in Taiwan ics education achievement in Tai- Make an Impact on the implementation possibility more than just in academics. receive proper funding from busi- The first wave of TFT teachers lacking the necessary human re- wan was ranked 4th in the world, Without a lot of resources at which TFT may bring. The research TFT’s long term goal is to culti- nesses, foundations and personal was only the first step toward a sources to provide proper education the difference ratio of low achieving hand, TFT was off to a rocky start in conducted by the members eventu- vate leaders from rural places who donations for the first TFT teachers goal which will eventually prove it for children. students to high achieving students the early days of its establishment. ally proved fruitful enough for the will have the same opportunity as recruitment in 2014. TFT’s found- to become a powerhouse in educa- In recent years, part-time staff and on the subject was and still remains However, in January 2013, a devel- TFT to become an official foundation city counter parts. Not only will such ing staff also conducted symposiums tion much like its American found- faculties have slowly replaced full- higher than most countries. The opment camp that was organized by that is recognized by the Taiwanese individuals contribute to the nation around the country prior to the first ing counterpart. Currently, TFT is time teachers to become the norm of phenomenon led PISA to conclude the Chengji Education Foundation government in November 2013. positively, their success would be recruitment to gather opinions and readying itself for the second wave the greater education environment that in the case of Taiwan, the so- and the Alliance Cultural Founda- The TFT model to create a mean- one of the most important catalysts experiences from education experts. of teachers’ recruitment, with more in the country. The turnover rate cial status of a student’s family has tion which seeks to enhance educa- ingful impact first starts with the in achieving education equality. With the foundation of TFT prop- opportunities to come in the future, of human resource has also corre- a direct correlation to his or her tion, presented an opportunity that recruitment and training of pas- Following years of hard work was erly laid out, the first TFT teachers’ so that education equality could be spondingly risen, which resulted in academic achievements in school, enabled all 14 of the nation’s major sionate youths. The individual will able to recruit more core volunteers recruitment garnered around 200 fully implemented in Taiwan, both unstable teaching qualities that proj- serving as the perfect example of tutoring organizations to consoli- become teachers who are willing as well as online partners in 2013. applicants, from which nine full- for the sake of the next generation, ect negatively toward the education education inequality in Taiwan. date their resources. to bring about change and dedicate Though the help of such additional time teachers and seven reserve and the greater good of the entire development of students. Local researches in the changing Thanks to the opportunity, TFT two years of his or her life to chil- members, who had avidly visited teachers were selected. After nine island nation as a whole. The problem is even more severe social dynamics of the country has was able to form its first core mem- dren who live in rural areas across schools, educators and businesses weeks of intensive orientation and in rural areas, where children are also further displayed the problems bers, who first used six months to the nation. Aside from serving only across the country to seek aid and training, the 16 educators were For more information: http://www. often times taught by underqualified of educational inequality in Taiwan, fully understand the education diffi- as teachers, TFT corps members cooperation to further strengthen deployed to schools in Taitung and teach4taiwan.org/

Sparknews is a social enterprise whose mission is to source and share positive initiatives via leading media, and to inspire businesses to innovate and contribute Taiwan shares its health care know-how to building a better world. We would like to thank our partner newspapers, AXA, Total, ADP and Ashoka. Contact us: [email protected] BY ENRU LIN The China Post Weekday mornings in Mthatha, a community on South Africa’s Eastern Cape, 40 health care workers embark on At the initiative of Sparknews, leading international media are joining a journey past fields and rugged cliffs. forces to promote solutions journalism. Help them spark change! Their goal: to reach the small painted homes that sparsely dot the landscape. Johnson Huang (黃兆聖), head of a Taiwanese team that develops mobile applications for the continent, said that finding the homes can be tough because Mthatha has no road signs. “For a community health worker go- Share ing into a fresh assignment, it can be a photo of yourself with your hard simply to locate the patients,” said newspaper on social networks AXA, a founding partner of IJD Huang, who leads the research and de- In line with the Group’s activities in velopment of a new portable solution. clic! with: leading initiatives in the field of pro- “The notation for a specific home tection, AXA chose to support Impact might be something like this, ‘Go down Photos provided by the Bjorgaas Foundation Journalism Day 2015 in promoting along this road and then you’ll see a A view of the Mthatha, South Africa, where residents rely on traveling workers for basic health #ImpactJournalism positive solutions across the globe. News tree. Turn right at the tree and you’ll see services. @sparknews Better protection starts with a deeper a little village, and in this village there is understanding of the risks to which @chinaposttw one house that looks like that,’” he said. the cloud database,” he said. speaks he has the air of a professor. we are exposed. That’s why AXA sup- “Taiwan happens to have experience in ports university research throughout The Community Health Care App A South African National Health Bank Best selfie makers will get the the world, via the AXA Research Fund, tech solutions for medical care,” he said. a unique initiative centred around Like many residents in remote parts of Huang said that over time, the cloud “Since the national health insurance chance to meet-up with some scientific patronage. the world, the people of Mthatha rarely storage could become something similar program was formed in 1995, hospitals prestigious editors-in-chief. We also need to better understand visit medical clinics. Instead, they rely on to Taiwan’s national health insurance have been required to submit their pa- existing solutions designed to protect traveling healthcare workers for basic database: a common repository of pa- tient data electronically and firms have us. AXA People Protectors’ Facebook services and referrals to hospitals when tient information from workers and hos- worked with them and the state to create page brings together 1.5 million fans their condition is serious. pital staff all over the country. an electronic solution that is now quite in 49 countries to share projects and In a pilot study that runs to October, In South Africa, patient records are still mature.” ideas about better protecting our 20 of the 40 healthcare workers are go- mainly paper-based, not shared between As a boy in Southern Taiwan, Huang loved ones and our environment. ing to work in the mornings with a mo- hospitals and prone to going missing. had wanted to become a doctor, but was Participate Articles featured during Impact Jour- bile app developed by Huang’s team at If an AIDS patient goes into a hospital diagnosed with a form of attention deficit In brainstorming workshops nalism Day will be showcased at Taiwan’s Bjorgaas Foundation (畢嘉士基 he has not visited before, the doctor has disorder that caused his hands to tremble. facebook.com/axapeopleprotectors 金會). no way of looking up his patient history. Told he would be unable to use a scalpel, organised by Make Sense, — @axa Provisionally named CHC (Community Even if the patient visits a familiar hos- he took a different path and is now chief designed to help projects over- Healthcare), the app is still in beta test- pital, his record may be incomplete, and information officer for Bjorgaas, a social come challenges. ing, though most of its features are com- his physician may make mistakes. welfare non-profit that works overseas. plete. Maybe the medicine a doctor pre- Mobile health solutions are particularly The app solves the problem of lost scribes to you depends on whether you suited for underdeveloped countries due sparknews.com/ijd/makesense healthcare workers by providing steady received medication in a certain month to the paradox that they often have excel- Total, ‘energy access’ partner of and dependable GPS navigation to every after your diagnosis. You may have built lent technology infrastructure, he said. Impact Journalism Day. The world’s patient’s location. up an immunity that reduces drug effi- “South Africa’s medical information second-largest solar energy operator, But the real beauty is that the app is cacy,” Huang said. service system is not so complete. You Total also invests in new sustainable connected to a cloud database, which With the CHC solution, a doctor can could say that they do not have one,” models for access to energy. allows healthcare workers to do much scan the patient’s fingerprint and receive Huang said. — @total more than track down patient homes. a comprehensive picture of the patient’s “But the internet coverage is roughly For one, CHC lets workers download medical history. 76 percent. And it’s 3G.” patient forms on their smartphone, spar- “What I mean is that information By year’s end, Huang and his team News Submit ing them from carrying heavy boxes and and technology systems can help medi- will look at the test run’s data quality Your project or a project you know the problems of not having correct forms cal service providers provide long-term and decide where to take the app from that deserves to be featured in on hand. care. In countries where this medical there. Workers can also collect data and au- information is not available, the quality “We may tweak the app, or if we find 45 leading international news- Paris Airports, Impact Journalism Day tomatically submit it to the cloud, a con- of healthcare tends to be poor,” he said. it is successful, we can replicate the study partner, for ofering IJD exceptional papers at venience that cuts down on human error Finding His Way elsewhere. Maybe someday we can use visibility at its terminals, in particular when handling paper records. it in Southeast Asia - any countries that sparknews.com/ijd/submissions Terminal 2E at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle “For example, healthcare workers Huang, a native of Pingtung County, is have an interest in this solution,” he said. airport - ranked by the latest Skytracks study as the 6th best airport terminal have a blood pressure monitor and ther- in his early 30s but looks younger. With “The idea with CHC is to package in the world. — @aeroportsParis mometer. Via Bluetooth, the readings his thick arms and wide chest, he is built some of Taiwan’s strengths and offer are wired directly to the phone and to like a top-flight athlete, but when he them to the world.” Page 6 Saturday, June 20, 2015 ‘Everyone seeks his donkey’: Farming autonomy BY ABDOULAYE TAO of arrival to fill their tin cans or and relations with Burkina Faso) but there can be delays, especially L’Economiste du Faso their barrel. In the ranks, there are was there. I was the very first when the beneficiary falls sick.” The city of Boromo is a must for two donkeys pulling a cart with recipient of the association in my The president of the associa- all those heading from the politi- tens of cans. village. After the first experience tion “Everyone seeks his donkey cal capital (Ouagadougou) to the With one trip, Fatimata Oue- with Yacouba Sawadogo’s family, Burkina Faso,” Malick Sawadogo, economic capital. Famous for its draogo’s family is able to ensure I heard that his friends wanted to is more specific: “In principle, the grilled chicken and its bread baked its water consumption for several set up a system to help those who beneficiaries pay 3,200 CFA per in traditional ovens, Boromo is less days. No need to walk to the wa- could not afford to buy a donkey, month over 12 months. But it can well-known for an interesting initia- ter fountain several times a day. that’s why I signed up.” happen that we can’t find him or tive that is being carried out there; Through the acquisition of a don- Since then, nearly a hundred he doesn’t have the money yet. one that brings joy to many farmers key, as recently as January 2015, people have benefited from the op- These cases happen in villages and that deserves to be known and the issue of water supply is no eration. Currently, six people are where farmers do not have enough supported. Some local producers longer a source of anguish for the seeking to purchase their donkeys income-generating activities. “ are now able to afford a donkey; an family. It is a great relief for them. and 15 others are on the waiting In Boromo, the epicenter of animal essential for field work and Fatimata was registered on the list. The system is simple, says the program, “there are no such the transportation of crops, thanks waiting list of beneficiaries of the Souleymane Ilboudo, coordina- problems, and some beneficiaries to an original system of zero- program a few months ago, and is tor of the association in Boromo: even settle their repayment of interest microcredit. 40,000 CAD now a relieved woman. With the “Farmers sign up at local level on the donkey before it’s due,” says (US$32,548), without interest. hours saved, she can now devote a list. When our friends in France the coordinator. Now operational At this price, “Everyone seeks her time to other activities, such as are able to raise some funds for since 5 years, “Everyone seeks his his donkey.” This is the name of collecting firewood for the kitchen. a number of animals, we proceed donkey” is diversifying its activi- the project, which has been imple- But one of the main benefits of to allocation. But it is the farmer ties and the association has come mented since 2009 and funded by owning a donkey is its contribu- himself who goes to buy his don- up with a new initiative: “shared donors from France via represen- tion to agricultural labor as a draft key and the program pays for him. carts.” tatives of the association. animal (hoeing, plowing and trans- We have a monitoring system that The association tries to pair Owning a donkey is not a given portation of the harvest). allows the beneficiary to pay in each donkey with a cart and plow, for the poor rural population, While Fatimata Ouedraogo is a installments and the program also which are indispensable in order who often don’t have significant recent beneficiary of the program, deals with veterinary care during to make the producer independent. income. And yet donkeys are es- Noumassi Tiaho, a farmer based in the payment period.” This time the offer is aimed at sential for survival in the rugged Ouroubonon village, 5 kilometers Payment in installments, despite families who have already received environment. In Boromo, not far from Boromo, prides himself on some uncertainties inherent in a donkey. They are obliged to form from the place that will now serve having been one of the first in his such operations, works well, ex- groups of 5 in order to benefit as the official headquarters of the community to receive a donkey. He plained Boureima Sougue, benefi- from a free cart and plow. 19 carts “Everyone seeks his donkey” asso- still remembers it: “I got my don- ciary of the program and a painter and 22 plows have already been L’Economiste du Faso ciation, there is a water fountain. key four years ago and Laure Ber- in his spare time. “The farmers distributed. For the beneficiaries, Here can be seen Fatimata with her donkey pulling a cart for water transportation. Here people get into line in order thon (in charge of administration always pay back their allocation, empowerment is in process. Aiming to prevent land conflict with village maps BY ERWIN EDHI PRASETYO for rubber plantation,” he said. “said Lina Lumbanraja, Coordinator the village maps, there was one village formed negotiating team. Kompas Iskandar told, a few years ago, he of Economic Development Project important hurdle, that is the bound- The task of negotiation team was Geared with a GPS (Global Posi- cleared a forest land for rubber plan- WVI Sambas. aries have not been approved by to have agreement with the neigh- tioning System), three village com- tation on the border of Lela Village. the neighboring villages, like Sungai boring villages about the borders. munities in the Sambas Regency, He started to clear the land from Simple Image Kumpai, Puringan, Pedada, and Unfortunately the negotiation team West Kalimantan created their vil- shrubs and small trees. However, a According to Iskandar, to draw up Berlimbang in Teluk Keramat sub- which comprised of some commu- lage maps. By creating maps, they few days later a man came to claim maps, they formed Team 10 consist- districts and Jawai sub-district. nity leaders did not move as fast as wanted to prevent land conflicts the land and stated that the land was ing of 10 Lela villagers. This team “Although there is yet approval the mapping team field. and avoid the threat of land claim- not included in Lela Village region. received mapping basic technique from neighbouring villages, but now As a result, after the Tri Mandayan ing. Three villages are Lela, Tri “It didn’t end with physical violence, training by Participatory Mapping there’s alsmost no land conflict. village map was finished, the village Mandayan, and Sebagu in Teluk only some arguments, “he said. Network (JKPP), one of WVI’s part- They know we have the village map, border had not been agreed yet by Keramat Subdistrict, Sambas. “Why Departing from similar experi- ner. They were taught to measure “he said. the neighbouring villages, namely Se- should (we) create a map? Because ences shared by other villagers, as the coordinates using GPS then Learning from the Lela village ex- mata Village, Sub-District Tangaran; there are the threat of land conflicts well as concerns of the threat of land turned the coordinates into an image perience, Tri Mandayan communities Pedada and Sekura Village, Teluk between member of communities, claiming by the palm oil company map. “Some were tasked to operate followed suit in creating their village Keramat Sub-District. “We are ham- between villages, and threats from that wanted to enter the village that the GPS, the others were in charge map. Pardi, Leader of Tri Mandayan pered by the map validation, because Kompas the outside, the entry of the palm time, the community agreed to cre- to record the GPS data,” he said. Village Mapping Field Team said, there is no agreement,” he said. Villagers gather to assist the GPS mapping project. oil companies to Lela. We are con- ate their village map. Mapping began After mastering the use of GPS, mapping team was also trained by cerned about these threats” said Is- in June 2011 accompanied by Wa- Team 10 was divided into two JKPP and accompanied by WVI Sam- More Smoothly Piantus Village, Sekuduk, Tanjung with Sambas region map. Though kandar, a member of the Lela Village hana Visi Indonesia (WVI) Sambas. groups work towards border village. bas. “To get the village boundaries In Sebagu the mapping ran more Keracut, Tri Kembang and the sub- they have to undergo several hur- Mapping Team in Sebagu Village, Preparation of maps was done with It took five days to tour the border of coordinates, we slept in the jungle for smoothly. Negotiating team moved district government,” said Basuni, dles, Sebagu, Tri Mandayan, and Sambas. methods of participatory, involving Lela village. Team had to go in and 10 days, because Tri Mandayan has ahead of team field. After the village former head of Sebagu Village. Lela communities now feel relieved All this time, said Iskandar, Lela Lela community participation. out of the forest and villagers’ fields vast forest, “he explained. boundaries agreed with neighbor vil- Once approved at the Teluk Kera- and proud. Now they know the ex- has never had a detailed map of the “This participatory mapping activ- to record the coordinates of the bor- In the thick forests, sometimes lages, like Tanjung Keracut Village, mat Subdistrict level, Sebagu map act boundaries of their village. With village that includes region border. ities is one of the SOLVE (Strength- der. “Based on GPS data, we drew satellite signals went weak. Team Teluk Keramat Subdistrict; Piantus was submitted to the Governance the village map, the land conflicts As a result, boundaries near neigh- ening Livelihoods and Reduce the map on millimeters block paper members had tot climb the tree village and Sekuduk, Sejangkung Department of Sambas for approval. between communities have been bouring villages were still unclear Local Vulnerability) programs. The and then copied it onto the tracing several times to ensure GPS get a Subdistrict; and Tri Kembang Vil- However, since the 2013 up to now prevented successfully. and only based on each other claims. background was the land conflicts paper,” said Iskandar. strong signal, to ensure the accu- lage, Galing Subdistrict, the field Sambas Goverment has not yet ap- “For the people, the problem of Thus, land conflicts between Lela vil- in some of our assisted villages. We Lela’s region map was drawn racy of the data.” For 18 days we team worked with borrowed GPS proved the map made through active land conflicts nowadays is zero,” lagers with neighboring villages could focus this program in Lela village for simply on a sheet of tracing paper. collected the data from the GPS,” from WVI. “There is no problem. participation of the villagers. said Safirudin, villager and also occur at any time. “I experienced it the first time, then in Tri Mandayan Villagers drew it by hand, no com- he said. Learning from the weak- Once the map was completed, the According to Basuni, Sambas member of Sebagu Village Mapping when I was about to clear the forest village and replicated in Sebagu, puterization. Although the finished ness of Lela village, Tri Mandayan validation was done by the head of Goverment wants to match it first Team. Luwrain: an operating system for the blind Brothers For All: Giving ex-convicts BY THOMAS GRAS one to work in an environment works, which is not the case for Le Courrier de Russie originally designed to be operated other interfaces that may seem Russian developer Mikhail Po- by a mouse, which is inconceivable totally incomprehensible to people and troubled youth a fighting chance zhidaev, himself visually impaired, for a visually impaired person,” he born blind and having never seen, has created a free operating system explains. for example, a window in their BY REABETSWE MASHIGO for the blind, which is simple to use Mikhail therefore switched to lives,” says the computer scientist. City Press and compatible with all platforms. using the GNU/Linux operating sys- A completely free system — the Brothers For All helps people “A. E. E. Enter. Command. tem, which allowed him to create Luwrain is freely available on the who have served prison sentences S.U.D.O. Enter...,” the “voice as- a customized work environment. Internet and can be installed either to build lives, and helps at-risk sistant” calls out as Mikhail franti- Freed from the restraints imposed as a primary OS or as an applica- youth to skill up for the work- cally types on the keyboard of his by windows and other such menus, tion on Windows, MacOS, or GNU/ place. South Africa has a youth computer. “You see, I’m no slower the young man regained the desir- Linux operating systems. “The goal unemployment rate of 80 percent than a sighted person,” proudly an- able “cruising speed,” completed is that Luwrain remains accessible in places and a re-offending rate nounces the young man. his studies in 2007, at the same to as many people as possible, of over 80 percent. Both of which The 32-year-old Mikhail Pozhi- time as his fellow classmates, and regardless of their financial situa- staggering statistics this organiza- daev lost his sight at the age of 17 has kept in contact with them. In tion,” insists the young man, who, tion hopes to rein in with interven- after suffering a retinal detach- 2010, his peers, impressed by his in particular, proposes installing Courrier de Russie tions that break the poverty cycle ment, as he was preparing to enter achievements, suggest the idea to his system on the Raspberry mini- Mikhail Pozhidaev, 32, on the territory and help to fight spiraling crime the first-year computer studies make his program available to all computer, which sells for around of Tomsk special economic zone. rates. The organization is brother program at the State University of people. 30 euros (US$33.93). organization to Mothers For All, Tomsk in Siberia. “I underwent 14 This is how Luwrain got its However, Mikhail does not hide had spent three years contacting which takes care of orphaned surgical procedures, to no avail,” first lines of code back in in 2012. the fact that this project may have various Russian government and children or those who have been he recalls bitterly. Three years later, the draft made a commercial aspect as well, if pri- private organizations, as well as made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. Mikhail decided to take a break by Mikhail turned into an op- vate companies undertake to create foreign ones, receiving refusal after Brothers for All — based in in his studies in order to get used erating system in its own right. compatible software. The Linux li- refusal. “Nobody wanted to believe the Western Cape in the town- City Press to his new condition. He com- It consists of a no-frills black- cense does not allow Luwrain to be I was just trying to do something ship of Langa — was founded by At the computer lab in Llanga at risk youth gather to learn skills that can help pletely reinstalled all software on background monitor and a main sold. On the other hand, we could good for people. We hear all the ex offender Sihle Tshabala who them get onto the information highway. his computer and searched for IT menu offering various categories open an online store that would of- time about innovations, but when serves as the national coordinator tools available for the blind, such — news, notepad, audio player, fer downloadable applications for someone really has an innovative for the organization, ex-offender some money from making jewelry other impoverished communities as Jaws For Windows, which reads etc. — all accessible with simple the blind — a totally virgin market social project, people treat him like Mzi Duba who is the community which also provides them with around the Western Cape and the text displayed on the screen tapping on the arrow keys of the for now,” he admits. a fool!” he concludes. director, co-founder for Mothers entrepreneurial skills; another is then nationally. We plan to do the and allows the person to navigate keyboard. Navigation through the If Mikhail allows himself to say Nonetheless, the demand is for All Linda McCourt Scott as the a coding start up program that same in correctional facilities.” in the traditional office environ- interface is made possible with “we,” it is because he was hired real. Worldwide, some 285 million managing director, and serial en- equips people with the technologi- Unsurprisingly the organiza- ment with the help of a “voice an artificial “voice assistant” — in February 2015 to work as an people are visually impaired — 39 trepreneur and bestselling author cal skills to help them get onto the tion’s biggest challenge is capacity assistant.” Returning to the uni- in Russian or English. “Luwrain IT architect by the Moscow-based million being fully blind, according Robyn Scott who champions the information highway. The prison to help more people. “Our biggest versity in 2002, the young aspiring offers people with visual impair- Elektronnaya Moskva Certification to the World Health Organization organization’s strategy. rehabilitation program, also called challenges at the moment are developer soon realized that these ments the opportunity to access Centre to develop his project. “We (WHO). Nearly 90 percent of these The organization’s success- the Group for Hope, offers HIV/ insufficient space, computers and readily available solutions were not information and functions quickly plan to release the final version by people live in low-income coun- ful interventions include a youth AIDS education as well as coding data to reach the high numbers suited to his needs. “These tools do and easily, regardless of their the end of this year, but before that tries. Russia has approximately leadership program that builds tutorials for prisoners. of unemployed youth and ex- not permit a person to engage in computer skills level. The audio can happen, there is still a lot of 103,000 blind people. leaders around schools through Managing director McCourt offenders who are trying to access computer programming work, and presentation quickly, in a matter of work to be done,” he says. Before motivational talks and mentor- Scott says of their future plans: our free coding training program are extremely slow — they force minutes, explains how the system finding this job, the young man [email protected] ing; another helps people to make “We hope to scale our model to in Langa.” Saturday, June 20, 2015 Page 7 Palestine seeks good governance among young generation

BY BADIA ZEDAN executive directors of institutions useful; it was essential for me to the children of martyrs, prisoners cipally aim at enhancing the youth jleh, director general of CHF Inter- serve to receive any support neces- Al-Hayat in their local community, thanks find a job and I consider it a touch- and orphans.” “These councils gave participation at various levels, in all national, declared that the Youth sary for their development, for the The idea of Youth Local Coun- to networking and dozens of new ing life experience. The Beit Amr us an opportunity to get introduced local instances, in order to achieve Local Councils are the result of preservation of their noble value cils in Palestine was born in 2009. voluntary activities, as well as youth Youth Council is the only one in to each other, as well as to commu- a wider and more influent partici- growing and sustained and to make them ingrained in the Then, they were called youth local campaigns that focused on serving the Hebron Governorate for the nicate and interact with the young pation in all public matters. Those efforts, aiming at building and public consciousness as a major support councils. The project, a joint the local community (the youth par- moment ... In it, we do not tackle people in other governorates.” councils get their importance from supporting local governing bodies, component of the society, which initiative by Sharek Youth Forum ticipated, for instance, in easing the political subjects directly. However, the urgent need to get a strong polit- in the face of huge challenges im- aims at a creating a constructive and CHF International, was based traffic crisis in Ram-Kalandia, and the occupation sometimes hinders On a National Level ical participation among the youth, posed by reality. All of this reasserts and positive movement that would on creating councils that would be organized another campaign to help our work, because young people According to Bader Zamareh, and to make them consciously en- the fact that the youth is the most help enhance nationalism and com- similar to local authorities in their flood victims in Anabta.) in our council are getting arrested. executive director of the Sharek gaged, in an effective and responsi- important component of the Pales- munity work. structure, tasks and operations. Youth Local Council activities Youth councils represent an idea Youth Forum, “the idea of national ble manner, in democratic practices. tinian fabric and that it is important During a special event held in The project was born out of a and initiatives were not restricted that is widespread in the whole elections, organized to form locally Besides, organizing general elections to involve young people in the build- New York City at the end of last real necessity to provide means and to members of public entities: lo- country and generally speaking; elected youth councils, is a nation- to establish those councils helps to ing process, and prepare them for year, the John McNulty Prize com- mechanisms that would help en- cal councils worked on establish- there is no big interest, among wide idea that tries to be a channel confront the exclusion and mar- leadership roles during this phase mittee for Exceptional Leadership, hance youth engagement in serving ing local youth networks, in order us, in cooperating with officials. for the institutionalized, effective ginalization issue, and helps young and in the future. granted by the John Mcnulty Orga- civil society, within a youthful con- to create a balance between local We are much more interested in and legitimate participation of the people recover their active role in all Abu Hejleh assured that the ab- nization, honored Abu HIjleh for text, which would give young people needs and youth interests. Those the activities we are pursuing and youth. Thus, the list of partners political, economic and social sec- sence of youth in the development her leading role in developing and the ability to responsibly engage in youth networks and groups ex- most importantly, we finally turned includes active members of official tors, which will be a confirmation of process will be the biggest obstacle executing the Youth Local Coun- local governance and represent the panded their limits and thanks to into effective groups.” and public institutions, who shall the democratic process. hindering the chances of success. cils initiative in Palestine, which needs and future aspirations of the the council, they got the opportunity As for the young Daoud Othman, share roles and responsibilities, Zamareh noted that the efforts She spoke of the deep and positive is trying, in cooperation with the local youth. to propose activities and work on from the Youth Local Council of each according to their job and of the Sharek Youth Forum focused impact that the youth local councils local entities, to introduce the Youth Local Councils have proven providing needed support. Qalqilya, he considered the experi- scope of work. This partnership on three themes: building the mem- left on young men and women, who youth to good governance prac- very successful, thanks to numerous ence “almost unique in the world.” mainly aims at providing the youth bers’ capacities, setting a network of had the chance to effectively partic- tices, promote their participation initiatives and activities organized Youth Experiences The Youth Local Council of Qalqilya with all the facilities they need to contacts with the local community ipate in the development process of in democratic elections, and give during that period of time; heads According to Adiba Alkam, started operating in 2010. “Our establish their councils and pursue and executing various youth initia- their community, and in designing them opportunities to have lead- of youth councils presided munici- member of the Youth Local Council activities include preparing a tour- their activities with full indepen- tives on the local level. a brighter future. She praised the ing roles in their communities, so palities of their locations for three of Beit Amr, in the Hebron Gov- istic map for the visitors of our city, dence, away from any kind of tutor- experience of Youth Local Councils, they can prepare themselves to be days, (as is the case in Jericho and ernorate, south of the West Bank, including orientation panels, as well ship. Global Communities saying that they are worth the ef- future leaders at local level and Bidiya), and some even became “the training we received was very as other entertainment events for He added that the councils prin- On another note, Lana Abu He- fort. She also added that they de- elsewhere. Companions live together, on and off the road ■ A French organization tion they collect will be archived at tours the world in the University of Vienna as part of an ongoing research partnership. search of solutions The team will also produce a mul- to the issues of timedia Web documentary, and a interreligious relations mobile app will allow users to fol- low the tour through live updates BY JAKE CIGAINERO from the road. Sparknews The sole woman slated for the Two years ago, Samuel Gry- first tour’s team had to drop out, bowski and three travel compan- but this year the gender tables ions arrived in Nagoya, Japan, have turned with three women feeling tired, dirty, and in need of and one man. And while traveling Emil Jupin and Thelle Kristensen a bit of alone time — a rare luxury in strict Muslim societies might Be My Eyes — an app that connects blind people with volunteer helpers from during their year together on the seem challenging for a mostly fe- around the world via live video chat. road. “We were always one on top male entourage, Akacha said it’s of another, there was really no actually an advantage, as they will moment when we could be alone have access to traditional gather- Using the latest tech other than in the shower,” he ing places for women — such as said. So it was a shock when they private kitchens-that were off lim- learned they’d be bathing in a tra- its to the all-male group. ditional public bath with about 200 For Frydman, a 20-year-old to help the blind see other men. Grybowski recalled, “It philosophy student from Paris, the was kind of embarrassing.” tour is as much a social cause as When Grybowski created an a personal identity quest. “As a with a stranger’s eyes organization devoted to helping Jewish person, I’ve been shocked people of different religions learn to see antisemitism is present in ■ App allows sighted “With this app, they have an op- to live together, communal bath- Association Coexister/Corinne Simon France,” she said. “It has rein- volunteers to help portunity to help out if they have ing was not part of his plan. The The first InterFaith Tour team meets their successors, who will embark on the second InterFaith world tour in July 2015. Victor forced my conviction that what we time.” Nearly 200,000 sighted us- young Frenchman founded Coexis- Grezes, Ismael Medjdoub, Lucie Neumann, Samuel Grzybowski, Ariane Julien, Samir Akacha. are doing in Coexister is not only blind people all over ers have signed up, with connec- ter (“Living Together”) in 2009 at important but necessary.” the world, just by using tions in 80 different languages. age 16 after the conflict between confronting these issues. They the breadth of interfaith initia- In India, the travelers learned Akacha said he expects the their smartphones Be My Eyes also has 18,000 Israelis and Palestinians started to recently came to a head when ter- tives, as well as to connect orga- about a sports tournament called tour to make his faith stronger registered blind users. One of heat up again. rorists in Paris attacked the satiri- nizations, enabling them to share “Cricket for Peace” to strengthen through interactions with other BY JUSTIN CREMER them is Copenhagen native Ka- Since then, the group has con- cal newspaper Charlie Hebdo and ideas and best practices that pro- Muslim-Hindu relations. And in religions. “I would not be the same Sparknews mila Ryding, who said that she ducted cultural exchange events a Jewish grocery store. mote tolerance and cooperation Buenos Aires, there was a bicy- Muslim if I was just in my com- The free iPhone app Be My typically uses the app once or and community projects. Its big- “The problem in France today is between religious communities. cling route for religious discovery. munity, if I was not meeting Jews Eyes connects blind users with twice a week, primarily for help gest undertaking has been its am- that people believe unity can only The first tour visited 48 coun- Now Samir Akacha, Lea Fryd- and Christians, going to Christian sighted volunteers. When a blind in identifying household goods. bitious InterFaith Tour, a journey exist between people who look and tries in ten months, meeting 435 man, Ariane Julien and Lucie gatherings or synagogue events,” user needs help, he accesses the She said that Be My Eyes around the globe to discover how act the same,” said Grezes. “But organizations. This was followed Neumann will follow in their pre- he said. “People ask questions, app and Be My Eyes rings up keeps her from feeling like a bur- organizations in other countries we are dealing with diversity. Ei- by two months in France sharing decessor’s footsteps as InterFaith so I have to answer to defend my the first available volunteer. The den to her family and friends. “I develop positive relations between ther we try to make everyone the their findings with schools and Tour Team 2, with a 100,000 euro religion. I have to question it and two are connected over the blind like to have a friend be a friend different religious communities. same, or we realize the potential other organizations. From those (US$108,000) budget collected learn more, so I become a better user’s video camera and the and not a helper.” The first tour took place in 2013. of diversity and build unity based presentations, 10 additional Coex- through fundraising, French gov- Muslim.” sighted user lends her eyes for But blind people aren’t the This July, a new group consisting upon it.” Following the January ister chapters were born, bringing ernment grants and various orga- Coexister’s ultimate goal is not a task that usually takes just a only beneficiaries; volunteers of a Muslim, a Jew, a Christian attacks, President Hollande asked the total number to 21 and grow- nizations (including Sparknews, only to encourage a spirit of toler- minute or two, such as checking also have much to gain. One and an atheist will start off on the the group for advice on the word- ing. who has been a Coexister partner ance among religious groups, but the expiry date on food. sighted user posted on Face- second one. ing for a press conference. One of the initiatives that stood since the first tour). also to foster collaboration to build It’s a process that app cofound- book, “This is the first app that Religious identity has long The purpose of the tour, Grezes out from the debut tour was an Although the second team will communities that value diversity. er Hans Joergen Wiberg refers has ever affected me on such an been a pressure point of societal said, is not to spread a message annual Berlin-based event called travel to only 30 countries, it will “Instead of saying despite our to as micro-volunteering. “A lot emotional level ... I feel like I’m tensions. Victor Grezes, another around the world — “that would the Long Night of Religions, with spend more time at each stop, vis- differences, we say it’s thanks to of people want to do something getting more out of this app than member of the first tour, says that be presumptuous.” Rather, the around 100 places of worship iting new locations such as Azer- our differences that we are stron- good but they are busy,” he said. the person who called me.” his home country has difficulty aim is to raise awareness about opening their doors to the public. baijan and Tunisia. The informa- ger,” said Grezes. Women taking the wheel in India to drive their own destinies ■ By training and hiring for a living. But until about four tained, dignified employment to where violence against women is tising agency where there are no only female chauffeurs, years ago, she had never sat in a underprivileged women. She had prevalent, it provides a source of set hours. When I returned at 3 car, let alone driven one. launched the Viira Motor Training comfort for female passengers. in the morning I used to see my a taxi service in That was when she decided Program six months earlier; Swali According to the government, a mother waiting anxiously for me Mumbai provides a to leave her physically abusive was one of the first batch of 200 woman is raped every 20 minutes at the door. Now I call Viira when safe service for women husband of 19 years. Even though female drivers it taught to drive. in India. And these are just the re- I have to return from late nights. she was born and brought up in After a rigorous six-month training ported figures. And, frankly, I am also much more BY RAKSHA KUMAR Mumbai, India’s commercial capi- program, free of charge, 80 earned India catapulted to infamy in relaxed when a woman is driving. Sparknews tal, she was unskilled and unsure their licenses. Several have driven December 2012 after the brutal I can doze off to sleep.” The traffic light turns green of how to earn a living. She felt for Viira Cabs ever since. (The gang rape of a student in a mov- Senior citizens and differently- and Rupa Swali pulls out onto lonely, scared and helpless. To top training program has since been ing bus in Delhi. She later died of abled people are also a large the Western Express Highway it off, she had a teenage daughter reduced to 12 weeks.) her injuries. Two years later, a percentage of Viira’s customers, in Mumbai, careful to avoid the to care for. Today, Viira Cabs has a fleet 27-year-old executive was alleg- claiming that female drivers are swarm of motorbikes and auto- “I wanted a job that would pro- of 16 eco-friendly cabs and about edly raped by an Uber driver in more thoughtful, helping them in rickshaws zipping past. Suddenly vide me with dignity along with 20 female drivers who earn an New Delhi; the trial is ongoing. and out of the cars. an unruly bus runs the light in financial security,” she said. average of 15,000 rupees a month “Given the background of wom- Once the least respected mem- the other direction and careens At around the same time, a (US$240), working day and night en’s safety in the country, I think bers of their families and commu- Ritesh Uttamchandani straight towards her, laying on management professional named shifts. Even though there are a a woman-drivers-only cab service nities, these women have now be- Viira Cabs is a taxi service for women, by women based in Mumbai, India. its horn. Swali is used to this and Preeti Sharma Menon was look- few other women-drivers-only taxi brought relief to many women come among the most important. slams her breaks just in time, then ing to set up an organization that services in the country, Viira is the who commute alone, especially at Their income is helping to fund lenges as well, such as the cost While looking for other investors, glances at the passenger in the would help women become self- only one that provides comprehen- night,” said Menon. their children’s education; Swali’s of training and the high rate of Menon is keeping the operation back seat to check for a reaction. reliant. Of the nearly six million sive training, including grooming, Her instincts were right. Viira daughter is now a veterinary doc- attrition. “The women we employ afloat with her own money. She Fortunately, the woman seems ab- women living in this city, about etiquette and self defense. Every has hundreds of loyal customers, tor. The drivers keep the cars come from low-income back- might have to shut it down de- sorbed in her iPhone and unaware half are daily wage earners living driver is equipped with pepper such as Revati Sharma, 32, who with them, and when Swali drives grounds. Most of them are the pri- spite the evidence that it is sorely of the danger just averted. on the streets or in tiny shanties. spray and a GPS system with panic lives in a suburb of Mumbai. “My her taxi into the semi-slum where mary caregivers in their families, needed. Already, she feels bad that Navigating the jungle of Mum- Menon created Viira Cabs (“Vi- alerts. parents are increasingly paranoid she lives, her neighbors treat her so whenever there is an illness or she has to turn customers away. bai’s traffic has become second ira” means courageous woman) The service provides more than about me traveling alone to work,” like a celebrity. death in the family, they are the “There is more demand than we nature for Swali, who drives a taxi in June 2011 to provide sus- just skills and jobs. In a country she said. “But I work in an adver- But Menon said there are chal- first to quit their jobs.” can meet,” she said. Page 8 Saturday, June 20, 2015 From trash to Tchaikovsky, slums kids turn trash into music ■ Born from the detritus fill for recyclables. group of filmmakers took interest values than those that hold sway in of a Paraguay “It started with a simple com- and posted a teaser for a documen- their community.” ment,” he said, referring to the tary on the Internet in 2012 (titled “There, the role models are the landfill, the ‘Recycled gancheros’ request, after learning “Landfill Harmonic,” it premiered gang leaders, who impose them- Instruments Orchestra’ of Chavez’s musical skills, that at Austin’s South by Southwest fes- selves through violence and domi- brings music and hope he give their kids lessons. Chavez tival this year). Since then it’s been nance,” he said. “In the Orquesta, soon ran into a stumbling block. flooded with invitations to play the role models are the hardest to slum children He didn’t own enough instruments stages from Germany to Japan and workers, those with the most dedi- BY INES RAMDANE to go around, especially since his even toured South America as an cation, the most commitment.” Sparknews students’ zeal sometimes resulted opening act for Metallica. The 40-plus orchestra members While many of the kids in in inadvertently smashed guitars or Sandwiched between the landfill are selected not for their innate Asuncion’s Cateura slum pin their cracked violins. and the Paraguay River, the Ca- musicality but for the assiduous- hopes for the future on landing And so Chavez resolved to take teura slum is a collection of low- ness with which they attend Satur- careers as soccer players or pop advantage of one resource he had slung homes, some made from raw day morning lessons. Once chosen, stars, Brandon Cobone’s ticket out in abundance-trash. He made a brick and others pasted together they must also attend weekly of the shantytown was something violin out of a strainer, a metal dish from corrugated tin and recuper- rehearsals, where they prepare a stranger than a soccer ball and and metal tubing. “It didn’t sound ated trash. Sewage runs in muddy repertory that includes classical rarer than a microphone. It was like much,” he acknowledged, add- streets pocked with giant puddles stand-bys -- Beethoven’s “5th Sym- a Frankenstein of a double bass, ing that the next few instruments, of standing water and strewn with phony” and Vivaldi’s “The Four cobbled together from garbage including a “guitar” cut out of a detritus fallen from the constant Seasons” -- as well as traditional plucked from the nearby landfill piece of wood with a couple of comings-and-goings of fetid gar- Paraguayan tunes. that gives Cateura both its name strings attached, weren’t much bet- bage trucks. The air is sour with the Thanks to donations, the musi- Juanjo Villa and its smell. ter. “They were didactic.” stench of the landfill, where many cians now have conventional in- Cintia and Amara on their way to the Cateura music school in Paraguay. The 18-year-old is a member Chavez teamed up with one of of the slum’s 20,000-plus residents struments they use in rehearsals. of the Orquesta de Instrumentos the gancheros, a skilled carpenter eek out a living as gancheros. And But they continue to play on the or even birth certificates. “The re- Boys making snare drums out of preparing to go to college. He’s al- Reciclados de Cateura-the Recycled named Nicolas Gamez, to make a when the river floods, as it did last homemade instruments, an inte- hearsals, the trips, the responsibil- wood and metal scraps, with old ready packed more experience into Instruments Orchestra of Cateura- variety of instruments that looked year, Cateura is submerged. gral part of the Orquesta’s identity, ity of being in the Orquesta brings X-rays as skins, add to the tumult. his 18 years than he expected to in which uses music to give the chil- more or less like the real thing Chavez notes that the Orquesta for performances. structure to their lives.” “Joining the Orquesta put me on a lifetime. dren of the slum the skills to build and sounded like it, too. Now the is less about forging world-class “In Cateura, nothing is formal, Inside a narrow lot in the middle a different track in life,” said An- “From the time I was little I al- a better future. Orquesta has versions of most of musicians than turning disen- nothing is planned and everything of the slum, workmen are busy dras Riveros, 20, a saxophonist in ways wanted to travel, but I never The orchestra was created the instruments in a conventional franchised kids into full-fledged happens almost spontaneously,” building the Orquesta’s first perma- his first year of college. “And lucky imagined it would happen … and almost by accident by environ- orchestra, concocted out of cooking citizens. “Are they all going to be said the French-born assistant di- nent space. Already a small cadre for that, because a lot of my friends especially not because of this,” he mental engineer Favio Chavez, pots, bottle tops, melted keys and professional musicians? rector, Thomas Lecourt, adding that of teenage girls scratch out basic who didn’t join are either drug ad- said, gesturing to his double bass, a music lover who was working the like. I don’t think so,” he said. “What their first international tours were notes on their violas, apparently dicts or in prison by now.” a dented steel drum that once con- with the gancheros, or garbage The Orquesta became an in- we want is to teach a different way logistical nightmares because many deaf to the cacophony of hammer- Cobone, who’s visited some 15 tained calcium carbide and cast- pickers who comb the vast land- ternational phenomenon after a of being, to instill in them different of the kids didn’t have passports ing, sawing and drilling all around. countries with the Orquesta, is also away wooden beams. Frenchman describes journey to self-sufficiency ■ In a boat built out of With close to 800 members and jute and flax, a young growing, the Nomade des Mers website has already spawned Frenchman plans a the type of innovation and idea- round-the-world trip sharing de Chatelperron and his in search of low-tech colleagues are hoping for. One member recently posted a video innovation and self on how to make an energy-effi- sufficiency cient stove with a few metal tools and some stainless steel tubes. BY ROSALIE HUGHES Another young Frenchman shows Bamyan Media Spanknews how to make rope out of old plas- Seven boys, seven girls — the contestants of “El Mashrou3.” One day in June 2013, 30-year- tic bags, apologizing for the poor old Corentin de Chatelperron quality of the video, which ap- chased two scrawny chickens pears to have been filmed in his across a tropical island in the In- bedroom. Big ideas on the small screen help dian Ocean. They got away, mak- At a cafe in Paris one recent ing his dream of becoming self- afternoon, de Chatelperron ex- sufficient even more elusive. plained his vision for the project. 1 social enterprises succeed in Egypt De Chatelperron had been “There are lots of low-tech inno- sailing around the Bay of Bengal vators out there-engineers, NGOs, ■ Reality show teaches try to build on the wave of entre- Bamyan Media, she is designing on the aptly named boat the Gold handymen and women, and Egyptians to start their preneurial activity following the recycling technologies focusing of Bengal. He had made it himself people in poor countries, for ex- 2011 revolution. on agricultural waste and biogas, out of jute, a plant grown in Ban- ample. But they’re all in their own own businesses “We wanted to take the mo- and is in contact with the Kenyan gladesh, where he had been liv- corners. The idea is to bring them BY RACHEL WILLIAMSON mentum in the wake of that government to sell her green- ing. His plan was to survive with together.” Sparknews euphoric moment, after all these waste machines. only what he had on board. But Without prompting he opened Reality television sometimes kids have seen the power of what Bamyan’s global director of his potato and lemon plants died. a waterproof bag, an unusual ac- seems to be in a race to the bot- it means to come together, of development, British former jour- His bamboo mast broke after cessory in a Paris cafe, to show tom, but one woman’s germ of an what it means to achieve an ob- nalist Asim Haneef, loved how the termites ate it. And his chickens, me images of the boat’s design. He idea is trying to harness its power jective that’s not so dreamy any- contestants became role models rattled from their time at sea, ran nervously ripped an empty sugar for good: to create a lasting im- more,” Elliot said. and “mini-celebrities.” away the first chance they got. packet into smaller and smaller pact after the cameras are turned She adds that although Egypt “It was amazing to see the De Chatelperron, an engineer pieces while detailing the future off. has a thriving entrepreneur class, tears shed when one of the great and self-described handyman with boat’s dimensions. As he talked Anna Elliot, 30, was an Ameri- it’s largely limited to the wealthy underdogs of the series, T-shirt sandy blonde hair and a soft face it was difficult not to think: This can college student volunteering and very well-educated. seller Mido, crashed out near that belies his age, said he learned man is out of place. He belongs at in Afghanistan in the late 2000s The audience she wanted to the semi-finals after smashing an important lesson during his sea. when the seeds were sown for find was the graduate from the all expectations and going all the six solo months at sea: “When I’m He explained the kinds of peo- her social startup, Bamyan Media. mid-tier public school, the kid way,” he said. “The show ended alone, isolated and without the In- ple they hope to collaborate with She took note when her female selling olive oil products in Sinai, up beating Dancing with the Stars ternet, I am pretty useless. I can’t on their journey-for example, with 2 Afghan friends worried over how and the young adult struggling in the TV ratings-proving that be self-sufficient by myself.” locals in India who use homemade to make ends meet in the coun- to find the government job his people would switch on to a show Lesson learned, de Chatelper- pressure-cooker-like systems to try, newly liberated from Taliban parents demanded. World Bank about start-ups and young people ron returned to his native France make diesel fuel from plastic gar- rule, and also when Afghanistan’s figures reveal that Egypt’s unem- achieving their dreams through to start a new, more ambitious bage found at sea. De Chatelper- first reality TV show mesmerized ployment rate for young people business talent if it was fun and project called Nomade des Mers, ron and his crew will invite them the nation. aged 15-24 was nearly 40 percent dramatic enough.” or “Sea Nomad.” It aims to pro- on board to demonstrate how to Her theater group always last year. But the series’ real value lay in mote low-tech solutions — ones make the contraption, and shoot stopped rehearsals in time to El Mashrou3 — or The Project introducing the idea of entrepre- that are simple, inexpensive, a video for the website. They’ll watch Afghan Star, a local ver- in Arabic — was part The Ap- neurship to a wider number of environmentally responsible, and introduce the creators to the on- sion of American Idol. “I thought prentice, part Dragons’ Den and people. respond to basic needs — across line community, thereby giving about how powerful it was and part support network to educate The year before the show hit the world. them access to new ideas they how so many people would end Egyptians on how to start and TV screens, Bamyan toured re- With European economies can adapt. From then on, the sea their days early so they could run a successful business. gional cities to find contestants, floundering and environmental nomads will use the pressure- tune in to this television pro- Airing from December 2013 and the attention made an impact awareness on the rise, interest in cooker-like device to fuel their gram,” she said. on the Al-Nahar network, the in places such as Alexandria and low-tech solutions is mounting on vessel when winds are low. “I wondered how television 13-episode season featured 14 Mansoura where few of the en- the continent, said Kris de Decker, At each stop the crew hopes to could be made more relevant to contestants picked from over trepreneurial networks present in founder of the online publication pick up new low-tech ideas. The 3 their situation. That, for me, was 1,000 applicants. They completed Cairo have reached. Low-tech Magazine. By launching boat will become ever more self- how do you get a job? How do individual and team challenges Elliot said groups of aspiring Nomade des Mers, de Chatelper- sufficient, the online community Gold of Bengal you earn an income? How do you from making products using a entrepreneurs subsequently set ron is positioning himself to be will grow, and people from rich 1. Corentin de Chatelperron and Ary Pauget with jute growers at the start of the start a business with the skills Cairo rubbish dump and selling up “skills trading” networks. “It’s not only at the forefront of this and poor countries alike will be research project in 2011. you have?” them to furniture stores to being like, I’ll trade you a website if you movement, but also to expand it working together to develop sys- 2. During his voyage, Corentin de Chatelperron desalinated seawater using a pump After helping to launch the first street-side juice sellers. give me 10 hours of pitching ad- outside of Europe. tems that are simple, cheap and for one and a half hours every day — to provide 5 liters of water for the plants, season of the hit show Dream The winner was 26-year-old vice.” De Chatelperron and his two good for the environment. chickens and his personal use. and Achieve in 2008, which pit pharmacist Tina Boules with her However, working in Egypt is full-time colleagues have created This is the dream. It is not 3. Arthur Penet, Louis-Marie de Certaines, Roland Moreau, Ary Pauget, Corentin Afghan entrepreneurs against startup Taqa Solutions, which not easy for entrepreneurs-local a website for sharing existing without challenges. de Chatelperron and Elaine Le Floch ... and the red chicken, in front of the Gold of each other to win a cash prize, aims to help poultry farms, bak- or foreign-owing to the opaque low-tech solutions and inventing Attracting people outside of Eu- Bengal on Saint Martin’s Island in the south of Bangladesh, on the day of Corentin’s Elliot returned to the U.S. in 2009 eries and hotels to make and use bureaucracy and lack of state new ones. This spring they will rope will not be easy, said Mathilde departure in March 2013. inspired. She began pitching the biogas. She received a 350,000 support for small businesses. build an 18-meter catamaran out Richelet, who works for Roots Up, idea of Bamyan Media, a social Egyptian pound (US$50,000) Both Elliot and Haneef admit of jute, plus flax, which grows an NGO in Ethiopia hoping to col- leagues are fully fluent in. (For world’s poorest that it is in their enterprise that partners with local cash prize and her project has they’ve learned a lot, and will in France. The rough plan is to laborate with Nomade des Mers. now, the vast majority of the web- interest to participate? These are production houses to make reality gone from a vague idea to a pilot adapt the show accordingly. launch it in early 2016 and sail “Most low-tech innovation is hap- site’s members are French millen- people who generally develop low- TV shows designed for impact. program and negotiations with a Currently they’re trying to nail around the world, from France pening in poor countries,” she said. nials.) Low Internet penetration tech solutions not because they Bamyan Media took off, with supplier in India. down the next round of funding around the tip of Africa, across “It will be difficult to find the people and literacy rates in the world’s want to, but because they have to. support from Ashoka, Echoing Other runners-up are also from corporate sponsors. And Asia, and then to the Americas. behind these innovations because poorest areas also pose problems De Chatelperron is not de- Green and USAID, and in 2012 making entrepreneurial waves. they are full of ideas, from taking They estimate they will reach 50 they’re often in remote places.” for a movement hoping to use the terred. “It won’t work right at Elliot was in Egypt prepping for Omneya El-Kady began as a con- El Mashrou3 to other countries to destinations in three years, pro- Most people in the world don’t Internet to spread its message. first,” he admitted. “But by the its inaugural show: a similar idea testant with nothing but a dream. developing new shows. Next up: moting low-tech ideas at every speak French, the only language Another issue is buy-in. How end of the journey, I believe we’ll to Dream and Achieve that would Now, with seed funding from The Real Maids of Cairo. port they dock in. de Chatelperron and his two col- will the organization convince the have it figured out.” Saturday, June 20, 2015 Page 9 A network for asylum seekers: the ‘Losone’ model BY SERSE FORNI and a series of requests to the The second element consists of La Regione Ticino authorities, has melted away in the Support Group composed of One of Switzerland’s largest response to the warm smiles of the local authorities, SEM officials and centers for asylum seekers has first guests. In just a few weeks a representatives from the private opened in a residential and tourist- welcome network has developed company that manages the center. oriented town south of the Alps. around the San Giorgio accommo- Losone town councilors Fausto After initial feelings of resistance, dation center, as it is now called, Fornera and Alfredo Soldati explain a string of initiatives has helped involving teams of both institution- how this works: “It’s a platform for to promote a spirit of peaceful co- al representatives and volunteers. dialogue, which aims to find solu- existence. The result has exceeded even the tions to a wide variety of issues The migrants — refugees who most optimistic expectations. “This both within a short timescale and have passed through Italy after represents a kind of model, an often in an informal way, too.” The leaving Africa — are fleeing hor- example to follow,” says Antonio town council has also been asked rific circumstances in their home- Simona, who supervises the center to arrange a public work program, lands. They have left behind both on behalf of the State Secretariat providing a form of employment for loved ones and possessions to for Migration (the SEM). “Firstly, those guests who are keen to keep embark on a perilous and fright- the people who arrive are given a busy and earn some money. For ening journey. The Swiss federal positive message. Secondly, a spirit 2015, plans have been made for Ti Press/Pablo Gianinazzi government arranges for them to of peaceful co-existence is being them to work for a total of 12,500 be registered and receive a medi- encouraged between the local pop- days. Every day, between 25 and Moments of integration between asylum seekers and population in Losone, Ticino, south Switzerland. cal check-up at the border town of ulation and the asylum seekers.” 30 people are being employed to Chiasso. They are then transferred The model, which is proving re- carry out simple tasks for a daily lum seekers in a large room once a rival of the warmer weather we’re of whom come from African coun- pockets of resistance to the new- to other locations, where they may markably effective, involves three salary of 30 francs (US$32.49). week to spend time together play- also organizing excursions and tries (including Eritrea, Nigeria, comers still remain, expressed need to be housed for up to three underlying elements. The first re- “These jobs are highly valued by ing games, chatting and undertak- trips around the region,” explains Somalia and Senegal), express mainly in the form of fear-monger- months while awaiting a residence lates to the organization and man- the asylum seekers,” Simona adds. ing manual and creative activities. the volunteers’ spokesperson, An- their gratitude for these acts of ing and attempts to fuel animosity permit. One of Switzerland’s larg- agement of the center itself, within “The work gives them back some These encounters represent a pro- tonio Lisi. The kind support from generosity with an equally gener- on social media. est accommodation centers, with which a range of different activi- dignity. In addition, local people are cess of “give and take” for those in- the local population is expressed in ous spirit. They are grateful to Even so, this negativity is di- room for 170 guests, was opened ties is organized including sports happy to see the asylum seekers volved — a chance to share activi- a display of solidarity aimed at ob- those who are trying hard to help minishing over time in the face of on Oct. 20, 2014 in an old military and creative workshops, while working hard on the footpaths, in ties and discussion with the aim of taining clothes and essential items them feel at home. what many see as an example of barracks in Losone, a residential guests can chat and play together the forests and in public spaces.” bringing comfort to those in need. such as toys, furniture and a wide There is, though, a flip side, the warm welcome that, as on so and tourist-oriented town with a in the common rooms. In addition, The third element of the Losone Such special opportunities help to range of tools and utensils. These including a few incidents that re- many occasions before, has been population of around 6,000. there are chores, with the different model consists of the Welcome create a positive relationship be- are collected and taken to the for- quired the police be called to the given by Switzerland — and by The locals’ initial resistance tasks divided up among the guests. Group. This was set up at the ini- tween people who may be far apart mer army barracks, where they center. Outside the center there Ticino — to migrants fleeing from to the newcomers, expressed in Spiritual support is also available tiative of around 25 volunteers, in terms of culture but who are are distributed to those in need. have been no clashes, however. horrifying situations in their coun- the form of grievances, petitions for those who request it. who host between 20 and 50 asy- now close neighbors. “With the ar- The guests at the center, most Within the local community some tries of origin. 5 faiths sharing 1 roof at House of Religions

BY SIMONETTA CARATTI trator in Bern, as he listened to the worked,” Hauck explains. “We are a model of interreligious BELLINZONA, Switzerland idea for the project for the first time, The Hindu minister confirms: coexistence. The mistrust towards It is possible for very different is just one telling example: “This “Our prayers are festive, explosive, Muslims exists in particular among rituals and beliefs about life and the project is unnecessary and destined musical, noisy. Nothing to do with those who don’t know us. That’s afterlife to co-exist: this little great to fail,” he commented. Muslim rituals. We have had dis- why it is important to promote miracle happens every day at the It took time, a lot of good will and agreements but we have learned knowledge of different faiths. Next House of Religions, in the multicul- determination, but the results finally that we have to discuss and find a generations will reap the benefits,” tural outskirts of Bern. came. solution.” Sasikumar Tharmalingam, explains Mustafa Memeti. The Alba- While the fear of jihadist terror- Overcoming the fear of those 38 years old, holds celebrations six nian imam has his own vision: “We ism is rife in Europe, a seed of hope who are different by getting to know times per day and follows 450 Hindu promote dialogue, but not mixture. blooms within the heart of neutral them, but also transforming preju- families, particularly Tamil, devoted Each one of us maintains our own Switzerland: a place of dialogue. dice into tolerance through dialogue: to Shiva. This divinity stands out in religious identity in their respective Five places of worship live togeth- these are the pillars upon which the colorful temple, which counts place of worship,” he underlines. er under the same roof: a mosque, Bern’s House of Religions was built. 350 plaster statues sculpted by art- His mosque borders with the Bud- a Hindu temple, an Alevi “dergah” It has been a long, ten year jour- ists who came from Tamil Nadu. dhist center: a large room where a Buddhist center and a church ney. “We will not save the world, “The idea of living side by side, on the orange color of yoga mats (used by eight different communities, we are not missionaries, but we the same doorstep with Muslims or stands out, together with the gold including the local Ethiopian and practice dialogue: not the abstract Christians, was a strange one at the of a quiet Buddha that seems to be Moravian communities). one among religions, but the con- beginning, but this formula works. observing everything. It comes from A new two-story glass-and-con- crete one among people of different There are points of contact among Thailand and is the only religious crete complex hosts the five places faiths who built their temples under religions and all of them, after all, symbol in the room. “We receive of worship (funded and organized by the same roof and share common say the same thing: God is love,” the visits from people who do not have the communities). The design also spaces. There’s been no shortage of Hindu minister says. a faith but seek a way to live better. Rainforest Connection features a shared common area for problems, we’ve had conflicts, but The joyful explosion of colors in We teach methods, such as medita- Rainforest Connection founder Topher White. His high-tech device made from discarded smartphones listens for trucks, all the communities, with conference we found solutions,” explains Gerda his temple clashes with the sober tion, that are useful against stress; chainsaws and other sounds of encroaching loggers. When installed high up in tree canopies, Rainforest Connection rooms, a library and a restaurant. Hauck, president of the association Alevi “dergah” upstairs: a cream-col- we don’t lead anybody to believe in hardware is considered virtually invisible. Behind this miracle, three men of “House of Religions — Dialogue ored room with no images, a table, anything,” explains Marco Genteki different religions stand out: a Mora- among Cultures.” a cauldron and 12 niches in the wall Roess, vice-president of the Bud- vian priest, an imam and a rabbi. Different approaches to rituals representing as many philosophers. dhist Intercultural Association in The Amazon rainforest is calling More than ten years ago, when the could heat up the situation: a festive The mosque is elegant but so- Bern. “The House of Religions is an world was shaken by 9/11 and the day of prayer for one religion could ber, built on two floors: downstairs important social lab for promoting ■ To combat illegal logging, media focus turned to cultural differ- be considered impure by another. for men, upstairs for women. The dialogue and knowledge of differ- a non-profit equips trees ences, these men shared a dream: “We prevent one community walls are decorated with geometric ent religions. We have different peaceful coexistence among reli- from restricting the activity of oth- designs on a black and purple back- faiths and rituals, every one of us with cellphones gions. ers. There have been frictions, but ground featuring the names of the 28 has their own space and specific- BY ASTRID CHRISTOPHERSEN That seed has now bloomed. The we have come up with a rule: we prophets; a huge crystal chandelier ity, but we can meet and know one Spanknews road has not been easy. The discour- must discuss and find solutions in (brought disassembled from Turkey) another in the common areas,” he In a narrow patch of the Ama- aging reaction of a public adminis- a limited time. And this has always dominates the center. concludes. zon rainforest surrounded on all sides by clear-cut pastureland, members of the Tembe indig- enous tribe have pinned their The dog that can smell when diabetics are at risk hopes for survival on an implau- sible idea: that by equipping BY SIMONETTA CARATTI aging his diabetes and hypogly- the time to rebalance his blood them. But the master must be trees with cellphones they can BELLINZONA, Switzerland caemia could catch him at any sugar levels, by either having trained as well, the bond between save both their forest home and “Izzy” is a 5-year-old German time. “Many factors influence something sweet or injecting in- the two is very important: they their millennial way of life. Shepherd, a very special one: he sugar levels in the blood; from sulin. have to become a tight-knit team. The Tembe have paired up has been trained to smell when stress to physical activity. It has My dog, for example, follows me with a San Francisco-based his master is about to have a happened to me that I’ve had to The Dog Senses in Advance the everywhere, even in the plane,” non-profit called Rainforest Con- hypo-glycaemic crisis, lose con- be rescued by the ambulance,” Changes in Sugar Levels explains Angel Fraguada. nection, which uses a treetop sciousness and slip into a coma. he explains. Dogs for diabetics are trained to In Switzerland Angel is helping cellphone device to listen for the He can sense the crisis coming During one of these occur- recognize a specific smell, unde- a few families with diabetic kids trucks, chainsaws and other tell- 20 minutes in advance. Day and rences, seven years ago, a first tectable by humans, which signals and adults to find and train a ser- tale sounds of encroaching log- night, Izzy is alert for imminent aider told him about dogs for a change in their master’s blood vice dog, so that they can manage gers. The brainchild of physicist- danger: he is a lifesaving dog, a diabetic people. Angel was in the sugar levels, preluding to a hypo- dangerous sugar peaks, in particu- turned-forest crusader Topher guardian angel for people suffer- United States at the time, where or hyper-glycaemic crisis. lar during night hours. Each dog White, the device looks like a ing from diabetes. His support training programs for such dogs Izzy and Angel have now be- is trained to assist a single and daisy, with a weather-proofed has changed the life of Angel had been in existence for many come inseparable. The German specific diabetic master, because it cellphone from which solar Fraguada from Geneva, who has years. Shepherd follows him everywhere. has to detect the smells produced panels radiate out, to charge it. suffered from Type 1 diabetes That’s how Angel started Carol, Angel’s wife, is happy by that particular person. It is Hidden in the tree canopy, the for the last 14 years. His pancre- searching for a service dog. He too, in particular for the help Izzy therefore a unique bond. device transmits ambient sound as, all of a sudden, stopped pro- attended courses in the States provides during the night time, The alert system is also person- to the cloud, where software ducing insulin; which regulates and he is now a trainer of life- when hypoglycaemic crises can alized and it is decided together programmed to recognize the sugar levels in the blood. Angel saving dogs himself. reach patients as they sleep and with the patient: it becomes a sort sound of chainsaws sends real- is now forced to inject himself Angel trained his German lead them to slip into a coma with- of intimate language between the time alerts to rangers when such with insulin every day, more Shepherd who has warned him out anyone noticing. “That’s why person and the dog, who reacts to noises are detected. than once a day. In Switzerland, of changes in his sugar lev- Izzy sleeps in our bedroom,” she the peaks or drops of glycaemia to It’s already been tested in 40,000 people share this fate, els, night and day for the last says. keep it within the safe range. West Africa and Indonesia, including many children. four years, preventing danger- Everything is very personal. where it brought an end to log- Particularly when sufferers are ous hypo-glycaemia as well as The Training Could Last “It is a hard job to train a dog for ging on a small sanctuary for one very young, keeping sugar levels damaging hyper-glycaemia. “I One Year diabetics but the results are very of the world’s most endangered Rainforest Connection under control can be a marathon trained Izzy to alert me when Not any dog can become an positive. We should not forget primates, the gibbon. Rainforest Connection’s high-tech device made from discarded smartphones for their parents, who are forced sugar leaves a determined safety “alerting friend” and assist a dia- though that they are not machines But White said the stakes on listens for trucks, chainsaws and other sounds of encroaching loggers. When to wake up various times dur- range,” he said, and Izzy often betic person. What makes the dif- and they can be mistaken,” says the Tembe reservation, in the installed high up in tree canopies, Rainforest Connection hardware is considered ing the night to avoid dangerous senses the change before it is ference is the sense of smell, the Angel. He explains that there is a Brazilian state of Para — ground virtually invisible. hypo-glycaemic crises. detected by the glycaemia mea- type of dog and, even more impor- big market for these dogs in the zero of the fight over the future of Angel Fraguada has worked suring machine. “Sometimes he tantly, the feeling between the dog States and buying one that is al- the Amazon — are even higher. fighting against the destruction are quite passionate about that, for numerous years as an acro- starts barking 20 minutes before and its master. “The dogs must ready trained can cost a lot. Angel “It’s the difference between of the environment,” said White. but the urgency we see from the bat in shows such as “Cirque du the sugar begins to drop or rise have a very sensitive nose, it takes Fraguada evaluates each situation fighting against annihilation and “Most of the people we work for Tembe is especially palpable.” Soleil.” He struggled with man- alarmingly.” This gives Angel between 6 and 18 months to train and issues a quote for the training. Page 10 Saturday, June 20, 2015 Bagging the energy of the sun in South Africa BY REABESTWE MASHIGO Rethaka recycles plastic bags — woman was named first runner business partner Ngwane, who pose Schoolbags,” said Ngwane. Maithufi is also a consumer of the us save money on buying more City Press (South Africa) easy to come by across the South up at last year’s (2014) Anzhisha says that their business is not only The ground-breaking pair’s product she helps to manufacture. candles”. Reabetswe Ngwane and busi- African landscape — turning them Prize. The prize, now in its fifth lighting the way for learners, but is creative juices keep flowing and She is delighted to be working for In South Africa where the coun- ness partner Thato Kgatlhanye into school bags which have built year, awards young entrepreneurs also creating jobs for their commu- they have now developed a range the company and says that the try’s energy shortage has led to personify the buzzphrase social in solar power packs. These packs from Africa who have developed nity in the North West province of of luxury clutch bags using the schoolbags have made a direct pos- rolling blackouts every week, the entrepreneurship. The pair have are charged all day in the sunlight and implemented innovative solu- South Africa. In this way, she says, same abundant waste material. itive contribution to her daughter’s schoolbags Rethaka makes might found an innovative solution to while the children are at school, tions to social challenges or have they are tackling two social prob- Like any sustainable business, the education. As if that isn’t enough just be the solution for everyone one of society’s most pressing and are fully charged when the started successful businesses in lems with one solution — helping pair are continuing to innovate. benefit for her family, Maithufi says who needs to burn the midnight oil problems — affordable energy sun goes down providing much their communities. children learn and injecting jobs Says Ngwane: “There definitely are that it also helps her manage down for study and work. Even for those in economically depressed com- need light for doing homework — As a runner up, Kgatlhanye into the area. future plans to create more inno- the household budget. who are lucky enough to never munities without reliable access or walking home safely. bagged US$15 000, which became “We currently have eight em- vative, sustainable and functional “The bags we make have also have a shortage of lights, perhaps to electricity. They have designed This clever and simply solution the seed capital to take her solu- ployees who are responsible for products. But we have chosen to made a difference in my daugh- this is a way for anyone anywhere schoolbags, through their company to a persistent problem was borne tion and convert it into what it has the entire process from the collec- continue furthering our reach with ter’s education as she now has a to conserve energy — after all Rethaka, that do more than carry out of a school assignment. Thato become — a successful business tion, washing and sorting of the regards to the Repurpose School- bag, and is able to use the solar sunlight is free and clean — the books — they help children read Kgatlhanye came up with the idea rooted in the North West commu- plastic bags, through to the final bags for now.” light at night to study and finish buzzwords of the future of energy them too. and unsurprisingly the young nity. This all with the help of her stitching and delivery of the Repur- Rethaka employee Maphefo her homework, which also helps globally. Electricity thanks to a merry-go-round Getting electricity from the garden BY SABINE HERVY ■ Solar panels on AND OLIVIER GASSELIN our roofs will soon L’Actu — Mon Quotidien Generating electricity through be a thing of the play. That’s the simple but inspired past, says Markus idea of an American humanitarian Weingartner. organization: Empower Playgrounds, which specializes in electricity- That’s why the part- generating playground equipment time inventor builds for children in deprived countries. solar furniture. In Pediatorkope, a tiny impov- erished island in southeast Ghana, BY CHRISTIAN ZERCHER the locals don’t have electricity. The Tages-Anzeiger (Switzerland) island is not linked to the national Niederglatt energy grid. To bring them elec- The table in the garden of a fam- tric light, Empower Playgrounds ily home in Niederglatt, not far from had the idea of installing a special Zurich, looks like many a garden merry-go-round in the playground table — simple design, chromium of a local primary school. When the steel, matt finish. But there’s a dif- children push and spin it around, it ference: one leg reveals a cable that powers a turbine which creates en- runs along the ground and ends up ergy. The merry-go-round also re- in a power point. The table leaf is charges batteries which can power black and turns out to be made of energy-saving LED lamps for more glass, covering a set of solar pan- than 40 hours. els. “My solar table — an energy- The children are responsible for producing piece of furniture,” says recharging the batteries during Markus Weingartner, an engineer, their playtime. In the evening they father of two, hobby innovator and take these lamps home. The idea furniture creator. The “solar table” is life-changing, because until now, generates 280 kilowatt-hours of it was difficult to have light when electricity a year, enough to cover night fell. Thanks to these lamps — 30 percent of a person’s energy con- which are less dangerous than the sumption or to power an e-bike for oil-lamps which many villagers use 70 kilometers every day. — they can continue their studies The Swiss authorities did not and do their homework at home. warm to Weingartner’s concept for As a result, students are getting bet- a long time because unlike rooftop ter results at school because of this panels, the electricity generated ingenious invention. by the table is fed directly into the “Before, we couldn’t give the chil- private grid through a power point. dren work to do at home because it It does not have to be sold into the was dark when they got back after public grid and then repurchased, school. As a result they had poor re- and it can be used instantaneously. sults at school, whereas now, thanks “Most people don’t even know to these lamps, they are making that this is now possible,” We- progress,” a teacher told the media. Empower Playgrounds Inc./Crys Kevan Leee ingartner says. Although the This has the further advantage of When the children push and spin the merry-go-around, it powers a turbine which creates energy and recharges lamp batteries. Federal Inspectorate for Heavy students being able to continue their Current Installations (ESTI) took education after primary school. particularly those who live out in the island. Locals can buy a bat- at the solar energy plant. a lot of convincing (Weingartner: The merry-go-round project is the countryside. tery which will power several This invention looks set to have “It was a battle”) it eventually already in place in 42 schools out of The humanitarian organiza- lamps, as well as charge their a bright future. It’s estimated that sanctioned the idea. This made Tages-Anzeiger the 40,000 across the country. This tion is also launching another mobile phones. The battery lasts throughout the world, around 600 Switzerland only the second (Top) Markus Weingartner from Niederglatt, near Zurich, Switzerland, with his African nation is often affected by project, setting up a small factory a month and costs approximately million people do not have the country after the Netherlands to solar furniture. electricity shortages which interrupt producing solar energy — which 1.30 euros (US$1.47) to recharge. means of lighting their homes, with allow such a feed-in. (Above) The energy flows directly into the private power grid of its owner. the everyday lives of its inhabitants, Africa has no shortage of! — on This money pays for maintenance Africa the continent worst affected. South African Railway Adventure sion statement? “Possibly,” Wein- renewable energy overestimated or Originally, railways were Wein- gartner says, but he prefers to paint eroded by double standards? Wein- gartner’s abiding passion. He stud- a broader picture. He uses phrases gartner wouldn’t put it that harshly, Environmentalist dreams of fighting pollution with seaweed ied electrical engineering, joined like “The sun is a democratic source but says: “It’s what people do that ABB, the Swiss-Swedish engineer- of energy” or “The electric grid is to- counts, not what they say.” ■ is made entirely from seaweed, plankton. Once they reach the end tracts, rather than risk not being ing group, and began developing day’s energy internet.” Anybody can Algopack, a minnow India, the Dream Market of the French meaning that it is not transparent of their life, the end products take able to meet demand.” As a result, railway software programs. He feed into the grid and purchase from but rather dark brown in colour. twelve weeks to biodegrade in soil production only got under way in moved to South Africa for several it, it has become a “free market.” Florian Stahl teaches marketing biochemistry industry, Although it is possible to bulk-dye (as compared with four to ten cen- 2013 and the company’s turnover years to help develop the country’s While energy producers once pretty at the University of Mannheim in swaps oil for seaweed the product, it can hardly become turies for standard plastics) and just remains modest at 120,000 euros railway network. Upon returning to much cornered the market with Germany and knows a thing or two to make plastic. clear. As Lucas himself acknowl- five hours in the sea. In both cases, in May 2015. It is expected to reach Switzerland in 2005, Weingartner their power plants, photovoltaics about launching innovative prod- edges, “We’ll never get into the they act as fertilizers. It should also 1 million euros over the course of redirected his professional career by now gives many people the opportu- ucts. BY CAROLINE DE MALET water bottle market.” be noted that this material does not the next financial year. The com- adding a post-graduate diploma in nity to become electricity suppliers. “It takes time to market new ideas Le Figaro contain bisphenol A or phthalates. pany’s work has attracted many photovoltaics. (“I’d been interested In short: for Weingartner, the solar and inventions,” he says, because Given current barrel prices and Protecting the Environment clients, including Leclerc (trolley in this area since I was 18,” says table is the first step on his family’s human beings are basically tradi- the pollution caused by oil produc- Despite this minor drawback, Applications around the World tokens), Orange (mobile phone Weingartner, who is now 49.) path to “energy self-sufficiency.” tion-bound and it is difficult to sell tion worldwide, making plastic with there are many advantages to using Lucas’ work has already earned cases), Sagemcom (Liveboxes) and He founded his own business At least that’s the idea, his vi- them change. “The important thing seaweed instead of oil seems like a seaweed as a raw material. This him recognition. In 2011, he won Biocoop (fittings for 300 shops). for solar installations and employs sion. The reality is different: here is communication. You have great idea. Remy Lucas comes from natural resource exists in unlimited the Crisalide Eco-activites and Although Algopack is currently five people. He calls it his “routine Weingartner’s solar table is hardly to convince people that the product a family of Breton “wrackers” (sea- quantities and although it is season- Innova’Bio competitions and last still in the pilot phase, the com- business.” He broke out of the rou- a bestseller. He has sold some 30 is the same, but better.” Small com- weed gatherers) and has drawn on al, it can be farmed. Which is pre- year he took the Total-BFM Busi- pany plans to accelerate its devel- tine in 2013, when he designed his pieces so far, but he needs to sell at panies find this difficult, he says, his experience in the petrochemicals cisely what Algopack is doing with ness Award for green chemistry. opment and is expected to start solar table because he anticipated least 300 to cover his expenses — because they lack the resources for industry to make this idea, first con- aquaculturalists in Saint-Malo bay Algopack even offers hope to those industrial production in 2016. Its a change: “Ten years from now we high in the hundred thousands. It’s broad-based advertising campaigns. ceived 15 years ago, a reality. in Brittany. Seaweed can even be living in the West Indies and Guy- 12-hectare seaweed farm has to won’t be seeing a lot of solar panels difficult to find his furniture on the An alternative would be guerrilla Now, his dream is about to stored for many years. Secondly, it ana, where coastal areas are being be extended to 145 hectares and on small roofs anymore.” Although Internet, let alone on social media. marketing via social media or trying come true. The company Algopack, is cheap; it just needs to be harvest- swamped by unprecedented vol- the production plant is moving to solar technology becomes ever “There’s room for improvement,” he to sharpen the distribution process which he founded five years ago, is ed from the sea. In addition to this, umes of gulfweed. The Seventh Con- new 1,000-square-meter premis- cheaper, he says, installation costs concedes. Nor have any of the big — either direct distribution to the now a market leader in this tech- the industrial waste produced by tinent Expedition, which promotes es. “In five years’ time, we expect will remain high while feed-in tariffs furniture chains, such as IKEA, In- end-seller (Stahl: “In this case rather nology for transforming seaweed. seaweed (from which the cosmet- the development of alternatives to to achieve a turnover of around (i.e. compensation rates) will fall. terio or Micasa, added his invention difficult”) or via production licences The principle is seemingly simple: ics industry has already succeeded plastic, has joined forces with Al- thirty million euros and create For an individual, installing rooftop to their product lines. Weingartner (Stahl: “Probably the best solution”). extract a powder from brown sea- in extracting certain substances) gopack to solve this problem. The some thirty new jobs,” Lucas ex- panels will become less and less vi- knows why: “The margins are too Weingartner sees some merit in the weed and add plant additives to is even cheaper and does the job good news is that Algopack’s tests plains. The company is currently able. “The trend goes towards large- low.” Micasa’s Service Centre told licensing option since he considers produce granules that can then be just as well. As a result, Algopack have shown that its process does running a fundraising campaign scale installations and cost-efficient “Tages-Anzeiger”: “We take sug- himself more of an innovator than used by plastics manufacturers to sells at 1,500 euros (US$1,696) per work with this species of seaweed. as expansion on this scale will solar parks.” gestions from customers on board a furniture maker. “In future, we make end products. This material ton, as compared with 2,000 euros The process has also shown positive require more than 5 million euros Weingartner, who also builds so- and evaluate them on a supply-and- will also offer a do-it-yourself solar has many uses, from laminates for for most bioplastics (made from results in tests carried out in several in investment. lar panels for flower pots and side or demand basis.” table.” furniture to caps and lids, plant cereals or sugar cane) and 1,200 different continents, in Japan, Chi- Although oil companies around coffee tables, sees a niche market for This leaves the furniture and He has a longer-term vision as pots and even funeral urns. How- euros for plastic. Finally, it is envi- na, South Africa, Chile and Canada. the world are also showing an inter- his solar furniture: “Ecology-minded garden shows. Weekend after well: he wants to travel around In- ever, it isn’t suitable for all applica- ronmentally friendly. Seaweed does These promising results mean that est in this market, this is not the last people can do something for the weekend Weingartner carts his dia in ten years’ time and see lots of tions. Unlike Algoblend, the first not need any fertilizer or pesticides Algopack now plans to license its we will hear about this new method environment without needing to ob- solar furniture around Switzerland. furniture connected to power points product launched by the company, and can grow in very little water. It process to local manufacturers. of cleaning up the planet, at a time tain a building permit and having to The experience is not encouraging: — “now that would be it!” which is made up of 50 percent stores carbon dioxide (961 kilos per Lucas nonetheless remains cau- when nearly 269,000 tons of plas- spend 30,000 francs (US$32,476) on “People stop, have a look, say ‘Wow, seaweed and 50 percent plastic, ton as it grows) and gives out oxy- tious. “We chose to secure the tic waste is floating in the earth’s a solar installation.” So, is the table, what a super idea’ and amble off.” For more information this latest product (“Algopack”) gen, which is vital to the growth of resource before signing any con- oceans. which costs CHF 3,400, also a mis- So, is the willingness to invest in Website: http://energiemoebel.ch/ Saturday, June 20, 2015 Page 11 Bringing water to the world by transmutation BY CLAUDIA VILLANUEVA high water stress by 2030, includ- which began to experiment with advantage that it can be kept any- technology can be used in all kind Excelsior (Mexico) ing between 75 million and 250 the new product to ease water where, even in burlap sacks be- of soil substrates and with all kind Water scarcity continues to in- million people in Africa. shortages for agriculture. In 2012 cause the rain water molecules ad- of plants because it produces no crease around the world. Accord- But a few years before the Rico Velasco was nominated for here to the potassium polyacrylate, chemical reactions with pesticides ing to the United Nations some publication of the 2006 Human the World Water Prize. which allows the gelatinization of nor fertilizers because “it’s just 700 million people in 43 countries Development Report by the United The magic of “solid rain,” a com- the rain in the agricultural fields. water” and it does not generate suffer this calamity caused by Nations Development Program and pound based on potassium acry- pollution. overexploitation of water resources of the report “Coping with Water late, is that it can store 300 times, Rejuvenation The Solid Rain can regularly and the irrigation of agricultural Scarcity. Challenge of the Twenty- even 500 times its own weight in How does it work? Solid Rain provide enough water to plants lands to enhance production when First Century. U.N.-Water,” by the water without causing any harm encapsulates and disperses water over a period of ten years maxi- rainfall is scarce. FAO in 2007, a Mexican scientist to the environment, nor triggering during its lifetime, ranging from 8 mum, while avoiding water stress In 2006 the United Nations Sergio Jesus Rico Velasco from toxic chemical reactions regardless to 10 years, it helps to aerate the and evaporation. Moreover, the announced its International De- the Instituto Politicnico Nacional of the type of soil substrate. soil, and permits agriculture in solid rain particles can be rehy- cade for Action ‘Water for Life’ invented “Solid Rain” and founded extreme climates and places with drated with each agricultural cycle. 2005-2015. The U.N. predicts that the company “Silos de Agua” in Portability poor soil conditions. How is it used? Farmers need to 1.8 billion people will be living in 2002 to commercialize his product. The product looks like a white The ideal usage proportion is take a spoon and mix 20 grams of countries or regions with “absolute Slowly but steadily the news of powder sugar but is made of ultra- four “silos,” each one containing Solid Rain with one liter of water, Excelsior (Mexico) water scarcity” by the year 2025. his invention reached the world, absorbent potassium polyacrylate the equivalent of one litre of water. then mix it into the soil. Then plant The miracle of solid rain: The start and result of the process of transmuting water The challenge they identified opening a new window of hope for which Rico Velasco and other sci- The comparative cost is minimal theirs seeds and mix it in with the storage in “powder” form is seen. is for the distribution of water many countries around the world, entists call “water silos.” because the “powder” sufficient soil of other plants (www.solid- resources in a responsible way, including Russia, India, Ivory So as an alternative to reduc- for one hectare has a price tag of rain.com). the product is capable of saving soil conditions and from 30 to 50 because almost half the world’s Coast, Colombia, Spain, Portugal, ing water resources, this product around one thousand dollars. According to Solid Rain Corpo- between 50 to 80 per cent of wa- percent of water usage in green- population will be living in areas of Chile, Peru and, of course Mexico; stores rainwater and has the Rico Velasco explained that this ration from San Diego, California, ter, depending on the climate and houses. Clean energy goes down the toilet, literally

BY A. TARIEL on which you can run an engine. cause of people who live in the Capital for 2015. L’Actu - Mon Quotidien Amazingly, the waste produced area, no doubt the very people The Poo Bus underwent trials Who would have thought that by a family of five over one year is who use it,” joked the director of in November 2014 but since this poo could be a source of clean en- enough to run a bus carrying 40 GENeco, the company which built spring, it has been operating a ergy? people for 300 kilometers. This new the vehicle, to British newspaper regular service. Schoolchildren also In the United Kingdom, there is source of energy is far less polluting The Telegraph. use the bus and think it’s great fun. a bus running between the city of than petrol, because it releases very What’s more, the bus doesn’t Elsewhere in Europe, the Nor- Bath and Bristol Airport that oper- few greenhouse gases, which are a hide its unusual energy source. wegian capital Oslo has started ates on a very special type of bio- cause of global warming. Instead, it boasts about it! On running around 100 buses operat- gas. Fuel is made from the excre- By comparison, the fuel releases the side of the bus there are pic- ing on human waste. Other cities ment of the local population, which 80% less nitrous oxide and 25% tures of people sitting on the loo are also starting to think about us- is collected after it’s been treated less carbon dioxide than a diesel doing their business, reading a ing excrement and other waste as at a water purification plant, along motor. newspaper or listening to music. fuel for public transport, and that’s with food waste. Passengers need not worry: the This environmentally friendly not all: it could even be used in fu- How can it be turned into en- Bio Bus, or ‘Poo Bus’ as it initiative demonstrates how Bristol ture to heat homes. ergy? As the poo decomposes, it has been nicknamed, doesn’t give is committed to limiting the impact This new source of recycled en- Wessex Water/REx produces methane gas. This is then off any nasty odors! of climate change. For one year, ergy no doubt has a bright future. The UK’s first ever bus to run on human waste launched, which runs between Bristol and Bath, two cities in southwest mixed with another gas called pro- “It improves the quality of the from January onwards, the city is After all, it’s cheap and we have an England. pane. Together, they create a fuel air and above all, it operates be- the designated European Green endless supply! Saving to leave poverty behind in Bangladesh Seeking sanitation for the world’s poorest BY RAHIDUL MIAH RANGPUR, Bangladesh, Prothom Alo Arjina Khatun, now 47, was too ■ One-third of the less hygiene.” poor to go to school. She was mar- world’s population ried off when she was only 13. After ‘Elimination of pathogens and just 13 months of marriage, her hus- is without access save water’ band divorced her because her fam- to proper toilets. To To look at, Blue Diversion re- ily was unable to pay dowry. That address this problem, sembles a squat toilet made out of didn’t bring her world to an end. In blue plastic, with two holes: one for fact, not only did she turn her own a team from Eawag urine and the other for feces. “The life around, but she changed the has developed a new purpose of separating these is to fa- lives of many women in Taraganj, a kind of latrine. cilitate the elimination of pathogens sub-district of the district Rangpur. and save water,” explains Christoph Arjina’s sheer determination and Luthi. Through a nitrification pro- BY BERTRAND BEAUTE grit brought an end to child mar- Hasan Raza, Prothom Alo cess, the urine is converted into fer- riage in the area, and put a stop to 24 Heures and La Tribunes de Geneve tilizer in situ. However, what makes the oppression of women. Her far- Arjina Khatun is seen collecting rice from the members of her savings group. (Switzerland) it radically different is the integrat- sightedness helped women to drive “Today, 6 billion people ed independent water circuit. “We poverty away from their lives. A dream grew in her heart. vide it up after every three years. worldwide own a mobile phone, have fitted our toilets with a shower The scene at Arjina’s village in With that they have leased out 21 but only 4.5 billion have decent head to clean the pan and also en- Panchayetpara is a pleasant one. ‘Put aside a fistful’ cows so far. They now have BDT toilets.” Kristele Malegue, coor- sure anal hygiene, as practiced in a There are cows, calves and goats One day Arjina gathered other 500,000 in their savings fund. dinator of the Water Coalition - great number of countries, as well wandering around the fields and girls in her house, girls who were With the help of these two as- an NGO that campaigns for clean as a sink to wash the hands,” con- yards. Gone are the dilapidated suffering and deprived. She said, sociations, Arjina forges ahead in water — sums up the situation tinues Christoph Luthi. “Whenever thatched huts. Most of the houses “From now on, put aside a fistful her fight against child marriage, in one sentence: one third of the water flows, a valve automati- have sturdy roofs of corrugated of rice everyday before you cook.” dowry, unjust divorce and the op- the world’s population is with- cally shuts off the urine and feces tin, glistening in the sun. There are They decided they would thus save pression of women. So far they out access to proper sanitary tanks. This enables almost all of the many semi-brick houses too. All up rice, fistful by fistful, sell it and have prevented 21 child marriag- facilities, and one billion people liquid to be recuperated.” the houses have sanitary latrines, do something big. es. The association has helped 37 defecate in the open. “This Subjected to internal biologi- pure drinking water facilities and In 2002 Arjina formed an as- poor girls get married. They have shortage, which is still taboo cal treatment, this dirty water is electricity. The ponds are full of sociation of 40 women. It was given pencils, pens, books and in society, is a real scandal. It disinfected by a gravity-driven fish and the household gardens are called the Panchayetpara Working other study supplies to 61 poor has serious consequences for membrane filter. A solar-powered overflowing with vegetables. Women’s Group. Everyday they students. They have recorded the people’s health, nutrition and electrolysis system then produces Everyone gives credit to Arjina saved 40 fistfuls of rice. At the end blood group of each member so education, the economy and the chlorine, preventing undesirable for the changed face of their vil- of the week, they held a lottery they can help anyone in the village environment,” continues Kristele bacteria from forming. “This pat- lage. Mahbubul Islam, a school- and handed over the rice to one of with blood if the need ever arises. Malegue. Each year, 1.5 million ented system is capable of treating teacher of the village, says, “It is their members. She bought ducks Arjina herself now owns eight children die from the effects of 1.5 litres per hour, which is per- through Arjina’s hard work that and chickens with the money. In goats, four cows and many ducks diarrhoea caused by drinking fectly adequate because the appli- today the girls of the village are this manner, every week a differ- and chickens. She has bought a water contaminated with faecal ance contains 60 liters in total. You well aware about health and edu- ent woman would be given the 40 considerable amount of land. She matter.” can even drink the water produced, cation. They are treated well and fistfuls of rice and in 40 weeks, has a tube well and a sanitary To address this problem, although we don’t recommend it respected in their in-laws’ homes.” their village and their households latrine. She has a two-room tin- Swiss researchers from Eawag because you’d then need to refill Dominic Buttner/LUNAX Arjina is at home, attending a were bustling with ducks and roofed semi-brick house. In her and the Vienna-based design the tank,” continues Christoph Lu- The “Blue Diversion,” a toilet model that provides low-tech solutions to hygienic meeting with her association mem- chickens. This brought in cash for yard she has planted mango, jack- firm EOOS have designed a new thi. “One to two liters are lost per problems, is seen in this picture. bers. When asked about her life, the women and their families. fruit and papaya trees. kind of latrine, “Blue Diversion,” week, based on normal use.” her eyes glisten with unshed tears. Next Arjina began saving two Housewife Asma Khatun, a as part of the “Reinvent The cost. The objective is to achieve a sell- being useful elsewhere, particularly She goes back to the past, “I never taka a day. Every week they would member of the association, says Toilet Challenge (RTTC)” set by Prospects for Further Service ing price of US$500 per appliance, in mountain huts and remote villag- had the chance to go to school. My save BDT 560. They would hold a she was married off when she was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun- In 2013, the first prototype of for a projected lifetime of ten years.” es, which will never be connected father was a day laborer. When my lottery and a goat would be bought just 15. She would work as a maid dation. “Flush toilets, which are Blue Diversion was successfully Is this too expensive for the to the waste water sanitation net- mother died in 1989, I was mar- for the winner of the week. They in the houses of the area. She commonly used in industrialized tested in Uganda, working with countries in question? “The lack of work. What’s more, some countries ried off. I will never be able to for- already had their ducks and chick- would have to bear her husband’s countries, seem to be the ideal Makerere University. “The appli- toilet facilities mainly affects Sub- are also interested in the water get how my husband would torture ens. Now they gradually all owned misbehaviour. Now that very same solution. However, it is difficult ance was very well received by peo- Saharan Africa, where just 30% of purification system we have devel- me. Just because we couldn’t pay goats too. Poverty began to fade. husband has a rice business with to install them in developing ple during the trials in Kampala,” the population has access to decent oped, without the toilets, because it him 9,000 Bangladeshi taka (BDT) On February 10, 2006 Prothom her funds. They have two children. countries. In many locations, continues Christoph Luthi. “This toilets, but it doesn’t stop there. In produces drinking water.” in dowry, he broke my right arm. Alo published a feature on Arjina. She has decided not to have any infrastructures such as sewers first trial also allowed us to iden- India, almost half of the popula- Meanwhile, the researchers are He kept me starving for two whole Upon reading about her, the non- more children and her husband and water treatment plants sim- tify certain defects. We have since tion is forced to defecate in the currently looking into what can be days and then divorced me.” government organisation (NGO) has supported her decision. ply don’t exist, and there is of- reduced the height of the toilet and open, and even in Europe 20 mil- done with the feces. “At the mo- Freed from the prison of her CARE came forward. They trained Anisur Rahman, chairman of the ten not enough water available improved the system’s hydraulics.” lion people are still without quality ment, our system only converts husband’s house, Arjina returned to the women in household vegetable Taraganj Upazila Parishad, says, for flushing. Pit latrines have A new prototype is currently be- facilities,” points out Kristele Male- the urine into fertilizer. The ac- her father’s home. Her father died gardening and indoor mushroom “Arjina has made us proud. We seen very little progress over ing tested in Nairobi, Kenya. Blue gue. “One appliance won’t address tual stools have to be disposed of, soon after her return and she found cultivation. uphold her as a shining example in the course of history, and do not Diversion was awarded the 2014 everyone’s problems. Different ap- which poses a problem due to the herself in a dire situation. She took Next the NGO Brac come for- various meetings and forums.” Arji- meet hygiene requirements,” Prize for Innovation by the Interna- proaches need to be devised to suit pathogens they contain,” explains up working in people’s households. ward and formed a 300-member na says, “It is women who first have points out Christoph Luthi, tional Water Association (IWA). the situation.” Christoph Luthi. “We are work- She earned a little through this association, Pallisamaj, with to come forward to help women in project manager at Eawag. “We “We are now looking for indus- Consequently, Blue Diversion ing on a system to burn this solid hard physical labor, and scraped Arjina as the head. Arjina also distress.” She dreams of a day when wanted to design a radically dif- trial partners and investors so that could come in useful in remote residue which, I hope, will be op- and saved till she managed to buy expanded her Working Women’s the women will work shoulder to ferent type of toilet, without the we can produce the units in greater areas. “The main need is in Africa erational by the end of 2015.” two goats and nine chickens. The Group to 170 members. They now shoulder with the men of her village, need for hefty infrastructures, at quantities,” continues Christoph Lu- and India,” confirms Christoph Lu- hens laid eggs, the goats had kids. deposit BDT 20 a week and di- equal in dignity and respect. the same time as offering spot- thi. “Mass production will reduce the thi, “but we can also see our toilets [email protected] Page 12 Saturday, June 20, 2015 Looking to the heavens to provide power on the ground ■ The Zephyr project, a and designers. friendly device,” explains Jonathan Bouzy, photovoltaic balloon a project manager at Soft IQ and member of Energy for 50 People the Humanitech Challenge panel of judges. designed by students, The principle is based on a highly mobile, “They are applying existing technology in a aims to supply energy to low-cost kit made up of a box housing the brand new way. That’s what “high tech” is disaster areas. technology and a lightweight sail. The land- all about.” based housing contains an electrical trans- A technical feasibility study was carried CAROLINE DE MALET former and is less than a cubic meter in vol- out on the balloon last November in part- Le Figaro ume, while the sail is 3.8 meters in diameter nership with EDF, Dassault Systemes, the In the Iliad, Zephyr is a violent, and is covered with 15 meters squared of Red Helmets Foundation and the Institute of stormy wind, while in the Odyssey and lightweight solar panels. “All you need to do Research and Development on Photovoltaic more recent literature, it is depicted as is unfurl the sail and allow it to inflate. The Energy (IRDEP). The students worked par- gentle and light — a warm breeze that balloon collects solar energy and transports ticularly closely with the IRDEP to improve melts the snow. In this project set up by it to the ground via a cable, while the bat- the balloon’s photovoltaic technology. After two ambitious young Parisian gradu- teries store surplus energy and take over one of the engineers who set up the project ates, Zephyr takes the form of a flying the power supply at night,” explains Cedric left the team to pursue other professional device that comes to the rescue of those Tomissi, one of the two young designers avenues, Zephyr entered into a partnership living without electricity in disaster ar- behind the project. The electrolyser uses with the EI-CESI engineering school, giv- eas. nine liters of water plus the solar energy col- ing final-year Master’s degree students the In emergency situations, the ques- lected, coupled with the batteries inside the opportunity to work on technical aspects of tion of energy supply is often of critical housing, to produce the gas needed to in- the project. importance. At the moment, electricity flate Zephyr in half a day. Halfway between in refugee camps generally comes from a balloon and a kite, this hybrid device has From Student Project to Start-up heavy, polluting generators that require a yield of up to 3 kilowatt hours (kWh), com- The next stage is to build an initial proto- expensive fuel oil. The supply chains for parable to that of a traditional generator. type, which should be completed in January such oil can be broken, making procure- This is enough to supply lighting and heating 2017 and will serve as “proof of concept.” ment unpredictable. to around fifty people living, for example, in “We think that we will need 25,000 euros to These problems gave the students the a refugee camp or emergency hospital. make it,” explains Julie Dautel, a designer idea of designing a photovoltaic balloon The idea has not gone unnoticed. The who is currently studying at the Sciences- inspired by inflatable balloons, which young entrepreneurs have already won sev- Po Paris research university. Zephyr has can generate energy anywhere - even eral awards, including the 2014 ArtScience already received around ten thousand euros in disaster areas where it is not possi- prize, the 2014 James Dyson Award, first from the various prizes that it has won and ble to install land-based infrastructure prize at the 2014 Student Entrepreneurship a fundraising campaign is planned to run as a result, for example, of a natural Day run by the Universite Paris-Saclay, the from September 2015 to January 2016. The Zephyr catastrophe. The students, graduates of 2014 Humanitech Challenge jointly organ- team hopes to use this investment to take These photovoltaic balloons are capable of generating energy in disaster areas where it is not possible to install land-based infrastructure. Telecom ParisTech and the Ecole Natio- ised by the Red Helmets Foundation and Or- on additional staff, particularly engineers. nale Superieure des Arts D’coratifs, met ange and EDF’s “Sharing energy in the city, The two young entrepreneurs want to turn trial phase and start selling the balloon in different kinds of situations, including non- nomadic encampments like those found in while working together from November 2030” challenge. They were also given the this student project into a start-up. Zephyr 2018. More investment (one million euros) humanitarian applications. “The balloon Africa and Asia. It can even be used to sup- 2013 to March 2014 on ‘energies of the opportunity to present their project at EDF’s is also currently apply ing to join the Scienc- will be required at this later stage. In the can be used for homes in remote areas port communications technology,” explains future’ at the Laboratoire, a facility set stand at the Saint-Etienne Design Biennale es-Po Paris incubator. long term, the aim is to sell an entire range where the roof cannot take the weight of Julie Dautel. For now, it will be some time up in Paris to bring together engineers in March. “It’s a simple, environmentally The duo is aiming to move into an indus- of balloons adapted to generate energy in traditional solar panels, at campsites and in before Zephyr is ready to take to the air. The world of words brought to life for the blind Makoko Floating School rises above BY PORIMOL PALMA The Daily Star It was a fine morning on June the slums of impoverished Nigeria 25, 2013. Ragib Hasan reached his office at the University of Ala- BY BLESSING OLISA bama in Birmingham in Alabama AND ADEOLA OGUNLADE and started off the day by check- The Nation (Nigeria) ing online news portals. Suddenly, Living in the slum does not one report caught his attention. automatically entitle its residents The story portrayed the plight the opportunities to get a formal of visually impaired school chil- education, but with the birth of dren in Bangladesh. Even six a floating school, the chances of months into the academic year, being formally educated are lim- they had not received their text- itless. books due to a lack of Braille The Makoko Floating School printing facilities in the country. has been described by the Lon- To add to their woes, no digital don Design Museum as a “proto- copies of the books were avail- type floating structure, built for able either. the historic water community of An assistant professor of Com- Makoko.” puter and Information Sciences Makoko, is a slum neighbor- http://www.nleworks.com/case/makoko-floating-school of the university, Hasan was es- hood located in the Makoko- The Makoko Floating School is seen in this undated photo. pecially touched by what a child Iwaya community of Lagos, said: “... all my friends got books Nigeria’s largest city, and has a community. And my interest in place during their fishing expe- on the first day of school, but population of over 100,000 resi- the coastal community, where dition. other visually impaired children dents. Fishermen from the Egun despite the little income made The sample floating structure and I didn’t get any even after speaking populace settled in the daily by the breadwinners, they which has gotten international six months.” slum over 100 years ago. have never stopped developing press attention, won awards in- He immediately came up with Established in the 18th cen- the infrastructures in the com- cluding the 2013 AR+D awards the plan of finding volunteers tury primarily as a fishing vil- munity.” for emerging architecture, was to type the books into digital lage the area was not officially Each of the floors in the shortlisted for the London De- Unicode form and creating au- counted as part of the 2007 cen- school has a modern toilet and sign Museum’s 2014 Design of dio books. To test his idea, he sus and the population today is electricity supply wires (powered the Year Award and has been recorded a chapter from a book estimated to be much higher. by a solar system) built into the nominated for the 2015 Interna- using his iPhone, which took It is a community that houses school to provide lighting for tional Award for Public Art has only five minutes. thousands of Ijaws, Ilaje’s and the children who may want to been rejected in Nigeria. “I was amazed to see how Egun speaking populace who involve in evening educational Two factors have yet contin- easy it was to create an audio are predominately fish farmers activities. The ground floor has ued to impede on the maximiza- version of the book. The visually and who also engage in trad- an open space which serves as tion of the school. impaired children could listen to ing activities. They lack basic a playground for children, and On the one hand, Lagos state the books on mobile phones or amenities, lack clean water, lack sometimes, relaxation spot for government is unwilling to ap- cheap mp3 players,” says Ragib The Daily Star power supply, and are alien to Makoko residents on weekends. prove the structure as a school. Hasan, a BUET graduate, who Students using BanglaBraille, a free crowd-sourced audio book system, are pictured. Response has been ‘astounding.’ anything called development. As a pilot project created in This is because it has tagged the did his PhD in Computer Science Although, Makoko has make 2012, the floating school has slum as an illegal settlement. at the University of Illinois at divide the pages among them- “We are also planning to load costly. For example, printing shift schools including French taken an innovative approach to Thus it is almost impossible Urbana-Champaign. selves. Each volunteer starts audio books in inexpensive mp3 one Braille book costs around schools built by individuals and address the community’s social for the government to give it Around noon on that very day, recording the book page by page players and then distributing Tk 1,500, he says, adding that foreign nationals to cater for the and physical needs in view of the the support it needs to function he started a Facebook group and shares the audio files using those among visually impaired BanglaBraille can do a com- educational needs of the children impact of climate change and a properly. named BanglaBraille [http:// Dropbox, a popular file sharing children for free,” he adds. mendable job by making audio in the community, they are yet rapidly urbanizing African con- Speaking for the Lagos state www.facebook.com/groups/ban- service, with the project coordi- Salwa Mostafa, an engineer at materials accessible to those largely insufficient to cater for text. It is aimed at generating a government in 2013, Commis- glabraille] and started inviting nators. Intel Corporation in California, is most in need. the increasing number of chil- sustainable, ecological, alterna- sioner for Waterfront and Infra- people to the group. He request- Eventually, the audio and one of the volunteers who joined Rezaul Karim Siddique, who dren in the area. tive building system and urban structure Development, Prince ed that everyone start typing digitized books are assigned to the Facebook group immediately hosts the Mati O Manush show The near existence of formal water culture for the teeming Adesegun Oniru said the struc- up the books or upload image reviewers, who go through the after Ragib’s call and offered to on the state-run Bangladesh educational institutions in the population of Africa’s coastal re- ture is an illegal structure, and versions of whatever books were contents and release the books generate audio books and coor- Television, recorded audio books area has been attributed as one gions. added that “it shouldn’t be there, available on the website of the through their website — http:// dinate with other volunteers. on agricultural education of class of the causes of teenage preg- Built to float and measuring and we are trying to get rid of National Curriculum and Text- www.banglabraille.org. “Working on this project VI and VII for BanglaBraille. nancy and other forms of vices about a hundred square metres structures there.” book Board. makes me feel hopeful that to- “I am just simply amazed. The rampant in the area. (100-square-metres), the school On the other hand, the com- The response was astounding. Light of Knowledge gether, when we care, we can way the youths are volunteer- In 2012 however, Nigerian is a triangular form in sections munity is yet to assume full custo- Volunteers started pouring So far, 24 audio and 24 digi- make a change for the better,” ing is a lesson for those who architect, Kunle Adeyemi, with constructed with a parallel series dy of the structure. Adeyemi has in droves immediately. “Within tised books of Class I to Class she says. do nothing without funds,” he support from Heinrich Boll of timber A-frames on a platform advised the community leaders five hours, more than 500 vol- IX-X have been released on the Mosharef Hossain Bhuiyan, gen- opines. Foundation and the United Na- supported by 256 recycled blue to take full control of the unteers signed up. And within a site. Anyone can download them eral secretary of the Bangladesh Ragib Hasan, who has been tions created a three-storey plastic barrels. structure, get and mobilize the few days, we reached more than free of cost and get the digitised Visually Impaired Peoples’ Society, involved in the development of wooden floating structure to children to come and learn, and a thousand, then 2,000,” he re- ones printed in Braille. notes that there are only seven Bangla Wikipedia since 2006 and accommodate 100 elementary Emerging Architecture teachers to rise up to teach. marks. Ragib notes that a large num- primary schools for the 50 ,000 is the founder of the first and school children per time, who This world class project with A source told The Nation that Now, the group has 3069 vol- ber of books, which are in the visually impaired children in Ban- largest open online education will find their way to the school beautiful architectural makeup the community is ready to kick unteers - among whom there process of being edited, can be gladesh. Besides, only 10 visually platform in Bangla— shikkhok. by boats. is however, fast becoming a start the teaching and learn- are engineers, doctors, teachers, made available in phases. Once impaired students in a district are com - observes that he was sur- shadow of itself. Since 2012, ing of formal education, but are students and corporate employ- done with all the books in the given the opportunity to study with prised to see that there were vir- Lighting, Playground the structure has not been used hopeful that some good and no- ees— mostly young people from school curriculum, BanglaBraille other students, which often de- tually no Bangla audio textbooks. Speaking on the stimulus for and the chairs, tables, roofs and ble persons can take it up from home and abroad. plans to start creating audio ver- prives many of the specially-abled “We intend to fill that void and its creation, Adeyemi told a me- bulb to lighten the classes are where Adeyemi ended it. Volunteers start a thread on sions of books for colleges and from attending school. let the light of knowledge reach dia organization that “The desire unavailable. A visit to the place Meanwhile, community vigi- a particular textbook on the universities. Then they would set Education materials for the the visually impaired population to construct the school was born showed that the fishermen have lantes are in charge of the secu- Facebook page, and then they their eyes on literature classics. visually impaired are very of our country,” he said. out of curiosity after I visited the made the structure a resting rity of the floating structure.