(Some) African kids changing the world

1) Kelvin Doe

Kelvin Doe is my hero and the most inspiring person on the planet in my book. He’s only 15 but recently became the youngest person EVER to be invited to MIT’s ‘Visiting Practitioner Programme’. His claim to fame? His incredible ability to turn trash into batteries, generators and even radio transmitters. Completely self-taught, he has used these skills to create a community empowerment radio station, which he runs as “DJ Focus”. But despite his genius he is incredibly down to earth, humble and the sort of person we should all aspire to be. Be warned, this video is the most motivating and heart-warming I’ve ever seen, tissues will be required!

2) Richard Turere

A 13 year old Maasai herdsman from Kenya was losing his family’s livestock to lions from the nearby Nairobi National Park. Rather than trying to kill the lions, like most people in his community felt forced to do, he used incredible resourcefulness to invent a solar powered lighting system that now protects the cattle from his own and several other villages.  By providing a different way of protecting the cattle, he has also done a lot to help the lions.  By safeguarding human lives, protecting livelihoods and building harmony with the natural environment, Richard shows us how little it takes to come up with completely new solutions when we truly pay attention to local circumstances.

3) Nadege Iradukunda

Nadege is an 18 year old Rwandan who is dramatically reducing the cost of running schools by setting up bio-digester plants. A bio-digester plant uses natural biological processes to converts food waste into energy! The plants help schools in Rwanda not only to reduce their environmental impact but also to save on heating and lighting costs by as much as 40%.  This in turn makes education much more affordable and accessible to more Rwandan children. Since the inception of the project she has overseen the deployment of 15 bio-digester plants, serving more than 15000 students.

4) Ludwick Marishane

This 17 year old South African is no stranger to invention, and when in Grade 9 (12 years old) he even invented his own bio-fuel! The invention featured below is called Dry-Bath and is a way to properly cleanse your body without using any water. Ludwick says he specifically invented this for the millions of people across the world who don’t have enough access to clean water, and so help with the prevention of diseases such as Trachoma. Beyond this though, he sees this particular invention as a way to save water, protecting and preserving this scarce resource.

5) Laetitia Mukungu

Laetitia (18) founded and steered to success the Women’s Rabbit Association of Kenya. After a volunteer teaching stint she realised that the biggest impediment to quality education was a lack of funds at home, which impacted on the schools’ resources and even affected their ability to provide uniforms and stationery. She decided she needed to start an income generating project and decided on rabbit breeding! Watch this to find out why she chose rabbits, as well as how 15 families have been transformed by this one inspiring individual.

Posted by Tracy Angus-Hammond (@T2T_Trace)

Skipping the Serengeti and finding Singida instead

Our planned route through Northern Tanzania was to head from Ngorongoro to Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria via the Serengeti, but that plan was forced to change when we discovered the ludicrous park fees for the Serengeti. We were aware that we’d have to pay $60 a day per person to get into the Serengeti National Park, fees we felt were high but would be worth it, but were not aware that in addition to this we’d also be required to pay a whopping $200 a day for our car to be in the park. The issue of park fees and their size is a matter for a whole other blog but the ethics of the matter were moot since our budget did not allow for such an expense, especially since camping, food etc.  were not included.

We still needed to get to Mwanza though, since that’s where the next school food garden we were part of co-creating was scheduled, and so we worked out a new route around the park. This route meant heading south again before picking up the Dodoma-Mwanza Highway. The new route was approximately 800km compared to the 350km we would have traveled through the park. However after doing the maths we established it was still a much cheaper option than heading through the park and so we hit the road! We soon discovered we were completely off the beaten track and (I might add) were thrilled about this.

The road was in perfect condition and climbed and climbed closer to the clouds, to a point when we started to find it a little difficult to breathe and the car began to struggle. The highest point we climbed to in our trusty Nissan X-trail was just over 3000m and as you can imagine the views from up there were spectacular.  Before long we found ourselves in a town called Singida situated on a salt lake of the same name and surrounded by huge boulders. Best of all this lake, listed as an Important Bird Area, even has flamingos in it! We headed towards a bar, always our first port of call if we don’t know a place, so we could get some advice from locals on where to stay and what to do. We ended up at the KBH Hotel bar right on the lake shore and asked the owner if he knew of any camping facilities in town. He laughed and replied that Mzungus (white people in Swahili) don’t really come here and only Mzungus camp (so no) but did say we could camp on the hotel grounds. However the difference in price for a room in the hotel versus the campsite in the parking lot was so small it made more sense to just get a room – especially considering the room rate included Wi-Fi, breakfast and spectacular views over Lake Singida. We soon settled in our room and then went for a wander on the lake shore.

The beauty of spending time in Singida is that you can just relax and enjoy small town life in Tanzania – afternoon soccer training, the daily homeward migration of cattle and their herders, the bustle of traders unaffected by tourists and an incredible sunset. This sunset though was nothing on the sunrise we were treated to the next morning, which was without doubt the best of our entire journey so far! The white deposits of salt around the lake enhanced the orange of the rising sun, contrasting beautifully with the green coloured water of the lake all finished off with a seemingly never-ending jumble of boulders and a sprinkling of flamingos which made just this moment well worth an 800km detour.  

If you’re looking for more than just a few days absorbing your surroundings Singida does have more to offer like the Singida museum out past the J-Four Motel, plenty of bouldering opportunities (provided you have your own equipment), sunflower plantation tours, some excellent basket shopping – something the town is known for,  tours of the 113 year old town Mosque (including its clock tower which visitors can climb for spectacular views of the town) and even some rock paintings 35km south of Singida at Mjukhuda or 50km north near Lambi Village. I have to admit we didn’t do any of these activities because we were stuck by the lake, entranced by the view, the birdlife and enjoying the company of new found friends.

Posted by Tracy Angus-Hammond (@T2T_Trace)

A simple (but effective) approach to encouraging tourism

The potential contribution of tourism to a country’s economy has been recognised across the globe and with this has come an ever increasing number of campaigns, initiatives and promotions to encourage both international and domestic tourism. While we were in Nairobi (Kenya) we had the opportunity to meet two inspiring individuals who, interested in promoting domestic tourism, started an organisation that has had massive success in achieving just this. What I like best about their approach is its simplicity: They wanted people to travel and so just organised this travel, offering it to anyone interested at cost price. And it’s worked! In 2009 Road Trip (KE) organised 4 trips a year and had an attendance of around 10 people per trip, fast forward to 2014 and they’re organising 10 trips a year with 50 people per trip – and more would attend if logistics allowed!

Evans Muriu and Stephen Musyoka are incredibly busy guys, not only with their hands in several successful business but they are also founders of other community projects such as the Wanadamu initiative, a database for willing blood donors, and raising funds to buy sanitary towels for girls from poor communities. Despite this they manage to find the time to organise these trips, and do so in terms of every detail: the transport, accommodation, meals and even itinerary and entertainment. And they do all of this organising without making a cent for themselves. They simply negotiate the best group rate possible, hire the transport and then pass on these costs as is to their ever-growing number of members. Best of all they allow members to pay for their trips in instalments and make this process quick and easy by having an M-PESA account. Pretty cool huh?

Road Trip (KE) has travelled all over Kenya from Mombasa to Nakuru and even neighbouring country Tanzania. Sometimes they stay in hotels, other times they camp and all in all they showcase every aspect that travel in Kenya has to offer. They have even organised trips to the Rugby 7s tournaments to support the very successful national team. The members have become more than travel mates but firm friends too and after spending just a few hours with these wonderful folks it’s easy to see why the organisation keeps growing. They have so much fun together! Evans and Stephen have managed to find the perfect balance between organisation and fun, ensuring no trip is simply a party but that the party itself is always worth attending regardless.

If you live in Kenya check out their next trip which will be an overland adventure to the Rhino Charge this weekend (31 May to 2 June).  The Rhino charge is Kenya’s premier off-road motor sport competition which takes place in 100km² of rough terrain, over 10 hours and has no set route. The winner is the 4x4 that reaches the most checkpoints in the shortest distance. By joining the Road Trip (KE) crew you’ll get to enjoy this thrilling event with none of the hassle and double the fun!  Best of all you’ll get to meet Evans and Stephen, two intriguing characters setting an example to us all.

Posted by Tracy Angus-Hammond (@T2T_Trace)