Holistic ICT for EcoLiving

We are investigating the African Schoolchild Lamp developed by Taiwanese firm Goldenwell CTC.

非洲一盞燈

The lamp can work as a stand alone system with rechargeable batteries that can be charged at charging stations (such as schools) and also as an integrated solar LED system that is able to be recharged using solar panels hooked directly to the system.

The company claims that their integrated solar energy storage products, simple design and installation also allows users to easily use the installation without much headache or challenge.

Taiwan’s President Ma recently met with leaders from Burkina Faso and Swaziland touting the potential of this technology for their countries.

One of the goals of this effort for us is to stimulate new relationships between developed and developing countries so that while playing on the strengths of Taiwan’s ability to integrate and innovative new technologies into marketable and usable platforms for emerging markets, we help students in these markets countries address challenges to learning such as lack of adequate lighting.

Their unique biz approach is very much related to our upcoming Social Innovator Workshop on July 1st in Taiwan. Our goal is to train people on how to take a new approach to business, sustainable development and NGO driven philanthropy. The outcome of this process should be an integrated, community oriented approach that effectively uses ICT to build prosperous and sustainable societies. Something that can be scaled and replicated rapidly to more effectively allocate capital towards a bottom up development model that puts people first.

Downloads:

• Simple PDF explaining the basics of the African School Child Lamp: African School Child Lamp PDF
• More detailed PDF explaining Product Specs: Goldenwell Product Specs PDF
• PDF explaining the reason why they think this product is compelling: Goldenwell Case Study PDF

OVF’s Joy Tang recently did a UnityDrum session with the Taipei-based Interbreeding Field team. They recently completed a project restoring an abandoned paper mill. This is the 10th year of the tradition of Interbreeding started by its current director Li H Lu. Lu received his M.A. (Master of Architecture) at SCI-ARC（Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

In Joy’s words:

The whole team was inspired to engage and the director asked me to continue the class with them. Lu is very interested in how I coordinate the rhythm within and with-out. I see the struggles in him and each student when they drum. I design the process as I intuitively know and use my knowledge and love for drumming as the tool for me to reach the goal of our time together.

They told me that they want to do some team building (as the drum brought out so much of them they could not just want everything accomplished in one drum circle) so I decided to have everyone there to decide what they want to accomplish. The idea was to design the event so that all goals could be met. I started with the question I asked them to give to the circle and told them to find their own answers while being with the circle.

Each person found the answers they were looking for. This was based on their own sharing of what the goals were. It is my design to make everyone in the 2 hour process a full participant and owner of their own quest. We also share collectively and openly as a temporary community feeling the power of the being that the drum represents and brings out in us.

When I speak of the “power of the being” what I mean is that we feel each other’s presence in a candid way – and create a space to show one’s own emotions in a safe place that we co-created.

Joy creates a space for describing and talking about things through the drumming process and engaging people that is needed for the collective organism to breathe. This is referring to both the collective group congregated and also the individual. The objectives of the people involved were considering/cultivating that ability first of how to relate to the wholeness within themselves and the larger group whole of which they the participants are a part of.

The oneVillage Initiative (OVI) has the Physical Convergence Points (Unity Centers) inside the Integrated Knowledge Wheel graphic that explains the OVI process at the conceptual level. However this does not mean or imply necessarily that the physical has to be a permanent one, it is merely the space that the group decide to make for its congregation at that point of time in Unity as a Collective. It is a vision of people in unity, not by being forced or coerced, but by being active participants in the reintegration process of being whole with themselves, the world and universe once more and overcoming the alienation of our modern culture. Also we avoid getting too attached to the disparity that we feel or out of suffering we may have experienced and focus instead on our innate ability within to transcend, heal and overcome the challenges that each of us has to deal with in a unique way. Drumming provides us the means to revisit our own capacity and it is more direct than any other tools i feel as the drum is representative and symbolic of the heart beat of life.

Our EcoTour Service and Learning Program (EcoFun) 2010 adopts the practices of social enterprise in terms of team building,  program management, outcome evaluation and sustainability.

*[UBook - oneVillage - NTHU Ghana Team - Doing Good and Doing Well model in design ]

As we realize the complex issues related to INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT and DIGITAL / TELCOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT that oneVillage Initiative is designed to address, it is indeed a learning curve for Taiwanese Youth to take on for a month of service and learning in Ghana, West Africa, in summer 2010. We have faced the same challenges in 2008 and 2009.

However, the learning and service begins at home. The learning process, when properly documented and examined, could be served as the knowledge template for others to use. Hence, we stand a chance to practice as the ‘networked improved communities’ in address the goals we aim for: providing the best education and food for all children, as our ultimate destination.

Since Dec. 2009, from application of the Program, formation of the team, creation of team work, design of the tasks, we have identified few building blocks to establish this process with previous years’ learning while determining to design unique and innovative approach:

1. Unity Drum for Team Building and Outreach
2. Social Innovator Workshop to learn relevant subjects such as digital archive, fair trade, documentary and citizen journalism.

Through the setbacks on the luke-warm response to our approach to organizations and individuals, we also candidly examine our approach and the situations around us for improvement.

Here are some feedback from the NTHU Ghana Team 2010 which I personally feel is valuable and moving:

“1. 對外(台灣社會)並沒有一個認識迦納團的記憶點。不管是否熱心或是路過來看我們的 網誌或是拿到宣傳DM的人，除非是真的有捐錢贊助意願或是對國際志工有興趣的人，否則大多數人其實對迦納團遠從台灣到非洲到底在做什麼性質的志工服務沒有太多的興趣來詳細 了解，於是對迦納團的印象僅此于草草看過就算，沒有太多鮮明的記憶，不像尼泊爾團有”給尼抱抱”這個具有記憶點及炒作價值的活動，可以讓更多人認識他們，同時也讓他們有了與其他三團之間不同的鑑別之處。

另外我們認為迦納團所販賣的明信片不夠實用，經濟效益也很有限，但是現在也沒有辦法產出新的商品販售，況且我們的知名度不夠，即使有新東西販售也不會有太好的經濟效益， 所以我們希望能藉由這個計畫提供新的收費服務來募集所需經費，同時也能夠增加台灣社會大眾對迦納團的認識。

[Improvement Target 1: Ghana is not a known country to Taiwan. People do not know about our effort in Ghana.]

2. 對歐美國家的年輕人而言，到海外做國際志工是很平常的事情，機票食宿等旅費也 都由他們個人負擔，針對花在他們個人身上的金錢沒有所謂的拉贊助行為，所以迦納團對此做了個反思:

如果我 們想要出國為其他國家的人做志工服務，並希望能夠從過程中得到自我成長，那麼我們自己如果未做出任何形式上的付出(勞力或心力)而只會一味向社會大眾及企業拉贊助，尋求社會資源投入在我們身上，是否有些許” 我們出國叫別人買單” 的感覺?

如果我們並沒有付出足夠的心力或是勞力來賺取我們的旅費，讓使夢想成行的希望完全只寄託在社會大眾、企業行號無條件的買單，那麼這樣的過程對我們自己而言是否真的有所謂自我成長的意義?

這個計 畫即從這點來做改變，名正言順的向外界宣告我們付出我們的時間與心力來賺取我們的經費，一步一腳印的累積，同時希望能扭轉部分關於國際志工的負面形象。

[Improvement Target 2: Create positive image of international volunteers. Demonstrate self-motivating and determination to serve by offering our time and skills]

3. 在各地做義賣宣傳時，最常遇到的問題是:

”為何迦納團不能救助台灣本土需要幫助的人，而要大費周章的跑到 其他國家做志工?” 針對這項很難回答的大哉問，迦納團希望能從實踐這項計畫的行動來做回答。

這個計 畫服務的項目主要分為 公益及私人，其中公益的部分就是上述問題的解答。舉例來說: 某些團體或機構，需要志工出力為他們做一些所需要的服務，有些有錢但是極度沒有閒的善心社會人士想從捐贈金錢以外的實際面來幫助他們卻苦無門路，這時我們承接這部份的業務，由社會人士雇我們代替他們到相關的團體與機構做服務，讓相關的 團體與機構或得所需的服務，而我們也能藉由社會人士雇用我們的金錢來進一步的靠近成行所需的經費，三方受益，同時把我們去迦納服務的志願對台灣國內需要幫助的弱勢團體做了連結，充分利用我們的力量去 幫助需要幫忙的人，讓迦納團能夠在台灣朋友的滋潤呵護下茁壯的同時，也能向下紮根服務，最後推廣到國際上，讓更多人可以享有這份善心的幫助。”

[Improvement Target 3: Create a chain of services for fulfilling the needs and identity of the collective good]

NTHU Ghana Team 2010 is currently working with Center of Innovative Incubator, NTHU for effective approach towards the businesses that oneVillage identifies as partners towards this ‘radical philanthropy’ and social enterprise movement.

I also believe that the timing for a doing good and doing well business / service model [oneVillage_businessEngine] would come to a high peak!

*oneVillage Doing Good and Doing Well business engine and concept*

oneVillage.biz is aiming at doing good and doing well.

oneVillage Initiative (OVI) is a human-centered design for whole-system development facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICT).

In the very core and beginning of the process is to build up the knowledge, values and mindsets of the people to form a networked improved communities referenced by the mouse inventor and respected computing scientist, Doug Engelbart.

OVI process and method is first applied in Ghana, in a college town, Winneba where the University of Education of Winneba is located. The strategy of OVI is to engage in human capacity building and to establish global knowledge network. Hence, OVI is best applied where the human capacity development is the focused target of the development goal of a nation or society.

From 2004 to present, we have made the effort in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Our operation in Kenya was burned down during the civic turmoil as a result of the election in 2008. We have not yet been able to rebuild the Center in our old way. We are seeking Kenyan and global networks to engage for a new process with the current tools and practices while we contribute to the NETWORKED EFFECT and RESOURCES into empowering people’s life.

In Nigeria, we are currently working on RESEARCH for mobile applications in education and healthcare in Nigeria. We are seeking industry partners to engage in such research for ‘zero time’ collaboration from DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT to DEPLOYMENT.

In Ghana, we have established the Unity Center in Winneba with operations in the areas of TRAINING, CYBER CAFE SERVICES, and RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES IN AFRICA. In April, 2010, through nearly a decade’s investment and knowledge sharing, our Ghana team has established a for-profit social enterprise to extend the ICT4D services to the growing needs in businesses and institutions around the globe. OVI’s approach of ‘teaching people how to help themselves’ has a solid example now that would give others the reason to do the same.