More Than Discord…

Sometimes the world goes forward in very small steps. Here are some examples: A Hippos Water Roller, a drum that can be rolled on the ground making it easier for those with no faucets or running water to carry large amounts of water faster and over longer distances; An icow app that is used on mobile phones in remote areas to improve dairy farming and increase milk production; FMNR, farmer’s managed natural regeneration, which can restore existing trees on drought stricken areas, tried mainly in Senegal; Portable Water Pumps that help small farmers in sub-Saharan Africa grow crops out of season; A computer tablet that can diagnose heart disease in rural areas with limited access to medical services; Ethanol cooking oil plants, or how to locally refine cassava into ethanol to provide cleaner cooking fuel; Refugees United, a way for refugees to find their lost families and trace missing relatives; Sickle Cell Disease Research showing that large scale genomic studies are possible in Africa; M-PePea, a way to offer emergency credit through mobile phone for people who have no access to credit cards or bank loans; The Tutu Van combating the stigma of tuberculosis and HIV, a mobile clinic that offers screening; Orange Sweet Potatoes, a sweet potato containing beta-carotenes to help fight childhood blindness; Speaking Books, audio books to get life saving messages to millions of isolated people suffering from depression and mental health problems; Narrative Exposure Therapy for Uganda’s former child soldiers, encouraging storytelling to help them come to terms with their experiences. These projects, mainly funded through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, may be too small to make the news, but together, along with many similar ones, do sketch a picture that the world and the human race are more than discord, violence and greed.