I am completely amazed and inspired by creativity and ingenuity, especially as it pertains to one’s daily life. Here are some examples I found from around the globe.
The BodaPhone – a bike-mounted pay phone in Uganda
From Afrigadget.com
I met this phone operator off Kampala Road this afternoon, who was riding round on this bike. Luckily he was a fellow Liverpool supporter so we hit it off straight away – and he let me take a photo of his BodaPhone setup. Pretty neat, and with a spare battery to allow him to stay on the road longer. Uganda is really hotting up on the mobile front, with two new operators about to enter the market towards the end of the year.
By the way, 200 Ugandan Shillings are approximately US$0.11.
The Knife-Sharpening Bike
From Afrigadget:
Peter Kahugu of Banana Hill just outside Nairobi makes a living using his bicycle.
And no, he is not a professional cyclist.
AfriGadget reporter Afromusing and I had an opportunity to interview Peter who has modified his bicycle with a belt, a set of tensioning pulleys and a grinding stone to make it a knife-sharpening machine. By kicking the bike up onto its stand and engaging a gearing system, he is able to use “leg-horsepower” to drive a grinding wheel and sharpen knives while “on the move”.
Peter has been at this for 2 years now and he makes about Kshs 500 ( app. 10 US$) a day by riding his mobile workshop from client to client sharpening all their knives as he goes. The grinding stone he uses has lasted an astounding 2 years and he has had to replace his drive belt a couple of times but that is as simple as cutting up a long strip of rubber from an old car or bicycle tire inner tube.
Pop-Up Market Shares a Train Track in Bangkok
This video shows a street market in Bangkok, Thailand that has found a way to make the most effective use of space possible. The real action happens when its time to resume business.
Bike Mower
I want to know where this idea has been living?
From StreetUse:
It is apparent that thousands of people who have to mow the lawn decided there must be an easier way and had exactly the same idea: Why not hook the mower to a bike? And so the bikemower is born in a thousand of garages around the country. Judging from the pictures, they are still in the garages. Most of the pics rounded up by McLaren look as if they were taken at garage sales. I have my doubts that the bike mower is very useful, or easier to use than pushing on your feet.
Pot-in-Pot – Low cost refrigerator from Mohammed Bah Abba
This is a simple invention that has gone on to change the world. If you live in one of the 90% of villages in Africa that don’t have electricity (or the money to afford a refrigerator), this invention can literally save your life. It is pretty simple — just put one terracotta pot inside another and fill the space between with moist sand.
From Treehugger:
… what is remarkable here is that Nigerian teacher, Mohammed Bah Abba, did not merely reinvent the idea, he made it a reality for tens of thousands of impoverished Nigerian women and farmers. By setting up the local production facilities to provide the pot-in-pot for $2 (since lowered to just 40c), he allowed perishable food to extend their spoilage rate. “Eggplants, for example, stayed fresh for 27 days instead of three, and tomatoes and peppers lasted for three weeks or more. African spinach, which usually spoils after a day, remained edible after 12 days in the pot-in-pot.”
This simple innovation provides small farmers with the ability to sell their excess food for money, rather than have everything spoil quickly. Also, if the women had to sell their food before it spoiled, now they can save the food and use the time to attend school. He was awarded a Rolex Award and 2001 Time Invention of the Year.
Know of any others? Please let me know in the comments.
