Watermelons
by Charles Simic
Green Buddhas
On the fruit stand.
We eat the smile
And spit out the teeth.
Archive for February, 2008
Watermelons
Friday, February 29th, 2008Technology in emerging economies
Monday, February 25th, 2008This interesting article in the Economist highlights the difference between the adoption of a new technology in emerging markets and the diffusion of this technology in the country. This article also mentions some of the challenges faced in bringing large-scale technology-based solutions to the poor in some of the markets Acumen Fund focuses on. If we are to achieve sufficient scale and bring, for example, affordable and effective technology-based health solutions to low-income consumers in these markets, we have to support solutions that recognize and target these potential pitfalls.
Five words please
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008A challenge for you dear reader. Five words to describe Africa. Don’t think about it. Just write them down (you can even post them on the blog if you want to).
I’m serious. Stop reading go and do it. I’ll still be here when you’ve finished.
—–
So what did you come up with? ‘Magical’? ‘Violent’? ‘Family’? ‘Backward’? ‘Beautiful?’ ‘Corruption’? ‘Community’? ‘Oppression’?
Words are powerful things. Not least because they reveal how we imagine our world. And most of our words about Africa spring from two images of this vast continent.
Image 1: Africa as the dark and magical continent
This image paints Africa as a place of mystery. A place of magic and a place of adventure. A place where values still matter. A place where the importance of community and family have not been overtaken by love of ipods and colour televisions. A place where an elder is respected not shouted at by rowdy teenagers. A place of beautiful children with self-made toys playing outdoors against a backdrop of big skies and endless beautiful sunsets.
I’m serious. Stop reading go and do it. I’ll still be here when you’ve finished.
—–
So what did you come up with? ‘Magical’? ‘Violent’? ‘Family’? ‘Backward’? ‘Beautiful?’ ‘Corruption’? ‘Community’? ‘Oppression’?
Words are powerful things. Not least because they reveal how we imagine our world. And most of our words about Africa spring from two images of this vast continent.
Image 1: Africa as the dark and magical continent
This image paints Africa as a place of mystery. A place of magic and a place of adventure. A place where values still matter. A place where the importance of community and family have not been overtaken by love of ipods and colour televisions. A place where an elder is respected not shouted at by rowdy teenagers. A place of beautiful children with self-made toys playing outdoors against a backdrop of big skies and endless beautiful sunsets.
Image 2: Africa as the dark and dangerous continent
This image paints Africa as a place of fear. A place of instability and violence. A place where values are unaffordable. A place where the importance of protecting your tribe and family against all comers has not been overtaken by enlightened self-interest. A place where an elder is busy organising election fraud, corruption and coups while teenagers sit on the side of streets out of work and out of hope. A place of sick children with distended stomachs playing outdoors amidst the sewage against a backdrop of slum housing and endless hunger.
Now I don’t want to be the self-righteous ass that delights in pointing out how wrong these perceptions are. Partly because – like all clichés – there’s actually some truth in them. I also don’t want to be the pompous traveler who tells you that these are massive oversimplifications, simplifications that remove from people here their human complexity. For what choice do you have? How on earth are you meant to hold in your head what life is like for 800 million people living in 53 different countries, speaking countless different languages, remembering countless different histories and praying to countless different gods. Unless you enroll in a PhD in Africa studies, surely the only choices you have is to simplify.
Well, maybe there’s another option.
This image paints Africa as a place of fear. A place of instability and violence. A place where values are unaffordable. A place where the importance of protecting your tribe and family against all comers has not been overtaken by enlightened self-interest. A place where an elder is busy organising election fraud, corruption and coups while teenagers sit on the side of streets out of work and out of hope. A place of sick children with distended stomachs playing outdoors amidst the sewage against a backdrop of slum housing and endless hunger.
Now I don’t want to be the self-righteous ass that delights in pointing out how wrong these perceptions are. Partly because – like all clichés – there’s actually some truth in them. I also don’t want to be the pompous traveler who tells you that these are massive oversimplifications, simplifications that remove from people here their human complexity. For what choice do you have? How on earth are you meant to hold in your head what life is like for 800 million people living in 53 different countries, speaking countless different languages, remembering countless different histories and praying to countless different gods. Unless you enroll in a PhD in Africa studies, surely the only choices you have is to simplify.
Well, maybe there’s another option.
For there is a image of life that is highly complex that you hold in your head everyday with ease. An image where you understand that humans – by their very nature – are complicated and contradictory. An image where no human is reduced to being only magical and pure and no human is completely violent and backward. It’s the image you hold of your own country and your own friends.
And here’s the controversial bit. Maybe, just maybe, – once in a while - we’d be better off when we think of Africa and Africans, starting off by thinking of our own country and our own friends. And then making the dangerous step of assuming that people in Africa aren’t actually that different.
At least that way – whilst we may lose critical cultural, historical and religious differences – at least we don’t remove from the African the most human attribute of all – complexity.
And here’s the controversial bit. Maybe, just maybe, – once in a while - we’d be better off when we think of Africa and Africans, starting off by thinking of our own country and our own friends. And then making the dangerous step of assuming that people in Africa aren’t actually that different.
At least that way – whilst we may lose critical cultural, historical and religious differences – at least we don’t remove from the African the most human attribute of all – complexity.
Pak elections: 2008
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Well, the elections are ‘over’ and the results are out. The people have spoken, and it seems they are tired of the military running the country. Fortunately, the elections went over quite well–considering the chaos leading up to the big day.
People were expecting mass rigging and random bombings. What actually happened? Minimal rigging and ‘minimal’ bombings!!
What did happen was that voter turnout was extremely low due to the above two assumptions: 1) its all rigged anyways, and 2) it is too dangerous. This lead to voter turnout of as low as 12% in many areas…so in that sense the election was not too democratic, I suppose.
Anyhow, what I want to talk about is: How elections are rigged (at least a few of the methods in Pakistan)…the following few incidents are firsthand accounts I heard of the recent election.
1) Police officers (who are under the current regime) close down an entire voting center and seal doors…then they sit inside drink tea and stamp voter forms for the existing party–all day;
2) Bandits show up with heavy weapons, walk in to the voter center, take the ballot boxes along with voter forms/lists and drive off-site–THEN they return with stuffed ballot boxes at the end of the day!
3) If a voting center has 3000 registered voters, on the actual day, there will only be 1800 that are ‘eligible’ while 1200 voters never get their chance, BUT mysteriously they end up voting that day!…someone else voted for them.
So, why was it not a mass rigging…hmm…well all of the major political parties that were contesting have won elections before…and they are ALL experts at rigging…so they were all ‘on’ to each other and anticipating rigging….thus, everyone had their reps and ‘bandits’ present at the troublesome voting stations. As well, the attention from the international community (monitors, etc) had a huke impact on how things transpired.
Now, what remains to be seen is how the next government is formed and what actions they will take against Musharraf. So we arent out of the rough waters yet.
Fast 50 Most Innovative Companies
Thursday, February 21st, 2008IDEO was recently recognized as one of Fast Company’s top five “Fast 50†Most Innovative Companies, alongside Google, Facebook, Apple and GE. We are thrilled to see an organization that has been a valued partner to us for years get this recognition, and not only for its award-winning design work, but also for its proactive stance on having a social impact. Tim Brown, their CEO, was quoted saying “As social issues increasingly become business issues, this will be a critical new direction for design.”
Our work with IDEO has included a collaborative project to bring design innovations to the challenge of water storage and transportation in the developing world. Having worked on a team with IDEO designers, I was struck by the passion and interest across the company in projects that have a potential for social impact. Despite long dusty road trips to remote Rajasthani villages with scarce water supplies, and getting soaked on rainy days in Mumbai slums, interviewing local water consumers, the team at IDEO showed an incredible level of enthusiasm for listening to the needs of consumers whose needs are not being met. This may not have always been the norm for a design company famous for designing the first Apple mouse, and the interiors of jet airplanes, but it is becoming the hallmark for IDEO, which sees addressing developing world issues as core to its culture and its strategy. For the past two years, the Acumen Fellows have benefited from training on design thinking from IDEO, and an IDEO designer joined this year’s cohort and is now working in India with Scojo, one of our investees.
The role of cutting-edge design thinking in solving critical social issues is now being explored by companies like IDEO, and institutions like the Stanford Institute of Design and the IIT Institute of Design, as well as the non-profit Design that Matters. We look forward to seeing more applications of human-centered design to the many solvable problems facing low-income markets around the globe, and congratulate IDEO on its success demonstrating true innovation and leadership.