Innovating Against Poverty (Blog Action Day '08)

Today is Blog Action Day where thousands of bloggers around the world are blogging about Poverty to get attention for it.  If you like this post, I urge you to check out their website and read some more.

The innovations that make the news are usually the flashy ones.  People can't get enough of the latest cell phones, or computers, or any other type of gadgets.  The biggest advocates even wait in line for hours outside stores to be the first ones to own the newest thing.

Yet, even though some fanatical Apple fans might disagree, the iPhone has not truly made the world a better place.  Nor have any other of the latest and greatest "gotta have 'em" objects.

None of the "hot" tech innovations have changed the fact that:

• At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. ^Source

• More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. ^Source

• 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. ^Source

• There are 2.2. billion children in the world, and 1 billion live in poverty.

• Approximately half the world’s population now live in cities and towns. In 2005, one out of three urban dwellers (approximately 1 billion people) was living in slum conditions. ^Source

• The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined. ^Source

• The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the money. ^Source

• “Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished. ^Source

• A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.^Source

But luckily, innovation isn't just limited to making things for people who have money to burn.

Social innovations, as they're called, are new ideas, strategies and products that create a better world. As the world becomes more and more connected, new social innovations are being created all the time.  The fact is that people want to help others, and they're looking for new ways to do that. 

So, since today is Blog Action Day, I want to shine a spotlight on some really neat social innovations that are improving the lives of people living in poverty.

	Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. It stands out because it uses the internet to connect people who want to give with others in need.
	Cheerful Givers brightens the lives of families in need by providing toy-filled birthday gift bags for children who are homeless or living in poverty. This local MN organization stands out because it helps children feel special (and like normal children) on their birthdays.
	The Aquaduct (created by design firm Ideo) filters water as it's pedaled.  People simply fill up the back of the tank and bike home, creating safe, drinkable water as they go. While still just a concept, this could help many people in the developing world get access to clean water.
	The Hunger Site gives visitors the ability to provide food to those in need by simply click on their donate button once a day. Food is paid for by sponsors and distributed to food banks in the US. This site has been around for years, but it's a great way to get people thinking about hunger and poverty on a daily basis.
	One Laptop Per Child gives school-aged children in the developing world a laptop they can use to learn and connect with others.  People can donate this specially-designed laptop to a child for only $200. I love that this initiative is trying to give children tools to join the developed world and create their future.

Those are only a couple, but they show the many different directions social innovation is taking.

Seeing innovations like the ones above give me hope - hope that we not only live in a world where "stuff isn't everything", but also that we live in a world where people care about others.

Creating something that truly makes the world a better place is the best kind of innovation.

Comments

[Cynthia Wunsch]

Thank you for supporting Blog Action Day and for bringing these innovative resources to light or reminding us of them. For my part, I've dugg your post!

[becoming minimalist]

thanks for taking the time and devoting your blog to this issue of poverty. good for you for taking a stand.

i do hope that your readers will make a contribution to a charity of their choosing.

[Mykl Roventine]

Great suggestions Katie! Thanks especially for mentioning Cheerful Givers. I'm proud to be on their board and a longtime supporter of their good work.

I think your point about flashy innovations taking up so much of our attention is important. If we devoted a quarter of as much time and energy to find solutions to problems like poverty, great things could happen.

[Lee]

Thanks for your intersting post. It is always inspiring to read about innovations that really help people. Here is another great example:The Play Pumps http://www.playpumps.org/site/c.hqLNIXOEKrF/b.2589561/k.C08/The_PlayPump_System__The_Water_Problem.htm

Lack of access to safe drinking water is a critical problem in poor countries around the world. Every year, thousands of people die from infectious diseases, brought on by polluted water. PlayPumps International has come up with a successful, creative solution to the problem: a merry-go-round that pumps water into a storage tank, while children have fun riding it round and round. What is so brilliant about this idea is its simplicity. Kids at play spin the merry-go-round anyway, so the system uses an existing resource to achieve a new objective, improving the quality of life for the entire village.

[Yauhan Mehta]

Katie!

I was browsing through your website and exploring your thoughts on Creativity and Innovation. I enjoyed reading several of your blogs and I felt that your ideas on Innovation were quite insightful. I am an Innovation Research Assitant at The DeSai Group- a consulting firm thats focuses on the domains of Strategy-Driven Innovation™, Leadership, Learning and Execution capabilities for continuous growth and optimal business results. Feel free to visit us at http://www.desai.com

I would like to take the liberty to welcome you to our “Community of Friends” at the DeSai Group. We look forward to inviting you in on-going research and collaborative conversations in the future.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best Regards,

Yauhan Mehta
Innovation Research Assistant
ymehta@desai.com / (860)-233-0011 x818
The DeSai Group: http://www.desai.com
Blog & Downloads: http://www.strategydriveninnovation.com

[Graham Dover]

Just found this post - sorry to be so slow! I think your point about recognizing that new whizzy technology doesn't necessarily result in social innovations is really key. If you check out the most innovative charities in the UK (Guardian Awards yesterday - http://society.guardian.co.uk/voluntarysectorawards) their innovations are not driven by new technologies and are more associated with the process - encouraging participation - and a focus on fundamentally changing the way people think about their worlds and their role in it. This is not to say that new technology isn't important - the question is to what extent does it encourage critical reflection on the social systems that can fuel social problems.

In other words, projects like One Laptop per Child may need to be judged more in terms of how they facilitate different types of conversations to generate substantive social change in terms of local systems of education etc. Perhaps we need a different set of measurements around social innovations that try to capture this generative quality. Apologies if this doesn't make sense!