ID [PNW]

Hoima Bicycle is listed on IMDB (Internet Movie Database) and if you've seen it, please consider giving it a rating.  It needs 5 user ratings to be given a number.  (You can be honest, it was my first documentary.)  If you haven't, it's posted on Youtube in 4 parts... This documentary shows the process of designing a bicycle for and with Ugandan bicycle couriers, known as Boda-boda. Filmed primarily in Uganda, it shows the realities of current day East Africa, from the chaotic streets of Kampala to the inside of gritty mud-thatched homes in rural Hoima. In Uganda many residents use cheap, clunky bicycles for their primary means of transportation. Through a unique collaboration between an American designer and Ugandan couriers, a new bicycle design was conceived and a prototype was made. The designer then traveled to Uganda to meet the couriers and to have the bike tested and critiqued. Would they like it? Or is it back to the drawing board? How can you use you...

Kevin Starr is the managing director of the Mulago Foundation. He directs the  Foundation and the Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program. Kevin had a perfectly good career in medicine when he stumbled into philanthropy in 1994. His friend and mentor Rainer Arnhold died suddenly when they were working together in Bolivia, and the Arnhold family asked Starr to help carry on Rainer's work through the Mulago Foundation.  Kevin spent the next decade working with projects from Afghanistan to Zambia, trying to figure out what makes for real impact at big scale. At the request of the board, he established the Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program in 2003 to apply Mulago's principles and tools to help social entrepreneurs turn good ideas into lasting change at scale. Kevin went through medical school and residency at University California San Francisco and has lived in San Francisco ever since. He teaches and mentors fellows in other programs for social entrepreneurs and still practices medicine p...

My documentary about design for the other 90%, Hoima Bicycle , was just released on DVD on Amazon.com.   It shows the process of designing a bicycle for and with Ugandan bicycle couriers, known as Boda-boda. Filmed primarily in Uganda, it shows the realities of current day East Africa, from the chaotic streets of Kampala to the inside of gritty mud-thatched homes in rural Hoima. The intent was that it could be used in the classroom as a point of discussion about designing for social impact.  The project had it's successes and it's shortcomings, but many lessons can be drawn from it.  Especially a look at the culture of modern day East Africa for those who might want to do work there.It's only 30 minutes long and I'll be posting a list of discussion questions here and on the WWU ID site. I'll be presenting on the project at the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) annual conference "Open" in San Francisco on March 26th, 2010.

Here's is Part 3 of 4 of Hoima Bicycle.  An experience in designing a bicycle with Ugandan bicycle couriers.  This part shows the reaction of the first prototype.

Here's the next segment of Hoima Bicycle.  An imperfect example of design for social impact. 

I've posted the complete documentary, Hoima Bicycle, on Youtube. This documentary shows the process of designing a bicycle for and with Ugandan bicycle couriers, known as Boda-boda. Filmed primarily in Uganda, it shows the realities of current day East Africa, from the chaotic streets of Kampala to the inside of gritty mud-thatched homes in rural Hoima. In Uganda many residents use cheap, clunky bicycles for their primary means of transportation. Through a unique collaboration between an American designer and Ugandan couriers, a new bicycle design was conceived and a prototype was made. The designer then traveled to Uganda to meet the couriers and to have the bike tested and critiqued. Would they like it? Or is it back to the drawing board? How can you use your talents and skills to help the poor of the world? This is part 1 of 4. If you would like a DVD of the complete documentary (30 minutes) it will soon be available on Amazon.com.  I'll be posting discussion questions...

(Since some people asked for a copy, this is the speech that I gave at the IDSA Western District conference, Santa Monica, CA, April 25th, 2009.  This is the first point, the second and third will be on separate posts.) 2 questions were posed as a theme for this conference:  What must designers do to survive today?   And What can we do to thrive internationally? Here are 3 issues that I think are important right now: 1.  D esign for the BOP 2.  D esign for make-on-demand 3.  Encouraging graduate education for designers   1.      Learn how to design for people at the bottom of the pyramid A World of Unreliability One revelation to me in my brief time in Africa that really put my view of the world in a new perspective, was that nothing is reliable in an East Africans world.     Politicians are corrupt and expected to be.   Being bit by the wrong mosquito could means contracting malaria and dying a week later.   Drinking the wrong water could mean a life threatening di...