To Lower the Barriers
I read a newspaper article the other day that was one of the good ones - you know, the kind that can restore your flagging faith in humankind. It was about Godisa Technologies and their solar-powered hearing aid. Their objective is " to develop practical technologies for developing countries and to create employment and training opportunities for hearing disabled people."
They are the people who developed the breakthrough that is the SolarAid, the wolrd's only sunlight powered hearing aid and now manufacture it south of Gabarone, Botswana, in their shop where deaf workers are involved in the process. They have developed a solar power battery recharger for the world's first rechargeable button-cell batteries (also of their devising.) The more common disposable zinc hearing-aid batteries currently find their way into the garbage at the rate of 175 million every year. Godisa's batteries can be recharged up to 300 times during their approximately two year lifespan. This, of course, helps to bring better hearing within reach economically for those in developing countries. The hearing aids themselves do the same. My Mother was recently fitted with hearing aids which cost $3,000.00 each. Godisa's aids cost less than $100.00.
Godisa, which means "to do something which is helping others to grow" in Setswana, is more than living up to their name. They currently transfers all their technologies for free. Godisa technicians will be travelling to South America, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, to help with establishing facilities there as well. The Botswana government would like to patent the technology, but Godisa's general manager Modesta Nyirenda says they have no plans for a patent and will continue to make the technology freely available, in order to achieve their goal to"lower the barriers to better hearing for economically disadvantaged people."
Good on you, Godisa.
They are the people who developed the breakthrough that is the SolarAid, the wolrd's only sunlight powered hearing aid and now manufacture it south of Gabarone, Botswana, in their shop where deaf workers are involved in the process. They have developed a solar power battery recharger for the world's first rechargeable button-cell batteries (also of their devising.) The more common disposable zinc hearing-aid batteries currently find their way into the garbage at the rate of 175 million every year. Godisa's batteries can be recharged up to 300 times during their approximately two year lifespan. This, of course, helps to bring better hearing within reach economically for those in developing countries. The hearing aids themselves do the same. My Mother was recently fitted with hearing aids which cost $3,000.00 each. Godisa's aids cost less than $100.00.
Godisa, which means "to do something which is helping others to grow" in Setswana, is more than living up to their name. They currently transfers all their technologies for free. Godisa technicians will be travelling to South America, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, to help with establishing facilities there as well. The Botswana government would like to patent the technology, but Godisa's general manager Modesta Nyirenda says they have no plans for a patent and will continue to make the technology freely available, in order to achieve their goal to"lower the barriers to better hearing for economically disadvantaged people."
Good on you, Godisa.
2 Comments:
That's a bit of good news. It's amazing what people can come up with when they're motivated by more than just profit. Profit is good -- but so is doing some good.
I'm working with a friend attempting to build a hydrogen engine. We are just starting on the design stage. It much easier than it sounds- and the by product is water.
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