Museum Showcases Cheap Design for the World’s Poor
May 29, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
A new exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, in New York, focuses on low-cost inventions meant for poor people around the world, reports The New York Times.
“The No. 1 need that poor people have is a way to make more cash,” says Martin Fisher, founder of KickStart, an organization that sells human-powered pumps to poor farmers, priced at $35 to $95.
The inventions on display include the Q-Drum, a circular water container that rolls along on a rope, rather than resting atop the head, a traditional method of toting water that can be painful or even crippling. Another creation, the LifeStraw, kills bacteria as water is sucked through it.
Read an article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy about KickStart and other charities that have started business ventures.
(Free registration is required to view the Times article, and a paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view The Chronicle of Philanthropy article.)
