Playing Catch-up: Articles of Note

It’s tough running a blog about social enterprise and sustainability! Fortunately, it’s an issue of excess; there are plenty of stories to share every single day, it’s just a matter of sifting through and finding the best ones to share. So in the interest of getting up to speed on the most current events, I want to share some articles that have been on the backburner that I think are very interesting and very relevant:

• The TED Blog has a video up that they’ve dubbed ‘unforgettable’ which shows the faces of the Pakistan floods.

• Great news. India’s rural farmers are set to trade on Multi Commodity Exchange. Which means farmers will go from “producers to informed marketers who trade their products on the MCX platform.””producers to informed marketers who trade their products on the MCX platform.”

Maker Faire Africa

• Maker Faire Africa took place over a month ago and Niti Bahn guestblogged some of her favorite inventions from ordinary Africans. For more on MFA, check here.

• A grassroots project harnesses data mining and infographics to improve life in Indonesian cities.

• Kiva, everyone’s favorite micro financier, expands to include student loans in Paraguay, Lebanon, and Bolivia. They plan on expanding the service to 15 countries.

• We’re excited to see the results of this: Gray Matters Capital is funding a contest to design low-cost learning tools for affordable private schools in India. The best ideas will become reality through for-profit businesses there. OpenIDEO.

Now you’re up to speed! We might do this regularly to keep up and keep you informed. I also want to do a weekly (I’m thinking Thursdays) cause marketing or slacktivist post where we highlight a campaign that you readers can help out with, whether  through a click, a purchase, or something else.

Lastly, go to our fundraiser!

-Drew

Partnering for Pakistan: Mercy Corps, ITT

By now you’ve probably all heard about the devastation that’s occurred in Pakistan recently due to massive flooding (due climate change, some say). The magnitude of this disaster is astounding, and all affected people have been left without pretty much every living need:

Infographic of the Pakistan Flood Numbers

But there are some good organizations trying their best to help the region out. Mercy Corps has teamed up with high-tech manufacturing and engineering firm ITT to make a dent in the number of people who currently have no drinkable water.

Fast Company reports that the two organizations have teamed up to distribute portable water treatment systems to Pakistan in the wake of the flood crisis. The beauty of this project is that only a few systems need to be in place to help thousands of Pakistanis. Already they’ve provided water for 110,000 people with only five (count ’em, FIVE) water treatment systems.

The aid doesn’t stop there. Both organizations are also in Pakistan to assess the short and long-term needs of the region. Mercy Corps is performing the assessment, and ITT is providing the funds for it.

The systems themselves were bought from an organization called ScanWater, who manufactures such systems for NGO’s and these kinds of emergencies. Incidentally, ITT and Mercy Corps also teamed up (using the same ScanWater systems) to help provide clean water for Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake there.