MEMBERS & VISITORS

A PRICE OF PROSPERITY

OUR YOUTH WILL NOT PAY THESE PRICES

Across the ages, different empires have manifest power and wealth through various means. Sadly, death and destruction are the most common means shared by all of them. The students at Invention School will explore other more humane means to take them and their communities to prosperity and all of the facets of well-being. To do this they must learn from the mistakes of others, including those of this modern era in which the collateral damage has fallen upon individuals, families, wild life, oceans, continents, the atmosphere, rich, poor, and in-between, and even generations of life which have not yet even arrived upon earth. These stories must be told, without pulling any punches.

Watch also, “See the True Cost of Your Cheap Chicken

i use M-Pesa to conduct local transactions without the need of a bank or greedy bankers.
I use another app to transfer money internationally from business and other income earnings outside of Africa in mere minutes for less than one U.S. dollar. Cellular phones are an example of leapfrog technology that allows many developing nations to skip the investment in fixed-line phone infrastructure while they derive economic benefits from a reliable and extensive communications network. Mobile phones, along with Internet access, are part of a communications revolution that is helping boost income and stop the spread of disease in emerging economies.

A drive through Kenya’s bustling capital of Nairobi reveals a nation in love — with the mobile phone. Across the African continent, improvements in mobile phone technology and greater access to the internet are spurring new innovations in the tech sector. I’m reporting from Kenya, the East African nation leading the trend.

Scaling up local innovation and local solutions will take bridging the gap through infrastructure; distributing new skills and new ways of thinking, and letting go of trying to make Africa conform to the old patterns of growth and development. This approach to innovation poses the most risk of continued theft and exploitation from powers outside of Africa. My students will be made very aware of these risks.

Prof. Oku Singer, Mechanical/Solar Engineer

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A PRICE OF PROSPERITY