GSBI

Karen Piegorsch - U.S. and Guatemala

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Karen Piegorsch is the Founder and President of Synergo Arts, a nonprofit organization, and CEO of Synergo LLC, a design company based in the U.S. Synergo provides ergonomic solutions to artisans and entrepreneurs in the developing world, mostly in Guatemala.

She has a background in physical therapy and industrial engineering, in addition to a PhD in public health. This allows her to conceive practical solutions that improve productivity and product quality, potentially increasing earning potential while preventing serious damage to the artisans' health.

Karen tells Global X how she was able to build an ergonomic bench that helped artisans achieve in two days what used to take them three. More importantly, she noticed that for these women, "pain was not the limiting factor anymore. They just stopped working because they had other things to do, not because they were in such a pain."

Satish Somepalli - India

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Through THRIVE, Satish Somepalli provides low-cost LED lighting systems to rural areas where electricity is scarce.

LED lights replace kerosene lamps, which are so expensive to use that they need to be subsidized by the Indian Government. They are also dangerous and do not produce much light compared to the energy they use.

Thrive's lamps are safe, consume very low power, provide clean and powerful lighting, and do not emit any smoke.

So says Satish Somepalli to Global X!

Rahul Bartaky - India

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Global X interviews Rahul Barkataky, founder of the Community Friendly Movement in New Delhi.

CFM creates a global market for handmade products made by artisan communities, thus creating employment opportunities for those who are dependent on handicrafts for their livelihood.

Rahul Barkataky describes a project they launched in Gujarat, an area that was devastated by earthquake in 2001. CFM was able to provide US$10,000 to a group of 375 women --a very significant impact.

Much more remains to be done, but Rahul Barkataky is optimistic: "Poverty may not be completely eradicated ten years from now, but there will be more positive stories with real impact. It will be a better place than now."

Elizabeth Hausler - United States & Indonesia

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Elizabeth Hausler explains to Global X that she was finishing her Ph.D. in engineering at Berkeley when an earthquake hit India and killed 20,000 people. That's when she realized that "it's not the earthquake that kills people, it's the building collapsing."

She looked for a solution and launched Build Change to build earthquake-resistant houses in developing countries and change construction practices permanently so that homeowners in seismically active developing countries can sleep at night.

Mohammed Abba - Nigeria

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Mohammed Abba runs Mobah Rural Horizons, which provides an electricity-free refrigeration system easy to operate by African villagers.

He tells Global X why his simple technology, which better preserves local crops, is breaking the vicious cycle of poverty.

The results: farmers sell their crops when demand is high, and more girls can go to school.

Caroline Nyami-Kisia - South Africa

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Caroline Nyami-Kisia tells Global X how AfriAfya uses modern information communication technologies to help communities in rural areas and urban informal settlements in Kenya (and a little bit in Somalia).

Modern technologies in rural settings? Yes, despite the lack of electricity and many other complex challenges, AfriAfya is having a positive impact on HIV-AIDS prevention: "The members of our community are changing their behavior. There is hope!"

Joachim Ezeji - Nigeria

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Global X interviews Joachim Ezeji (GSBI 2007), founder of the Rural Africa Water Development Project in Nigeria, a social venture that improves access to safe drinking water through household water treatment technologies.

"Africa wants to change, but the problem is leadership," says the geologist-turned-social-entrepreneur to Global X. The other issue: "Resources. Money is king!"

His hope for 20017: "There will be more interest from the first world to help the third world."

Angelique Smit - Cambodia

Filed Under:

GSBI 2007

Global X interviews Angelique Smit at the Global Social Benefit Incubator. Originally from the Netherlands, Angelique Smit is now based in Cambodia with Ideas at Work, where she helps market the Rope-Pump to low-income Cambodian villagers. The water pump is designed to improve the quality of lives of village women by lightening the burden of household water collection.

Watch this three-minute interview in which Angelique Smit tells Global X why she is an optimist: "Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. I want to stay awake!"

Jim Koch - Global Social Benefit Incubator

Filed Under:

GSBI

Global X sat down with Jim Koch, as he was just arriving at Oxford from Santa Clara University. He talked to Global X about the Global Social Benefit Incubator, then described his vision for 2017: very exciting!