National Peace Corps Association Announces Round Three Winners of Africa Rural Connect From Kenya and United States
Washington, D.C.─ The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), the nation’s leading nonprofit organization supporting Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Peace Corps community, announced today the winners of the third round of the Africa Rural Connect 2010 ideas competition. Launched last year, ARC is an online program of NPCA that taps the creativity and knowledge of former Volunteers and the international community to find ways to address tough issues facing rural Africa.
“Participants on the site are using the innovative Wegora technology platform as we intended they would—they are posting ideas and collaborating to remix them into even better ones,” says Molly Mattessich, manager of online initiatives for the National Peace Corps Association. “We’re seeing multiple discussions on similar topics turn into viable plans that are the result of a partnership of ideas.”
The winners of the third round are as follows:
Solar Sister: Empowering African Women Through Enterprise With Solar Technology (United States)
Empowering women with an Avon-style distribution system for solar technology, enabling them to earn income and improve their businesses with clean solar light.
Charcoal Briquettes from Agricultural Wastes on Super Stoves, Carbon Microcredits on Cell Phones (Kenya)
Transforming agricultural like sugarcane stalks into smokeless charcoal briquettes, using them on energy saving cook stoves and claiming the resultant carbon credits using cell phones.
Each winner will receive $1,000 to implement their idea and will be eligible for the grand prize of $12,000 to be determined in December of 2010. Two more winners will be selected in the fourth round, which runs through Nov. 15.
“New technology is allowing us to pool knowledge online in ways we never imagined,” adds Mattessich. “We’re amazed to see the ingenuity that results from working together to help resolve tough issues involving agriculture and food security.”
To submit your idea and join the discussion, visit: www.AfricaRuralConnect.org
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