Author: Mentalacrobatics

Ghanian mechanics bring cars back from the dead

The BBC Website carries a story about a Ghanaian mechanic called Frank Darko who claims that he can make any car from wrecks and scrap.

From the article:

Mr Darko is a “straighter” – so-called because he can straighten crooked vehicles.

He is one of an estimated 80,000 mechanics, engineers and artisans who work in Suame Magazine, an industrial slum, possibly one of Africa’s biggest.

Frank Darko specialises in straightening wrecked vehicles. On the outskirts of the Ghana’s second city, Kumasi, the Magazine’s origins lie in the city’s long history of working gold and other metals.

Over time, more and more of these artisans turned their hands to vehicle repairs and engineering, eventually moving to Kumasi’s Suame suburb after World War II.

In a continent and a country where buying new can stretch already overburdened pockets, the Magazine’s artisans show how far you can get with ingenuity, skill and a few mechanical tools.

Playpumps

The responsibility of collecting clean water n Africa often falls on children. This limits their opportunity for education and a higher quality of life as they can spend hours walking to and from the clean water source. Equally important is that it leaves no time for FUN and play which are both vital to child’s healthy development. PlayPump is one innovate solution to the question of how to supply clean drinking water to African villages using children while at the same time contributing to their healthy and positive development. It’s a simple idea. As children spin on a merry-go-round, water pumps from below the ground. It is stored in a tank just a few feet away, making a safe, plentiful supply of water available in the community.

Playpumps

While children have fun spinning on the Playpump (1), clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4), standing seven meters above the ground. A simple tap (5) makes it easy for women and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6). The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in rural communities. All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance.

For more information please visit the Playpumps website.