Upcoming Events
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Friday, July 25, 2008
6 pm
Jazz for Peace
Benefit Concert
at
The Artists' Quarter
(Contact CTI for tickets)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
7 pm
Solutions for the
Other 90% Presentation
at
The Walker Art Center
(Free)
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Sign up for the
Post Harvest
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CTI-Designed Devices Introduced in Mali
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Board member Camille George traveled to Mali
last month to explore several projects that could utilize technologies
developed by CTI. Working with Aissata Thera, a senior scientist at the
Institute Economique Rurale, IER, (the Malian equivalent of the USDA) and Sidy
Ba, a hydraulics professor at the Institute Polytechnic Rurale, IPR,
(University of Bamako's Institute of Agriculture), the simple pearl millet hand-stripping
device developed by CTI volunteers Don Kuether, Erv Lentz and Rolfe Leary was
demonstrated in two Malian villages. The women were genuinely interested in the
simple time saving device and offered many constructive comments to help
develop an even better design.
Sidy Ba showing pearl
millet device.
Camille also met with Dr. Eva Weltzien,
Principal Investigator for
ICRISAT. Dr. Weltzien is interested in developing
new varieties of pearl millet and sorghum and in increasing the consumption of
locally produced grains in Mali's
urban areas. Collaboration between ICRISAT/ Mali,
IER, IPR, CTI and the University
of St. Thomas' Chapter of
Engineers for a Sustainable World, UST-ESW, is currently being explored.
A
second project explored the possibility of growing seed potatoes in Mali. At this
time, Mali imports all of its
seed potatoes from Europe. IER will try CTI's
evaporative cooling potato storage technology this winter to store several
varieties of seed potatoes through their dormant period. Growing seed potatoes would
greatly increase Mali's food security.
Click
here to see Camille's minutes from her meetings.
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Solutions for the Other 90% at the Walker
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Compatible Technology International
will be one of 9 presenters at the Walker Art
Center on Thursday, July
31 at 7 pm. In conjunction with the exhibit,
Design for the
Other 90%, the Walker is hosting an edition of
Solutions Twin Cities - an ongoing event that brings world-changing design to the
forefront of public discourse. In a rapid-fire, media-rich format where each
speaker is allowed just six minutes and 40 seconds, this evening of short
presentations will cover a cross section of solution-minded designers working on
real-world answers to real-world challenges, both local and abroad.
If you have not seen the Design for the Other 90% exhibit
in the Walker sculpture garden, you really should. As you well know,
good design isn't just for the world's richest 10% anymore and the Twin
Cities are at the forefront of a new movement towards humanitarian
design. Local professionals, students, and amateurs alike are all
finding inspiration in tackling a new set of problems: how to bring
sustainable solutions to the water, energy, education, healthcare, and
transportation to the 90% of the world's population that can least
afford it.
July 31st would be a good evening view this exhibit. While this
exhibit is always free, admission to the rest of the Walker is only free on
Thursdays. Free tickets to the Solutions presentation are available beginning at
6 pm at the Bazinet Garden lobby desk. There will be ample opportunity
to mingle with like-minded folks and promote CTI and our mission at the
reception that follows the presentation.
For more information about this
event: Walker Press Release
For more information about Solutions Twin Cities: www.solutionstwincities.org
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| Grinders Flyin' off the Shelf |
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Over the past few weeks, our Omega grinders are flying out
the doors of our St. Paul
facility. Omega grinders destined for the Congo,
Tansania, Mali,
El Salvador and Nicaragua have
been shipped. The largest shipment in this lot was a lot of seven that went
with missionaries from Our Saviour's Lutheran in Hastings. Board member Kathy Junek made this
contact for us. Additionally, two prototype wooden grinders, one with a regular
horizontal axis and one with a new vertical axis were shipped to Zambia thanks
to our friend and supporter John Schevenius.
More news, we heard from our partner in Uganda, Mr
Baljit Singh that he has sold 23 Ewing III grinders over the past nine
months.
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Emily Squyres Joins CTI as Administrative Assistant
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 For those of you who don't yet know her, we're excited to
introduce Emily Squyres as the
newest member of the CTI staff. She joined
us in early June with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from
the University of
Minnesota and is filling
the role of Administrative Assistant.
Emily has some background in international travel with trips to Guatemala, Trinidad
and Tobago, and Norway, and has a passion for
intercultural communication and international aid. She's thrilled to be starting her career at
CTI, and relishes the opportunity to be working towards our common vision of a
world in which all people have adequate nutritious food and clean water.
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CTI is on Facebook
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Compatible Technology International now has a presence on Facebook! We're still
in the process of getting things established and populating our sites, but we
are already engaged as both a Cause and a business Page.
We want to encourage you to all to
get involved by becoming a Fan of our CTI page and by joining our Cause. They
are two distinct pages that serve different purposes, and we hope you will check
out both and encourage your friends to do the same. You must first have a profile on Facebook, so click on the link to the left to sign-up if you'd like to.
Our Cause page is where the bulk of
our information and updates will eventually be. This will be updated frequently
and hosts a discussion board and a media board as well as a tally of how much
money has been donated to CTI via our Cause page. Additionally, anyone on
Facebook can set up a "cause" (for example "Global Post Harvest Solutions") and
select CTI to be the beneficiary of any donations to that cause. It's a great
application. Click here to add the Causes application. (You must create a Facebook page
before you can become active in our cause.) After you add the application, click "join." Click here for our
business page and "become a fan!" Again, you must create a Facebook page before you can become a
fan. The business page has our basic business information but also contains information
about upcoming events.
We're excited about this new avenue
to spread the word about CTI, and hope to see you
online!
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Changes in Leadership at CTI
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On Wednesday July 2, after a series of
meetings with Mr. Rod Brown, the Executive Committee of CTI's Board of
Directors and Mr. Brown agreed to sever their relationship. This
separation became effective on Thursday July 3rd. Rod Brown remains in
touch with us and is actively assisting CTI with pending projects and
communications.
As of July 3, the
day-to-day operations of CTI are in the capable hands of Bert Rivers
who has been at the center of most of CTI's activities for two years.
Bert will be assisted by members of the Executive Committee as needed.
CTI
remains a strong, non-profit organization focusing on culturally
appropriate technical solutions to post-harvest issues in developing
countries - with ongoing projects in Africa, Asia and Central America.
If you have any questions about this change, please feel free to contact the Board Chairman, Rob Scarlett, via e-mail at TheRobScar@cs.com or by phone at 651-775-3668. |
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