We are a non-profit organisation trying to design and think of concepts to help people in need, people in Third World countries, in order to make their life a bit easier.
There is still so much that needs or can be done to give everyone the access to basic needs.
We are a bunch of volunteers (mainly designers). If you feel like you would like to help in any way or if you have any ideas in how to increase the awareness regarding these problems and how to engage more designers/architects, professionals and or students please let us know.
MP Mrs Alicen Chelaite, together with the people from Girl Child Network, accompanied us to a primary school in Rongai district.
Due to the high poverty here we decided to distribute the pads I bought. The money herefore was donated by the organisation called HELPING HANDS, France.
We provided 480 packets of pads, good to help 160 students to pass through their next trimester without needing to miss one day out of school.
sanitary packets of pads. we need more sanitary pads. first colonize them than sell them as slaves and now send 480 packets of sanitary pads.
am i missing the point. or you are duping us to qualify for free grant money?
i hope there is some explanation to this because there is not much there in the web site asking for donations. is this a christian based move?
web site left me with some negative and suspicious thoughts. i like to be corrected if you please.
Sorry if you missed the point but we are currently designing an educational game that will support other local organisations when distributing sanitary packets of pads. If it is not clear and you know a better way of putting it... you can always give me some advice so that I can make the necessary adjustments. All help is welcome! We recently started the organisation and we are all volunteers, we have all our daily design jobs and we do this in our spare time to help out others plus we would like to gather designers/architects to give them the opportunity to design with a real purpose behind instead of creating just another need for our Western society.
damn abra, way to turn a cry for help into a diatribe on how the western world screws(screwed) africa. Not that i'm one to talk, Im often suspicious of charities unless i can see the fruits of my donations with my own eyes.
Strange, you try to help people, spend all your free time on it and they still slack you off. Well, if you can tell me how to bring across our sincerity... please feel free to do so, I am more than happy to listen. And yes apurimac, we will definitely inform those who support us in any way what happens with the money. I am suspicious as well when donating money myself.
spending 'your' free time doesn't vindicate you from anything and everything. your free time doesn't necessarily smell like a rose.
'your' western society can stop wiping the guilt by hygienic paper towels and mercy tourism.
deal with racism at home first.
how well you treat africans in europe? why don't you give some sanitary napkins and free time to the young african girls living in your third class citizen's housing, dear meaningful designer?
abra...whoa the hostility there.
okay, yes, humanitarian work should start at home....but all too often people see the "other" issues first. at least to do something is important...finding meaningful ways to transfer it into your everyday life is much more difficult. i'm glad that HIDO here is coming to archinect with this. many people levied the same criticism at cameron sinclair when he was starting architecture for humanity....but it is part of the growing pains of that type of work. i personally do believe in the start at home first thing as well, but it isn't the starting point for everyone. maybe the question that needs to be asked is can i start a HIDO chapter that can deal with these issues in my own hometown (or join the local AFH chapter to do them). maybe you could partner with them...the non-profit world runs by organizations helping other organizations out.
actually HIDO, my only criticism of your work right now is that its unfocused. you are dealing with a lot of interesting issues, but what is your main goal? i like the water project idea....how can you create a conceptual consistency that underlies the projects and reinforces your organization's goal....
lounge at Msambweni house and they will donate 100 euros to hido = mercy tourism. conceptualize there... you can reach them thru the hido site.
wasn't everything designed for africa in europe before.
as i recall, like:
clean water systems for them.
meals for them.
hospitals for them.
churches and mosques but mainly churches for them.
as former colonies; no easy immigration status for them in europe.
no good jobs for them in europe. no good housing for them either. slave trade is well funded in european soil as we speak.
an african desperado can be robbed in ivory coast and shipped to canary islands and re surface in first world capitals to do slave work.
i find these mercy to the poor minded 'help' organizations just as exploiting as the missionaries.
and, i don't have a stomach to look at their partner sites of five star luxury hotels while concerning myself how the african poor school girls can be helped with their menstural periods while i am dining game meat in my safari fantasies.
futureboy, i see maybe a sharp tounge in my part. but hostility? no.
reality? maybe. but reading the fine lines? yes.
i also know that africa is hotly contested area of future investment. european union, centered in brussels, knows this. so are the chinese and others.
hido maybe should take my critism with a grain of salt and look at the way that they they are telling you and i to help them to help themselves.
Abra. The history of the shot-gun is a good example. Developed on the shores of Ghana, readapted in Haiti and revised on the Gulf Coast. When folks assume the shotgun is uniquely New Orleans they are discrediting the evolution of the architectural history that pre-dates America.
Humanitarian responses are a two way street not top down. real growth is done through adapting local technology and supporting sustainable prosperity.
nothing personal really.
i often see good intentioned nice people getting involved in misdirected humanitarian projects and exhousting themselves in the process because the lack of strong leadership and understanding the mechanics of it. statements boiling down to "i am 'giving' why don't you" are sure to get hard ass reactions from emotional ;) people like me and make the efforts fell short on the substance
and perseverence.
cameron's words, "humanitarian responses are a two way street not top down" brings the whole process into a simple concept that should be a guideline for the humanitarian aid efforts, IM not so HO.
white men can do no right, brown men can do no wrong. Even when white man tries to make right, he's treated with disdain and hatred, white man learns to hate himself or live as a stereotype. Why can't we all just admit that every single human being on this planet is a much a sinner as he/she is a saint? All white men are not evil, all brown men are not saints. Being an asshole is not proportional to skin color. Brown men sold out their own to the white man. White man exploits africa, leaves, then the africans exploit africa. If brown men had become more capable at waging war then white men 1000 years ago, if Egypt/Carthage hadn't fallen to Rome and instead conqured it and subjugated Europe, imagine the world we'd be in.
I would like to thank you all for your comments and honest opinions. It is this that makes someone stronger and see things from a different perspective. My philosophy is to take every negative comment and turn it into something even better than I orginally intended.
Nov 18, 06 3:41 am ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
Humanitarian design
We are a non-profit organisation trying to design and think of concepts to help people in need, people in Third World countries, in order to make their life a bit easier.
There is still so much that needs or can be done to give everyone the access to basic needs.
We are a bunch of volunteers (mainly designers). If you feel like you would like to help in any way or if you have any ideas in how to increase the awareness regarding these problems and how to engage more designers/architects, professionals and or students please let us know.
For any ideas or comments you can contact us on:
info@humanidesign.org
More info can be found on:
http://www.humanidesign.org
Due to the high poverty here we decided to distribute the pads I bought. The money herefore was donated by the organisation called HELPING HANDS, France.
We provided 480 packets of pads, good to help 160 students to pass through their next trimester without needing to miss one day out of school.
sanitary packets of pads. we need more sanitary pads. first colonize them than sell them as slaves and now send 480 packets of sanitary pads.
am i missing the point. or you are duping us to qualify for free grant money?
i hope there is some explanation to this because there is not much there in the web site asking for donations. is this a christian based move?
web site left me with some negative and suspicious thoughts. i like to be corrected if you please.
Sorry if you missed the point but we are currently designing an educational game that will support other local organisations when distributing sanitary packets of pads. If it is not clear and you know a better way of putting it... you can always give me some advice so that I can make the necessary adjustments. All help is welcome! We recently started the organisation and we are all volunteers, we have all our daily design jobs and we do this in our spare time to help out others plus we would like to gather designers/architects to give them the opportunity to design with a real purpose behind instead of creating just another need for our Western society.
can we get idp credit?
damn abra, way to turn a cry for help into a diatribe on how the western world screws(screwed) africa. Not that i'm one to talk, Im often suspicious of charities unless i can see the fruits of my donations with my own eyes.
Strange, you try to help people, spend all your free time on it and they still slack you off. Well, if you can tell me how to bring across our sincerity... please feel free to do so, I am more than happy to listen. And yes apurimac, we will definitely inform those who support us in any way what happens with the money. I am suspicious as well when donating money myself.
spending 'your' free time doesn't vindicate you from anything and everything. your free time doesn't necessarily smell like a rose.
'your' western society can stop wiping the guilt by hygienic paper towels and mercy tourism.
deal with racism at home first.
how well you treat africans in europe? why don't you give some sanitary napkins and free time to the young african girls living in your third class citizen's housing, dear meaningful designer?
maybe you should make "Humanitarianism Sucks" t-shirts and then sell them to archinecters
abra...whoa the hostility there.
okay, yes, humanitarian work should start at home....but all too often people see the "other" issues first. at least to do something is important...finding meaningful ways to transfer it into your everyday life is much more difficult. i'm glad that HIDO here is coming to archinect with this. many people levied the same criticism at cameron sinclair when he was starting architecture for humanity....but it is part of the growing pains of that type of work. i personally do believe in the start at home first thing as well, but it isn't the starting point for everyone. maybe the question that needs to be asked is can i start a HIDO chapter that can deal with these issues in my own hometown (or join the local AFH chapter to do them). maybe you could partner with them...the non-profit world runs by organizations helping other organizations out.
actually HIDO, my only criticism of your work right now is that its unfocused. you are dealing with a lot of interesting issues, but what is your main goal? i like the water project idea....how can you create a conceptual consistency that underlies the projects and reinforces your organization's goal....
lounge at Msambweni house and they will donate 100 euros to hido = mercy tourism. conceptualize there... you can reach them thru the hido site.
wasn't everything designed for africa in europe before.
as i recall, like:
clean water systems for them.
meals for them.
hospitals for them.
churches and mosques but mainly churches for them.
as former colonies; no easy immigration status for them in europe.
no good jobs for them in europe. no good housing for them either. slave trade is well funded in european soil as we speak.
an african desperado can be robbed in ivory coast and shipped to canary islands and re surface in first world capitals to do slave work.
i find these mercy to the poor minded 'help' organizations just as exploiting as the missionaries.
and, i don't have a stomach to look at their partner sites of five star luxury hotels while concerning myself how the african poor school girls can be helped with their menstural periods while i am dining game meat in my safari fantasies.
futureboy, i see maybe a sharp tounge in my part. but hostility? no.
reality? maybe. but reading the fine lines? yes.
i also know that africa is hotly contested area of future investment. european union, centered in brussels, knows this. so are the chinese and others.
hido maybe should take my critism with a grain of salt and look at the way that they they are telling you and i to help them to help themselves.
don't blame me for scratching the surface. peace.
Abra. The history of the shot-gun is a good example. Developed on the shores of Ghana, readapted in Haiti and revised on the Gulf Coast. When folks assume the shotgun is uniquely New Orleans they are discrediting the evolution of the architectural history that pre-dates America.
Humanitarian responses are a two way street not top down. real growth is done through adapting local technology and supporting sustainable prosperity.
Cheers
C.
thats the difference. thank you.
btw congrats cameron......
thanks for sticking your nose in this forum...
abra, good to see your change of heart.
nothing personal really.
i often see good intentioned nice people getting involved in misdirected humanitarian projects and exhousting themselves in the process because the lack of strong leadership and understanding the mechanics of it. statements boiling down to "i am 'giving' why don't you" are sure to get hard ass reactions from emotional ;) people like me and make the efforts fell short on the substance
and perseverence.
cameron's words, "humanitarian responses are a two way street not top down" brings the whole process into a simple concept that should be a guideline for the humanitarian aid efforts, IM not so HO.
Books to read: The man who tried to save the world (on Fred Cuny), Disasters and Development (by Fred Cuny) and White Man's Burden.
also see our efforts to develop a new licensing system for design that protects the rights of the designer rather than restricts it.
white men can do no right, brown men can do no wrong. Even when white man tries to make right, he's treated with disdain and hatred, white man learns to hate himself or live as a stereotype. Why can't we all just admit that every single human being on this planet is a much a sinner as he/she is a saint? All white men are not evil, all brown men are not saints. Being an asshole is not proportional to skin color. Brown men sold out their own to the white man. White man exploits africa, leaves, then the africans exploit africa. If brown men had become more capable at waging war then white men 1000 years ago, if Egypt/Carthage hadn't fallen to Rome and instead conqured it and subjugated Europe, imagine the world we'd be in.
I would like to thank you all for your comments and honest opinions. It is this that makes someone stronger and see things from a different perspective. My philosophy is to take every negative comment and turn it into something even better than I orginally intended.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.