Do It Yourself
- Africa
"The Power to the People” and “The Toye Room”
Resolving key, critical and unique issues in our Community through these technology enabled initiatives.
DIY-A Introduction
Do It Yourself - Africa (DIY-A) is a social initiative that aims to tackle critical gaps in welfare services for vulnerable populations across Africa. Our team aims to study, observe, and identify the unmet resource requirements that are inhibiting the economic growth and social welfare of the population in the underdeveloped regions of Africa. Through DIY-A, we aim to address these needs, by procuring and developing low-cost technology enabled tools and solutions. Our initiative is method-agnostic and involves various sub projects Including research, analyses, social work, donation drives, awareness campaigns etc. DIY-A is a technology distribution initiative aimed at broadening access to low-cost technological enabled solutions to pressing development challenges in underserved regions.
We conducted a DIY-A Survey to understand the quality of life across key locations in Nigeria. Subsequently, to address the issues highlighted by the DIY-A Survey, we developed “The Power to the People” Kits and “The Toye Room” technology enabled initiatives to resolve the key, critical and unique issues within our local communities in Nigeria.
DIY-A Survey
The DIY-A Survey is an exhaustive 20 question survey to interrogate the quality of life of inhabitants in the regions of Ikorodu, Ogijo, and Makoko in Nigeria. These locations are in the vicinity of heavy industrial units and dwellers are largely laborers employed in these units. The survey specifically looks into the facilities available with regard to health, education, safety and security, as well as energy access. Congruent to the ethos of DIY-A, it seeks to first identify a problem affecting the citizenry and then empower them with technology to be able to mitigate a lack of access in any of these sectors,
DIY-A Article Series
The weekly article series on medium.com covers the heartwarming stories of entrepreneurs in Africa who have coalesced ideas in social impact and STEM to found an initiative that betters the standard of living of their immediate community. Through interventions in plant-based protein, clean energy, and afforestation, the series brings attention to the groundbreaking work being done by the entrepreneurial community in Africa to use tech for the common good.
DIY-A Action
The results of the DIY-A Survey were then actioned towards informing the construction of solar classrooms powered by 5 kWp solar panels. The erection of these classroom was based on the two primary needs highlighted in the survey: access to education, and clean energy respectively. One example of this is a classroom that was built in collaboration with the Indian Languages School, Lagos in December 2022.
DIY-A Background & Genesis
The United Nations Economic Committee of Africa has stated that the continent has barely reached the halfway-mark with regards to its Sustainable Development Goals. 40 percent of all Africans still live in extreme poverty and any modern spurts of economic growth have not translated into higher standards of living due to social impediments – Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from one of the highest rates of infant mortality and the healthcare system has been overburdened due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has induced a global slowdown in the economy which has in turn impacted Africa much like other countries. Experts have highlighted that any form of post-pandemic recovery must rely on the virtues of digitisation. Over the past decade, the role of technology has expanded from assistance to innovation and newer inventions are being used to enhance the quality of life of humans. The social-impact sector has presented a critical use-case of technology.
Technology has been identified as being necessary for augmenting service delivery among citizens. Everyday issues surrounding electricity, potable water access, health, can all benefit from technological support for faster and effective citizen-welfare. This transformative ability of technology offers the intellectual basis for our initiative – Do It Yourself – Africa.