Kickstarter for Documentaries on Makers in Africa

Diane Hendrix, Founder and Director of Young World Inventors, wrote in to let us know she’s raising funds to do another series of mini-documentaries on young makers who solve interesting problems with limited resources:

Since 2011, Hendrix has been tracking inventors across Africa, following the progress of young engineers as they solve everyday problems arising from scarce resources. Stories of bike powered devices in Tanzania and mobile applications businesses in Rwanda and Kenya that link farmers with best prices are examples of the startups Hendrix has documented. New stories include a Maasai Kenyan-­American who took his smokeless stoves to Kenya to launch, aiming to reduce widespread lung disease that threatens his own family. Eight teams have been filmed, with four new stories on the way.

Diane’s Kickstarter campaign has only a few days to raise the $18,000 needed to produce new mini documentaries. Check out the project’s Kickstarter page. Diane has lined up some really cool backer awards including:

• ingenious Tanzanian inventor Bernard Kiwia’s instructions for solar water heater (pictured above) made from recycled materials
• A deluxe high-power solar lamp for camping or patio, which also charges most phones
• A low-power solar lamp, five times as bright as a kerosene lamp
• Handheld corn sheller used by 15,000 Tanzanians and signed by Bernard Kiwia

And a bunch more!