This nonprofit organization develops laptops with relative high performances and low costs, this to close the intellectual gab between thirds world countries and western societies.
Lot of third world countries suffer from hungry, this because a big part of their soil is unusable for agriculture activities and those counties are often overcrowded. Beside this, they have a smaller variety of food to create a balanced diet, this makes that a lot of people (children) havent their daily amount of vitamins and minerals. All this results in under development of the body, eye illnesses,
A solution would be to create by the use of biotechnology food that grows on poor soils and contains all the needed vitamins and minerals. But, the knowhow for this kind of technology is present in western countries, often in laboratories sponsored by multinationals with only commercial interests. By this the manipulated food is only available for those who can afford it.
But, there are some multinationals that have the heart on the right place and modified their patent so that poor third world countries can use it without paying the high taxes connected to these patents.
An example is the production of golden rice this variety contains a lot of vitamin A, normally its absent in rice. But by modification of the rice, they developed a variant that produces betacaroteen. This substance is transformed into vitamin A by our body.So by this variant even a tedious diet know supplies the needed amount of vitamin A.
The first
question we should ask, is as followed: why would multinationals invest in
technology for third world countries. Technology that none can afford! A companys
only goal is profit and there is no profit to gain in third world countries, is
there? But, is there no company with a sense of morality? Whit a little bit of compassion?
A company who decides to make profit in western companies and to use a little
bit of their budget to invest in research for technology for the third world?
Or are we
all deceived and are there companies out there with a good heart, who will
invest in the third world to improve their life standards? A quick view on the
pharmaceutical industry confirms our stereotypic image: companies do not help
the third world, they suck it dry!
Malaria for
instance, a disease that targets mainly third world countries can be easily
cured or even more easily prevented. However the malaria problem seems to be severe.
Is the pharmaceutical industry not prepared to just show their good hart and
just help people? It seems to be that no company is.
This is why
Studio Brussel, a radio station, tries to collect money to help Burundi with
their malaria problem. So a first quick
view on the problem only confirms our suspicion; no company helps the third
world. Are there companies who try to
help the third world? Are there companies who are willing to give up a little
bit of their profit just to help people? Further and deeper research is needed
to perhaps prove the opposite! So that is what we will do.
" Technology for the Third World a curse or a bless? "
In our Thesis we want to develop a product that can adsorp arsenic out of groundwater. This we would do by the use of a adsorbent build in into microspheres, so it could remove the toxic arsenic on a fast and save way. Now we wonder if we would find such a application, that it wouldn't become a new way to deprive the Third World? This because the arsenic probleme situate itselfs only in the Third World in county's like India en Bangladesh.
