Just back from Denver
I have just got back from the IDE International board meeting in Denver, Colorado. The first time meeting the IDE staff based in Denver and I went away feeling a great weight off my shoulders. There is a fantastic team there in the US - and they have offered all sorts of help and support to IDE-UK.
Had some fascinating conversations with the board members – many have been involved in IDE since its founding. I heard stories of the early days helping poor Somali refugee blacksmiths to make a good living through designing and building low cost donkey carts, which then enabled their owners to earn a good income of $200 a month hauling wood and food bags. Somalis have definitely not lost their entrepreneurial spirit….
At lunch with IDE founder Paul Polak we both got excited about the possibilities of making mosquito nets for developing countries more affordable by good design and effective supply chains. Why do they need to be subsidised?
On the plane over to Denver I finished reading Paul’s book Out of Poverty which is a great introduction to IDE’s approach. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to help people in developing countries escape from poverty.
