How Haiti is fighting poverty by killing cash, By Margo Conner, January 27, 2012, Christian Science Monitor: “In Haiti, cash is escaping from wallets and savings accounts are breaking free from brick-and-mortar banks. Two years after 2010’s devastating earthquake, mobile money has taken off in the island nation. While the country has seen setbacks in many areas and continues to struggle, one bright spot is the transformation of the country’s traditional banking sector. Physical banks were wiped away by the quake and subsequent hurricane, and a mobile banking network that uses cell phones has grown up in their place…”
Tag: Cellular phones
Technology and Innovation for Developing Countries
To help the poor, experts invent solar-powered hearing aids, motorcycle ambulances, Associated Press, September 12, 2011, Washington Post: “A bit of creativity never hurts, especially when it comes to solving health problems in developing countries. Instead of the usual donated medicines and health equipment, some experts are inventing new products for the poor, like a solar-powered hearing aid or a motorcycle ambulance. Both inventions were showcased at an engineering conference in London. And in a new report published online Monday in the journal Lancet, the United Nations highlights innovations like using text messages in South Africa to remind women with HIV to get their babies tested and tucking medicines into Coca-Cola crates to reach remote villages. Hundreds of thousands of replacement joints, surgical tools and other medical devices have been sent to poor countries over the years. But according to the World Health Organization, about 75 percent of the donated goods sit unused, either because they’re broken or no one knows how to use them…”
Lifeline Phone Subsidy Program
Regulators say low-income phone program is hemorrhaging millions, By Fred Hiers, August 2, 2011, Ocala Star-Banner: “Federal and state regulators are working to fix a program they believe is making millions of dollars in unauthorized payments to low-income phone customers. Lifeline is a federal program, paid for by all phone users, which subsidizes low-income people in order to help pay for their phone installations and use. The limit is one phone. The subsidy goes to the phone service provider. The annual subsidy for customers is nearly $162 per year. According to a Florida Public Service Commission report, 642,129 Floridians were subscribing to the program as of June 20, 2010. Other states also administer the program. The problem is, some customers are receiving payments for more than one phone, regulators say…”