IEET is sending a second shipment of LG cellphones and Blackberries to Madagascar as part of it’s African Futures Project, to elevate daily life there via techno-progress. The communication devices were donated by Roger Hansen of the Mormon Transhumanist Association.
The devices will be sent to farmers in the southern area of Madagascar, on the Mahalfaly Plateau. Cell phone service was recently expanded there, and farmers are eager to use the devices to connect with family members, to learn about food markets in the city of Tulear, and to communicate with each other about the problem of regional cattle thievery.
The cellphones will be distributed by a IEET writer, Dustin Eirdosh, who lives in the region.
IEET thanks Roger Hansen immensely for his contribution. Roger gathered the devices from his Utah office at the Bureau of Reclamation. He is also looking into the possibility of obtaining used laptops from his office, for distribution in Africa.
The usefulness of cellphones in Africa is explained in the essay, We Can hear You Now! - 12 Ways Cell Phones Accelerate Africa
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