One of my favourite blogs is the kiwanja.net offering from Ken Banks of FrontlineSMS and nGOmobile fame. Ken, whom I once had the pleasure of meeting very briefly at the Mobile World Congress, devotes himself to the application of mobile technology for positive social and environmental change in the developing world, having worked on projects with these aims in Africa for the last 15 years.
Of the various initiatives in which Ken has taken a leading role, FrontlineSMS may be the one with which readers of this blog might be most familiar. For those who are not - this is free software that turns a laptop and a cellphone into a central communications hub, enabling users to send and receive text messages with large groups of people through mobile phones.
One group to have taken advantage of this solution is FrontlineSMS:Medic, a team committed to supporting community health workers in the developing world using mobile technology. In Ken's latest blog post today, he talks about the launch of the FrontlineSMS:Medic team's HopePhones initiative, which is about encouraging people to donate unwanted devices for resuse by community health care workers in developing countries.
Those donating phones have the postage covered (if posted within the USA) and collection centres are being setting up across the US. This looks easy, compelling and worthwhile for US residents. If you're not in the US, you may know of an initiative closer to home. If so, do let me know via the comments function on this blog. I'll happily promote.
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This is a wonderful task as an unused cellphone can, by being used again, save live. In rural area, the main problem in rural area is communication or Telecommunication. So I will do my duty to send to my friend your link.
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