Three Examples of Failed Projects:

      Mike Bellamy once met a couple who ran a childrens' home in Haiti. They told him that a man had given them a water treatment system for their home. As they described the system he recognized it as MOGGOD technology. They stated that the system worked well for a while, but suddenly the water was coming out opaque. They got scared because they weren’t sure if there was something wrong with the system and they never used it again.
      Mike recalls having had dinner with the president of a multinational Christian ministry. (The name is not given since the person who donated the system described below would feel bad!) At one point he described a time when a person purchased a $6,000 water treatment system for one of his sites in Africa. He didn’t know what type of technology it was. He just said that “it has pumps and hoses everywhere.”
      The man who donated the system went to Africa to help them set it up. He even took test kits along to teach them how to test their water. It turns out that whenever they know that this man is coming, they get the system out. Otherwise it sits unused.
      Mike once read an article about a solar powered oven that a man had developed. The article shows him building solar-powered ovens with women in a rural part of Mexico. The women started a bakery with the ovens. He was intrigued by the oven and did a little research. It turns out that a Haitian man who does ministry in Haiti also was intrigued by the ovens and tried to build some in Haiti. Mike called this man and asked him about his experiences. He stated that he couldn’t make the ovens work. It turns out that out that the project in Mexico also eventually stopped.
      There are too many examples of failed projects in developing countries to mention them all! However, with just three examples of failed projects, the pattern for why projects in developing countries often fail becomes evident:
(1) People must understand how the technology works so that they can fix it if it breaks. Unfortunately, really training people how the technology works cannot be done well in a few days time. Real training would require that the users of the technology attend some sort of significant training.
(2) People must have access to spare parts. The ideal situation would be to have dealers of the technology in the country where it is being implemented. Having to get spare parts from another country limits the viability of a technology.
(3) The technology must fit the needs and wants of the society. Too often people in developed countries select technology that seems to be a good fit for a developing country. However, many unforeseen factors cause the technology to not work out. Ideally, people would be presented with several viable options and the best options would naturally become part of the society.
      Going to a developing country for a week or two to implement new technology is not effective.
      Overall, the way to implement technology in developing countries seems to be to model what has been shown to work in developed countries. In developed countries we teach basic math and science principles to our children throughout all of their schooling. Then, after high school, we teach them the specifics of technologies that are important to our society.

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