Whenever a new technology pops up the first thing that most observers assume is that the innovation took place in a developed country but talent has no boundaries and it is scattered in almost every part of the world. Villages in Africa that are generally considered quite poor and lacking in essential facilities have talent that can inspire the world. A Thirteen year old, Richard Turere, from Kenya is one such example from the continent who has developed a low cost solution that scares away hungry loins from his family’s valued herd of cattle. The skilful Kenyan boy came up with the idea after he and his family faced serious threat from the lions which were attacking their cattle.
A majority of farmers who reside around the Nairobi National Park of Kenya make their livelihood with the herds of cattle they own. However cattle are the most preferred late night snack for lions in the park and in the hours of darkness they attack the herd to get a quick meal. To avoid any losses, Turere’s family gave him the duty of protecting their precious herd of goats, sheep and cows. Turere, who was just 11 years old at that time, noticed that whenever he walked around with a flashlight at night, loins did not come close to the cattle, according to CNN’s Teo Kermeliotis.
After guarding the herd for few weeks Turere hit upon an idea of developing an inexpensive solution called “Loin Lights” to scare away the loins at night. The talented boy took LED lights and hooked them with the poles positioned close to the animals’ enclosure and then turned their face to an outward direction. The boy then attached the lights to a switch box and used an old car battery along with a solar panel to power them up. Turere programmed these LED lights in a way that they flick from time to time, depicting a human walking around with a flashlight.
Since these Loin Lights have been set up around the animal’s area, loins have not been able to attack the cattle of Turere’s family according to CNN. The success of Loins Light inspired the neighbours of Turere so they asked him to help them install their own edition of the lights. And till today about 75 systems like Turere’s Loin Lights have been installed in the region.
The low cost technology not only saved cattle, money and lions, but it has also helped Turere earned a scholarship in one of the leading schools of Kenya, as his work amazed executive director of Kenya Land Conservation Trust, Paula Kahumbu and her co-workers, who then got him the scholarship. Moreover, last year Turere also appeared in a video that was titles “My invention that outsmarted lions.”
In addition to this, he also got the chance to make a speech at the TED conference that took place in Nairobi plus he also got an invitation for TED 2013 at the Long Beach, Calif.
Source: Mashable
Photo: BubbleGumPost
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