Kari Santos, ICTD alumna and member of the Laboratory for Playful Computation, lends a hand as Letang Sefako (left) and Ketletseeng Sedumago (middle) drill holes to add a hinged door to the peanut roaster they built in Kaputura, Botswana in August 2018.聽The peanut roasting business was one of eight聽enterprises that were developed during IDDS Botswana 2018.
During the project, Kari聽worked with four residents聽from D'Kar and Kaputura villages聽to design and build a portable wood-burning peanut roaster.聽Kari's team built the roaster, experimented with roasting and flavoring techniques, conducted taste聽tests in Kapatura and developed a business plan for the peanut business, including marketing, supply chains聽and distribution.聽
"The IDDS summit taught me how to work with an incredibly diverse group of individuals聽and how to quickly iterate through the design cycle and create a business that can continue past the summit," Kari says.聽
Kari also worked with a聽local teacher, mentoring him in computer science teaching methods that engage聽and interest children聽ages聽8 to 14. As part of the collaboration, she taught聽a group of his students how to use micro:bits, fully programmable computers that are聽roughly half the size of a credit card.
IDDS's theme,聽鈥渋mproving rural community livelihoods in Botswana,鈥� focuses on co-creating grassroots technologies and innovations, while supporting business models that will be adopted by the rural community members to enhance and sustain their livelihoods.聽
