Global Penn State: Kenya

Global Penn State

The first episode of Global Penn State follows Penn State students adventures in Kenya as they tackle problems related to health care, unemployment, nutrition and renewable energy. The students design ventures using existing, affordable technologies that target specific problems in marginalized communities while providing Kenyans with economic opportunities.

Penn State student-led ventures include "Mashavu" (Swahili for "chubby cheeked")- connecting doctors to patients in remote villages through an ingenious, affordable system of biomedical devices, cell phones and computer laptops; "WishVast", an Ebay-like social network that connects workers to employers and farmers to manufacturers – improving supply chains and employment through communities built on trust; and "Essential Design" – a class in which students designed and built a biogas generator, a high tunnel greenhouse, and a drip irrigation system using low-cost, locally found components. The work is part of Penn State's Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship initiative led by senior research associate Khanjan Mehta and Prof. Tom Colledge from the College of Engineering.