Arduino around the world – Africa
A blog post touched my heart.
While learning Clojure some years ago I stumbled upon a project that used Clojure and Arduino. Immediately, I wanted to try it out, I searched for where to get a board within my city(Port-Harcourt) or my country. I was disappointed , there was not a single distributor within the whole West Africa. It occurred to me that I may not be the only one facing this challenge and for my subcontinent to reduce poverty, we need to be part of Arduino world. How would they hack if there is no prototype board to play with? Who would supply boards when there is no distributor? These were the questions that came to my mind. Thereafter, I seized this wonderful opportunity and approached Arduino manufacturing team for distributorship. I was surprised that my application was approved. They even encouraged me to have online presence which they would link to.
Such a problem is faced by many people of the developing economy world. The first step to learning is to have access to learning tools.
One may ask what about Electrical/Electronics engineers? Well, we have them, and they have started showcasing their “unique capabilities”. Most University kids in Nigeria do not spend enough time with Micro-controllers and Microprocessors or should I say that they are intimidated. But they still yearn for a simple platform to help them get started.
“Now the good news, school kids in faraway Ghana are using Arduino boards in their Physics practicals. This is amazing! Thanks to a dutch volunteer who asked for Arduino boards in order to engage his pupils. Another wonderful story , very close to my heart is that of a secondary school kid from a privileged home(in Lagos) whose hobby is to hack Arduino board.” Writes the Nigerian Distributor.
Are you a maker in a developing nation? Would you like to spread the Arduino message? Or has Arduino touched your life in a special way? Do write to us. 🙂
Via:[emekamicro]
May 7th, 2012 at 08:50:07
You are right. I also am in South Africa and although supply is better than most countries the process to get the arduinos is quite time consuming.
May 7th, 2012 at 09:16:18
is it normal that your blog is not centered in the page? on a large screen it flushes on left side..
May 7th, 2012 at 13:46:28
Yes.
May 8th, 2012 at 18:21:11
i am nigerian, i need to get an arduino board
May 8th, 2012 at 18:31:22
I need a board
May 10th, 2012 at 07:19:34
@Jibola visit http://www.satajanus.com.ng or call 08025012525 to reach the aforementioned distributor.
Good luck!
May 11th, 2012 at 11:31:49
Go Emeka…..!!!
June 4th, 2015 at 12:38:11
I use Arduino regularly for prototyping work here in Keffi in Nigeria. Arduino makes it easy to have a simple idea in the morning and a prototype by evenning. The supply situation has improved. I ordered an Uno SMD Edition from ANIO which was shipped to Abuja from Lagos in 2 days recently.
At the same time, I am organizing training (Abuja, FCT and Keffi, Nasarawa State) starting in June 2015 on basic Arduino and some intro to C. You can contact me at embeddedlayout@gmail.com if you are in Nigeria and interested.
September 3rd, 2015 at 20:58:28
I work from January in Sierra Leone like a Biomedical Technician for one ONG,now from 2 moths that the ebola is near at the end I start one little training at the 3 guys of the biomedical team in the hospital when i work…if someone wont contact me my mail is: shank28mail@gmail.com