Technology and Capacity Building

Poverty is created and sustained by a system, not merely low income. A weak infrastructure precludes safe water, electricity, efficient food production and distribution. The absence of a rule of law and/or dangerous neighbors, poor education, and scarcity of health facilities all exacerbate poverty. All of these factors work together to create a system of poverty that becomes almost inescapable. In this chapter we include four cases of projects aimed at addressing the system of poverty. Eskom, the leading energy company in South Africa faced the daunting task of electrifying neglected communities in that country. The Volta River Project, demonstrates the difficulties of providing adequate power and water in Ghana. Transforming Education In Rural Haiti: Intel and L’Ecole De Choix, narrates a school project in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and Zynga, a large interactive social gaming company, embarked on a series of efforts to raise funds through its games for various antipoverty initiatives in the developing world.