SafariSeat: A Humanitarian Success

By Sarah Snebold on December 4, 2016

On November 16, a revolutionary and innovative product was released onto Kickstarter. For those who are unaware, Kickstarter is a global community with the mission of helping “artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the resources they need to make their ideas a reality.” It allows for these creators to maintain complete control over their idea/project while sharing it with potential backers.

Kickstarter features projects in multiple categories, such as: art, comics, crafts, dance, design, fashion, film, food, games, journalism, music, photography, publishing, technology and theater. The site is perfect for individuals seeking for up and coming products and services. It is a way to build a community of individuals for a common cause.

Since donating money is the gateway for these communities, it can be assumed that individuals are deeply invested, or at least partially, in the projects they back. From this site, I stumbled upon Uji, a social enterprise team, who used this site to launch their product the SafariSeat.

Photo taken by Job de Graf at the Baraja School in Sanya Juu, a school for physically impaired children.

In short, the SafariSeat is a low cost, all terrain wheelchair. It is truly a revolutionary product to assist individuals in developing countries. This is extremely important as it provides independence to those who desperately need it. A survey found that at least 350 million disabled individuals are living in areas where the services necessary to assist them to overcoming their limitations are not available. These necessary aids are unavailable due to a lack of availability and/or high cost. Thus, the SafariSeat taps into this population segment as the wheelchair provides access to education, employment and a life outside of the confinements of their own home.

The SafariSeat works with levers, which enable a pumping motion to drive the chair forward. The use of the pump improves the biomechanical efficiency, and provides easy use for the individual, as the top can be gripped for power or the bottom gripped for speed. The SafariSeat uses a “unique feature” to keep all four wheels on the ground, at all times, while maneuvering over rough terrain. The chair mimics car suspensions, thus providing ultimate stability.

It is hard to believe how such a revolutionary product can be made at a low cost and high opportunity for accessibility. The SafariSeat does this by a design that allows for the chair to be produced in a basic workshop, using bicycle components. This allows for easy and affordable repair. By locally manufacturing the chair, the costs are significantly reduced and a direct line of communication is provided for the user and manufacturer, thus enabling custom modifications.

The social enterprise team, Uji, is a four-person unit, with the idea generating from personal experiences of Janna. He grew up in Kenya and while studying at university, an accident resulted to a 3-month wheelchair confinement. This experience opened his eyes to the lives of disabled individuals in Kenya, specifically, the life of a man Letu, whom Janna met as a child.

Letu was disabled by polio, and thus lived in isolation. Janna’s personal wheelchair experience allowed him to step into the life of Letu, and the hardships that accompany disability in a developing country. This is the foundation for SafariSeat, as Uji seeks to develop tools that will help people lift themselves out of the poverty cycle.

Photo by Mark Navin from his experience to empower disabled African women

Uji is inspiration in their mission, and its application. They used the experience of Janna to develop the thesis that in order to comprehend a problem, it needs to be experienced first-hand. They seek to understand the specific problems that the product user will face, thus they fully immerse themselves in the lives of these disabled individuals.

The Uji team spent months living with Letu, and others living with disabilities. They did not end their first-hand knowledge here. As they developed their product, they returned to these people to receive their feedback in order to properly modify the design to best fit their needs, and they continue with this process today.

Photo by Robert Leyland of Stand Proud

Today, SafariSeat has 1,551 backers, who have pledged £90,036 to the project. Through SafariSeat, this community is combating the issue of 1 in 200 disabled people in East Africa needing a wheelchair; 98 percent of disabled youth in these developing countries are unable to go to school and those using existing wheelchairs face difficulties in repairing them and find these chairs impractical in rough terrain. SafariSeat is innovative and desperately needed in developing countries.

Finding a great humanitarian cause on Kickstarter proved to me the good in people around the world. With the magnitude of backers for SafariSeat, it is evident that the product has received support and people who share a caring for helping those in need. Considering the materialist world we find ourselves in, it is heartening to see how many individuals would rather spend their money on a product to benefit others, instead of purchasing the latest watch or other product trending.

SafariSeat is revolutionary for the disabled community, and can transform the lives of these individuals in developing countries. Congratulations Uji, you are improving the quality of life for so many individuals and found a community to help you do so.

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