Villagetech solutions

VillageTech Solutions (VTS) began with EcoSystems (Nepal) in 1996, to improve living standards for rural people by creating affordable energy and transport products. The first project, the WireBridge, is a human-powered monorail system. Today EcoSystems' five employees have installed 32 WireBridges in Nepal, which have carried over 2,700,000 riders without injury.

The organization was founded by David and Haydi Sowerwine in 1996. In 2007, VillageTech Solutions (VTS) will became the global umbrella organization for Ecosystems Nepal. [http://www.ecosystemsnepal.com/projects.php] VillageTech Solutions is based in Nepal and the US and is dedicated to supporting people and ideas which can better the lives of people in developing countries. VTS is a finalist in the World Bank's Lighting Africa [http://lightingafrica.org/] project.

VTS’s latest initiative is a pedal generator and battery storage and distribution system that incorporates elements of sustainable energy, appropriate technology and promises to light homes and schools and provide local sustainable business opportunities with the assistance of microfinance institutions.

WireBridge Project

VTS supports the building of WireBridges in developing countries. The WireBridge is a low-cost monorail-like aerial ‘roadway'. This aerial roadway offers all-weather transport, requires little maintenance, poses no threat to children, uses no fossil fuel, provides low-skill jobs, and costs less than a good conventional bridge. The WireBridge is adapted from a business “best practice” transport systems developed by and used almost exclusively by the global banana industry.

At each end of a bridge stands a tall steel post. The ends of the WireBridge are at exactly the same height. A carriage, holding up to five or six people plus goods, hangs from wheels which roll on the wires suspended between the posts. Passengers and bystanders pull the carriage with a rope.

Building a bridge first requires a site survey that includes terrain, traffic levels, other crossing options, supply of local labor and maintenance. In addition, VTS requires that there be significant and demonstrable benefits to local villages in the categories of health, education, commerce, and social integration.

New Activities: Renewable Energy Systems

The EcoPower ProjectVillageTech Solutions developed and supports the installation of EcoSystems’ Pedal Generators and distribution systems. This project provides a practical source of clean and renewable energy that can reach even the last house on the mountain. The PedalGenerator is a comfortable recumbent ‘cycle’ that when pedaled produces 70 watts of energy captured by a 12V battery. The simple delivery system uses common rechargeable 6 V batteries that can be carried easily from the generator to the home, school or other remote location. The result is 2 hours of light each night for 200 homes for up to two weeks before the battery needs to be recharged. The generators and power distribution systems are now being field tested thanks to an award from the "World Bank".

ources

* [http://go.worldbank.org/9OUDC4LVG0 EcoSystems Pvt. Ltd. awarded $160,702 for PedalPower70 in 2006] Development Marketplace, The World Bank
* [http://www.almanacnews.com/story.php?story_id=3695 Menlo Park couple brings low-tech solutions for wire bridges and pedal-powered electricity to villagers in Nepal] Marion Softky, The Almanac online, 2007-02-28
* [http://www.techawards.org/laureates/stories/index.php?id=052 2003 Economic Development Award Laureate] The Tech Museum Awards, The Tech Museum of Innovation
* [http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm0305/social_entrep.shtml Moving Goods Through Nepal's Fragile Countryside] David Sowerwine, Stanford Business Magazine, 2003-05