Since 2013, MIT D-Lab has been working with Thabiso "Blak" Mashaba, co-founder and CEO of These Hands GSSE in Botswana, who first engaged with D-Lab through an International Development Design Summit in Zambia. A social enterprise that trains and supports grassroots innovators, These Hands has established innovation centers and programs in rural villages throughout Botswana – in D'kar, Rakops, Dutlwe, Kaputura, and in Lesoma, a village in the Northwest District of the country with a population of 410 (as of the last census in 2001).
At the Lesoma innovation center, a project exploring the use of crushed Mumbaimbai seed pods for laundry detergent begun seven years ago, is now bearing fruit for the community: on September 25th, the Lesoma Innovation Center team, alongside seven other Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) projects, was recognized and celebrated by the government of Botswana. For the Lesoma community, that recognition came with an award $100,000 from the Botswana Innovation Fund to develop and commercialize what will be Botswana's first organic washing powder from the Mombaimbai tree pods.
The project was originally identified in 2018 during a D-Lab Creative Capacity Building workshop in Lesoma. Over the years, with Lesoma community member Ernest GB Gobuiwamang leading the way, the community has worked with participants at International Development Design Summits, as well as with students from the Botswana International University of Science & Technology and MIT D-Lab.
Mashaba describes the project as a "seven-year story of resilience, self Development and hard work."
More information
MIT D-Lab student blog post: Botswana: Creative Capacity Building and redesigning a Mumbaimbai seed pod crusher
MIT Community Partner in the news: Founders Spotlight: Thabiso Mashaba, Co-Founder, These Hands GSSE
MIT D-Lab community partner: These Hands GSSE
Contact
Thabiso "Blak" Mashaba, Co-founder and CEO, These Hands