Neema Mgana

Neema Mgana is a social entrepreneur, the leader of a remarkable AIDS treatment programme in Tanzania, and was the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

In an effort to foster innovative thinking on international development, Mgana co-founded the Forum for Global Action in 2006. She is currently working on her most elaborate project, the "Rural Centre of Excellence", based in the remote village of Ipuli, Tanzania. This medical centre has been made possible through an amazing web of partners, built with support from the ideas sharing network Pop!Tech. Mgana is working with the private sector, philanthropists, an architectural team, an alternative energy firm, people from the community and also from around the globe to realise the projects. Once the centre is completed in Ipuli, future projects are planned for South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda, which will be linked electronically to share information on health and best practice across the continent.

What inspired you to try to help improve the situation for people living with HIV/AIDS?

I was working in a hospital in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, and I think it just came from what I saw on a daily basis - the children and sheer numbers of people coming in for treatment for diseases which in western countries would not require a hospital visit. It was just something that I thought I could do. This was the late 90s and in Tanzania there was not a lot of talk about HIV and AIDS. A friend and I set up a communal project in rural Tanzania, and that's how it started.

How did the clinic in Ipuli come about?

About 100,000 people live in Ipuli - 15,000 of them are under five - but there is no accessible local healthcare. The nearest hospital is 80 kilometres away, and getting there involves crossing a river that can flood dangerously. I was at the Pop!Tech conference in 2005 and heard Cameron Sinclair talking about Architecture for Humanity, the charity he founded to promote architectural and design solutions to humanitarian crises. I asked what they might be able to do to help, and Cameron found a pair of French architects who were willing to come and work in Ipuli. They designed two facilities - a mother and child clinic and a health training facility, including offices, classrooms and labs. The buildings are designed using local materials and craftsmen - wooden louvres, metal gates - and have sharply slanted roofs to collect rainwater for the centre. The project is also supported by a Boston-based engineering firm, Haley and Aldrich, and Tamarack Energy, a solar energy firm who are part funding the project and providing technical assistance for the facility's solar and wind power and water needs.

The internet is a powerful resource in humanitarian work because of its ability to match problems to people with ideas.

Something doesn't have to have already been done and doesn't have to be proven to work, but those are the ideas that get the most attention. Personally, I like to hear about people who are thinking of new ways of doing things. It is about passion, people can sense how dedicated you are by the way you are and I think that captures a lot of people's attention.

I am trying to bring to the forefront women and their role in the development in Africa. I am working on a project with a woman from Seattle and we asked young people across Africa to help us promote women's leadership at a national level. We expected two or three responses, but 180 people have signed up. And this is all done via the internet.

I think people want to help and are looking for a vehicle to express that and to improve people's lives. That can be giving money, but there are other ways of doing things, such as getting involved in smaller projects. Community-based organisations, especially in Africa, are the ones that are really making a difference - men and women who may not have a lot, but are helping their neighbours. I really think that if people want to help and to see things happening they need to engage at the community level.

Sometimes, it is difficult to find these organisations. I am constantly looking to find them, and that is why the African Regional Youth Initiative was set up, so that we would know what organisations were out there. One of the reasons we created the database was to get to know our neighbours and how we can work with them, instead of competing or working with individuals, how can we pool our resources and knowledge? So far, it has been fantastic.

I see the internet taking on a vital role in the fight against AIDS. I think the ability to hear people, see people, have those who are affected document their experience on the internet for the world to see bridges differences and creates an understanding of what this disease is all about. It moves beyond being a statistic to hearing, listening and seeing people giving their stories. I think that is a powerful step in the right direction.

www.poptech.org
www.africaninitiative.org/af
www.architectureforhumanity.org