*: Mothers of Invention

There is a well-known saying, “Necessity (ضرورت) is the mother of invention (اختراع).” It means that when there is a problem, you are forced (مجبور) to find an answer.
For six years there has been a contest (مسابقه) organized by the car company, Toyota. The contest is called, “Mothers of Invention”. The contest gives awards (جایزه) to women in the world who find answers to the world's biggest problems. Now let's read about a few of the winners.
Please remember: The important thing is not who won the contest. The important thing is that anyone can think and find answers to even the biggest problems! We just need to be willing to try. And if we fail (شکست), we need to be willing to try again and again!

1) Clean water.
For every seven people in the world, one of those seven people does not have clean water.

Now, name 10 things you cannot do without clean water.
Now, google “people without clean water” and then click “images”. What do the pictures make you feel?

One of the women who won the “Mothers of Invention” award is named Sarah. She started a non-profit company called “Well Aware” in Africa. To start the company, she left her job as a lawyer. Then she sold her house and her car and used the money to drill water wells for villages in Kenya. The company also gives villagers the way to harvest (collect) rain water. Every project “Well Aware” does, begins by working with the local community members. Sarah says working with the local community is what makes their work is successful. Why do you think it is important to work with the local community?
Once there is clean water, women and children can go to school (and not spend all day walking for water). People's food supply improves, their health improves, and the joy of living increases.

You can find out more:

HERE

2) Clean water after disasters.
When weather disasters (فاجعه) destroy homes and communities (اجتماع), one of the first needs is for clean drinking water. A woman named Tricia invented a backpack (کوله پشتی) that purifies (پاک کردن) water. It is called, the Day One Response (واکنش) backpack.

Each backpack can help a family of 4 people for two months. The packs are very light weight and so they can be shipped around the world easily. So far Tricia's backpacks have been sent to more than 50 million people in 20 countries.

You fill the backpack with dirty water and add a small packet of chemical powder (پودر شیمیایی) that purifies the water. Then you shake (تکان دادن) the backpack, or walk with it on your back 5-10 minutes. The unclean elements (عنصر) go to the bottom of the water. A tube (لوله) lets you to get the clean water from the top.

You can find out more:

HERE

3) Cleanliness (طهارت) for all.
Every human being deserves (استحقاق داشتن) to be clean. No one wants to be dirty. No one wants to live on the street. It makes a person feel less than human.

A woman named Doniece walked past lots of homeless people on her way to work. One day she saw a young woman on the street, crying. The woman was saying over and over again, “I will never be clean! I will never be clean!” Doniece felt so sorry for the woman. She wanted to do something. She knows people need food and shelter (پناه), but they also need to be clean. Unless you are clean you cannot find a job, you cannot find someone who will give you a room to live in. So Doniece had an idea. She went to the city government and asked them to give her an old bus. She and friends who are engineers (مهندس) turned it into a “moving” shower and toilet. She now has 4 buses. Each bus has 2 showers and 2 toilets. She and friends drive the buses to the poorest areas of the city and let people take a shower and use the toilet. Each year the buses give over 50,000 showers to homeless people.

You can find out more:

HERE

4) Electricity from playing soccer!

In many, many places in the world there is no electricity (برق) or very little electricity. One out of 5 people on earth live without electricity! Think of 10 things you could not do if you did not have electricity.

What if children could make electricity by playing with a soccer ball?! This is the amazing (شگفت انگیز) idea that two young women had. Their names are Jessica and Julia. They created (ايجاد كردن) a soccer ball that has a small motor (موتور) inside. As children play with the ball, the motor creates electricity and stores (ذخیره کردن) the electricity in a small battery (باتری). After 30 minutes of playing with the ball, there is enough battery power to turn on a small light for 3 hours or to charge a cell phone!

What if there were more things that were both fun and practical?!

You can find out more

HERE

5) English at Work.
When you have to move to a new country, life is very, very difficult until you can speak the language. It is hard to find work or friends. It is hard to shop for food or clothes. And to become a citizen of a new country, you must speak the language.
     Many people from other countries who live in the U.S. work long hours at jobs that do not pay very well. They want to improve (بهتر کردن) and get better jobs, but they have little time to study. When they get home at night they are too tired to study.
     So a woman named Maile came up with a very simple and practical (عملی) answer.

Maile teaches English to immigrants (مهاجر). She went to the places where they work—in restaurants and in clothing factories. She asked the bosses (رئيس) of those businesses if she could teach English at work! She told the bosses that if his workers spoke better English, their work would improve. To be able to go to an English class at work made it easier (آسان تر) for the students. They did not have to find their way to another place. They could learn when they were not so tired.
It worked! Very soon, the students were speaking better English and their work improved. They were more confident and happier. And their bosses were happy!

Find out more.

HERE

6) Food for all.
Food and water are the most basic human rights. No human should be hungry. But did you know that there is now more than enough food in the world to feed everyone without growing more? The problem is, that almost half of the food in the world never gets eaten. It spoils (از بین بردن) or it gets thrown away.

A woman named Komal knew there had to be a way to get food that was not being used to people who needed it. To do that she invented a phone app called Copia. When a restaurant, school, or grocery store has food they cannot use, they put all the information on the Copia internet site: how much food they have, what kind of food it is, and where they are located (قرار دادن). Then Copia matches the supply (عرضه) with the need (نیاز). Copia finds where the food can be used and who is free to volunteer (داوطلب) to pick it up and deliver (تحویل دادن) it.
Every month, Copia sends a letter to the people who donated food to show how many people they fed and how many pounds of food was saved from being wasted.

You can find out more:

HERE

7) Portable home for the homeless.
A woman named Tina was upset ( ناراحت ) by all the people who sleep on the street at night in her city. Tina is an engineer. And she also loves to do origami (اریگامی). She put the 2 together and designed a shelter ( پناه ) for homeless ( خانه به دوش ) people out of cardboard (مقوا).

The cardboard folds up like paper so it can be moved easily. It is also painted with a special paint so water will not hurt it. The shelter can be folded up (برابر) and carried from place to place.

You can find out more:

HERE

8) GIRLTANK!

When people share (بخش کردن) good ideas with each other to help our world, it is sometimes called a "think tank". A tank is a large container (مخزن) you can put things in. So a "think tank" is a group of people who collect (جمع کردن) and share good ideas so other people can use those ideas.

Now there is a VERY exciting new think tank. It is a group of girls and women from over 100 countries in the world. They are called Girltank. They use the internet to connect (وصل کردن) with each other, share their ideas, and help each other.

*dare (جرات کردن)

Three young women started the project to help girls with good ideas succeed (موفق باش). They believe that girls are wonderful innovators (نوآور). They believe that girls are change makers (people who can make our world better). They believe that girls are valuable (با ارزش).

There are girls from all over the world who are the same (مشابه / یکسان ): They all have courage (شجاعت). They all want to help change the world. They have great ideas. But they do not have support (پشتیبانی).

And so, Girltank was started to help girls and women in 3 ways:

1) Girltank is an internet community (جامعه) where girls and women can share their ideas and help each other. They help girls connect (وصل کردن) with each other.

2) Girltank is a project whose purpose (هدف) is to inspire (الهام بخشیدن) girls.