In class, we read a case study about Shova Kalula, a program designed to provide bicycles to children who live more than an hour walk from school. One of the problems with the program was that parents or grandparents were using the bikes for their own purposes (carrying food purchases for the family) and the kids were still walking over an hour to school.
One of the more creative suggestions on how to fix this problem was to make all the bikes one color (say yellow) and then make it a cultural norm that only kids ride yellow bikes. It reminded me of the various things that are fady (Malagasy word meaning taboo) in Madagascar. If it were fady for an adult to ride a yellow bike, the children would no longer have the problem of their bikes being appropriated by their families.
The more creative solutions to problems are often the most effective. Here's another example of a creative solution to a problem: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=584
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