In March, Dawn posted about Mohammed Bah Abba's "Pot-in-Pot" refrigerator design, used in Northern Nigeria. This week, SciDev.net brings us a lengthy article about the proliferation of the Pot-in-Pot in Darfur, Sudan. Known locally as the "zeer," they are being produced by the Women's Association for Earthenware Manufacturing. Use of the zeer reduces waste for the (mostly) women who sell vegetables in the local markets, thereby increasing their income.
One disturbing aspect of the article, however: it's written by an employee of the local development organization underwriting the manufacturing of the zeer, and nowhere in the article does it even mention the humanitarian disaster in Darfur. Since the mass slaughter of civilians targets one particular ethnic community, one can only conclude that the productive, positive folks quoted in the article are of the dominant group, not the targeted group. This is not to assume or assert that they support or participate in the massacres -- nonetheless, the juxtaposition is unsettling.
