Rob Beschizza
Gear

Solar Panels and Portable Prefabs: Life in Rural Mongolia

Jaspel Sandhu is a product design engineer who, for whatever, reason, found himself in rural mongolia. The photo speaks for itself: add spacesuits and a red filter, and we have our first martian prefab, circa 2080, complete with cartoon soap opera and laugh track. Sandhu is, in fact, engaged a the worthwhile project, helping improve […]

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Jaspel Sandhu is a product design engineer who, for whatever, reason, found himself in rural mongolia. The photo speaks for itself: add spacesuits and a red filter, and we have our first martian prefab, circa 2080, complete with cartoon soap opera and laugh track.

Sandhu is, in fact, engaged a the worthwhile project, helping improve the effectiveness and mobility of nurses in the remote Bulgan district. The solar panels power short-wave radios used by nurses to communicate with district centers.

"Child and maternal mortality rates are comparatively high for a country of Mongolia's wealth and resources, and concern about keeping pastoral families healthy is part of what spurred the government to explore the use of high-tech equipment, including PDAs for field nurses."

Among other gear used by the Gobi's nomadic herdsmen are satellite dishes and small wind turbines. A single mill, on the windswept desert, can power the lights and TV inside a ger tent. And you know what? I bet they get faster broadband than we do, too.

Life in Rural Mongola [News.com]