A case of grassroots innovation: Kitte and his vehicle

#motivation,  #inspiration,  #innovation,  #mudombi, #shakespear

This story was first published on the Motivational Convergency blog 


Author: Shakespear Mudombi

Type:Story

Date: 13 November 2015

A brief highlight of Kitte's life

Kitte, the traveller, the innovator

This is a story about Kitte, the traveller who I met on a beautiful Sunday in Pretoria, South Africa on the 26th April 2015. Kitte is his name, a nickname used since childhood both at school and home. His name and contact phone number are written on his vehicle. This vehicle is the subject of this story, however, to set the context clear it is crucial to briefly highlight the life of Kitte. Kitte enjoys travelling and he identifies himself as such.

How did I meet Kitte?

A cousin of mine had visited me so when he was going back to his place of residence, I had to take him half way to where he gets his transport, that is Marabastad - a place of history, stories both interesting and some frightening. So on our way we met Kitte, he had parked his vehicle  on a road that was still under construction in downtown Pretoria (slightly out of the city centre). As the day was a Sunday it was not very busy, most of the people who were walking-by were mainly coming from church, or going about winding off their weekend. Moreover, the mood was relaxed because the next day, Monday was a holiday - the Freedom Day, which is an important day in South Africa's history. The day is celebrated to mark the liberation of the country and its people from a long period of colonialism and White minority domination.

After seeing Kitte parked at that place I wondered a bit why he had chosen that particular place. There were no many shops except a hair saloon and a small spazza 'grocery' shop that were open. However after a brief chat with Kitte, I got to know that the reason for his journey to Pretoria from Johannesburg was to go the High Court. He indicated that there were issues that needed to be sorted out at the highest court. That is why he was parked in this area - that's where the courts of law are situated. I had not carried my iPad with me for taking notes so I could not properly capture all of what Kitte was saying. The issue that he wanted at the High Court was to seek a redress on a property (a building, an inherited one I think) of which he has not been getting rental money. The High Court was gonna help him sort out the issue so that he could start getting the money. He was so hopefull that if the rental issue is sorted, he will get a lot of money from the rent that has been accruing for the last 15 years. I did not probe further to find out if the papers were already lodged with the High Court or if he was going to initiate the process that time.

Kitte though he is approaching old age (I forgot to ask him his age) he indicated that he does not have any children and wife because he can't afford to support them. Nonetheless, he was optimistic that when he gets the lump sum rent money from the high court settlement, he hoped that he will marry and have children. With the money he will buy a car and a caravan, and as a traveller will go see places, in particular visit game reserves to see wild animals - this he will do with his future wife. Of interest also was the brief discussion about his other favorite livelihood activity. He enjoys fishing and usually goes to Port Elizabeth to do fishing. As he does not own a boat, he hires one, after a catch, he shares the proceeds with the owner of the boat based on a proportion of 40% to Kitte and 60% to the owner of the hired boat.

In brief that is the life of Kitte. I enjoy talking and interacting with people such as Kitte because their life stories are rich, full of lessons, they are fascinating. Over the years I have learnt that inspiring life stories come from both widely acknowledged successful people, who are regarded highly by society. Nevertheless, powerful stories also come from people like Kitte as well. Such people are often despised by society as failures because they would not have reached the standards of success as defined by society, such standard mainly calibrated on a financial and asset ownership scale. In as much as I don't argue against such ways of evaluating people's success, I have to come to realize that success in life as measured by such measures alone are exclusionary, they exclude people that have achieved in their own right. Such is a story of Kitte, people often not understood by society, they do things differently - they are not part of the general. Interesting is Kitte's story when you listen to him, more interesting as well is his  "vehicle", the one I mentioned at the beginning of the story that it is the subject of this story. I will call the vehicle the "scooter mobilehouse".

Kitte's scooter mobilehouse

Kitte on his vehicle

The description of the vehicle

8 horsepower concrete mixer engine powering Kitte's vehicle

From my own assessment, Kitte is an innovator par excellence, his "scooter mobilehouse",  otherwise referred to herein as the vehicle - is a an elongated vehicle with a front that is taken from a scooter and three wheels at the back. The elongation is because there is a small bed - it is his house as well, hence why I called it the "scooter mobilehouse". It is a combination of different parts some recovered from the garbage sites. Kitte's vehicle travels at a speed of up to 25 km per hour powered by an 8 horsepower concrete mixer engine salvaged from the scrap yard. Some of the things that can be seen carried on the vehicle include a paraffin stove, fishing line, pots, water containers, and blankets.

The need to embrace innovation

I believe for Africa and other developing countries to prosper, grassroots innovation is more important. The reasons being that grassroots innovation uses mainly locally available resources and material which are usually cheap and easily accessible. Kitte used thrown away pieces and parts to build his "scooter mobilehouse". The fact that this vehicle can take Kitte from point A to point B, is a sure fact that it is fulfilling a need. Kitte travelled from Johannesburg to Pretoria to sort out his issue at the high court. This vehicle provides him with transport and accommodation (though not secure).  As he is able to meet his goal of travelling in an affordable transport means - is an achievement on its own. Regardless of how the vehicle looks, it's meeting and fulfilling some of Kitte's needs. The ingenuity is not the vehicle per se but in being able to design and make a vehicle from scrap (otherwise useless material).

Shakes trying to understand from Kitte how the vehicle works

The point I am trying to make and the significance of this story is that there are many people like Kitte, able and innnovative, who with the necessary support from various stakeholders are able to contribute in finding solutions to some of the challenges nagging development practitioners the world over. In a paper I co-authored with my professor (Prof Mammo Muchie, an innovation professor), that was published in the Innovation and Development Journal, we noted that,

"African governments and other stakeholders should aim at developing and enforcing strong institutions that are conducive for innovation especially innovation activities that seek to overcome widespread poverty and underdevelopment. On that account, the promotion of grassroots innovation is essential."

Kudzai Makwanya (my cousin) marvelling at Kitte's vehicle

Kitte made his vehicle from discarded material, with few resources and limited support. Such innovators are often excluded from the formal innovation system - they are grassroots, underground, hidden innovators. I believe with the necessary support, many innovators like Kitte will contribute more meaningfully in society. An interesting aspect that I picked from the brief chat with Kitte, is that he is full of hope and optimism - nowadays, these attributes are generally scarce in many people. Being hopeful and optimistic provide the critical impetus, which I believe is the driving force that enable us to want to get to the next day, the belief that tomorrow has its on promises and truly our dreams are gonna be achieved.

Stories of high-tech, advanced innovation are interesting and of great impact, nonetheless these stories are usually  over written - every newspaper, small and big want to carry such stories. However, of value as well, are stories such as that of Kitte, without the glitz and glamour in the story itself or the innovation per se, there is something shining or that has potential to shine if polished - that ability to do things, the process to create, to modify and make something fit for purpose, to meet a particular need. There are lots of Kittes around the world, a valuable resource - the rough diamonds. If they are not discovered they remain buried in the ground and of less value. Nevertheless, if discovered they can be polished to bring out the giltz, the shining, the sparkle, the value embedded within. Now is the time not to  only rely on already polished gems, there is need to discover and identify the unpolished ones too. They can be polished through creating an enabling environment and providing them with the necessary support. That is the story of Kitte.

Safe journey and all the best Kitte, the traveller, the underground innovator !!!

References

Shakespear Mudombi & Mammo Muchie. 2014. An institutional perspective to challenges undermining innovation activities in Africa, Innovation and Development. DOI: 10.1080/2157930X.2014.921272