Body in Motion

On our way back from the Lake of Stars music festival last weekend, we passed a friend’s broken down pickup by the side of the road. Having already made ample use of jumper cables at the aid of those with less energetic car batteries, we stopped in the name of good karma.

We picked up a local mechanic in a nearby town and brought him back to the truck to take a look. Within a couple of seconds, the mechanic found a leaking gasket and set about the repair by African gasket. A notebook cover was converted to two snug-fitting nuts on either side of the faulty gasket and got the engine running tout de suite.

When the truck’s owner asked if the replaced gasket would carry him 3+ hours back to Lilongwe, the mechanic asked “Today?”

By the time we were loaded back into our car and getting back into the road, our friend’s engine had already died again. We left him in good hands and well on the way to another African gasket.

Getting by in Africa is all about appropriate technology — although the African gasket wasn’t featured in the exhibit I saw over the summer at New York on Design for the Other 90%. I can’t imagine why not.