Page 30 - ABILITY Magazine -Cedric Yarbrough Issue

Cooper: I like the school element a lot. Very good. Who are they selling the devices to? I’m missing that part.
Hey: Right.
Hey: They create the Simple Seats, and then sell them to the ULSA at a profit, and they then sell the product to their connections. They could sell them to the local disability community, but if they want—
Cooper: What I like is, if you’re teaching them a trade, maybe there are other products they could think about manufacturing to sell to a broader market.
Cooper: But if people with disabilities, landmine sur- vivors, or those who have a mobility issue are already having a problem financially, who has the money to buy them? It’s really hard to market a product, let alone have enough profit built into it. Have you worked that out with the network you’re talking about?
Hey: Absolutely. When they go to vocational school and learn how to build the latrine aids, they’ll go through six months of carpentry training and metal working and come out of it with skills they can use to start a busi- ness. And then when the ULSA comes to them and says, “We know of 10 people who want to buy these,” they can produce 10 Simple Seats.
Hey: That’s one of the biggest challenges and the biggest design limitations: making it as low-cost as possible so everybody can afford it.
Cooper: Or something else?
Cooper: The problem is, if you make it too low-cost, then the people making it don’t have enough profit to be an entrepreneur.
Hey: Yes. The seat can be customizable, too. The ULSA is about 10 volunteers, but that makes it very personable, because they’re going to these places throughout Uganda and meeting with the actual people who need the devices.
Hey: Right. There’s a give and take, and the mediator is going to be the ULSA. They’re making sure the sur- vivors have what they need, but are also getting as much as they can for the system.
Cooper: Is there training at a given site? Do they go to a certain village or region and say, “We’re going to open up and provide X number of days of training?”
Cooper: Sell it on a sliding scale, then?
Hey: Right now we’re starting with a pilot program, which is 10 landmine survivors. That’ll be at a private school called Ave Maria Vocational Training and Youth Development Centre. If it scales and is successful, we’re
Simple Seat, Better Lives current low-cost, accessible seating prototype
30 ABILITY