Asad Moten: Empowering People Through Technology

Cambridge, MA, December 13, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Asad Moten laid down the prototypes of various appropriate technologies on his bed of his small dorm room. His study table has piles of grant applications, designs for new technologies including a cheap AIDS detection device, and emails from students worldwide. This is the International headquarters of World Aid Organization (WAO), a nonprofit organization that is committed to mobilizing college students to empower communities worldwide by engaging them in international public service, appropriate technology development and transfer, and education dissemination.

Asad Moten developed WAO after spending three weeks leading water sanitation workshops in Northern Pakistan following the earthquake of 2005. Initially, he had planned to work with the Edhi foundation to deliver tents to the effected regions. However, upon arrival to Muzafarrabad, the earthquake torn region of Pakistani Kashmir, He saw thousands of people in displacement camps who had lost their homes, families, and entire communities.

"Nothing could have prepared me for the emotions that swept me when I first arrived at Muzafarrabad," says Asad Moten. He remembers, with his voice cracking, the sights of horror he witnessed there: mothers holding their dead babies, children suffering from terminal injuries and malnutrition, and a widespread feeling of hopelessness and despair. “To my shock and disbelief, many of those who had come there to help the survivors were more interested in publicity. The moment we entered Mansehra we saw huge banners telling all and sundry that a politician-in-exile is praying for the survivors.” It was at this point that Asad realized that genuine help did not come from the government or big organizations but from ordinary individuals. “The only refreshing sight was to see men and women specifically the youth from across Pakistan enthusiastically delivering aid to the really needy people against all the obstacles” says Asad with a huge smile on his face.

Problems, in the aftermath of the quake, included inadequate food, lack of clean water, and poor sanitation arrangements which in turn had led to the outbreak of cholera in these camps. Cholera was transmitted by the poor quality of available water that was infected with bacteria and was claiming many lives. An additional problem in the earthquake affected regions was that roads were in dire conditions. This made it difficult for people to reach medical facilities or doctors to reach the affected regions.

It was at this time that Asad decided to take the initiative and offer solutions from locally available supplies. He led appropriate technology demonstrations in tents across Muzafarrabad with passionate volunteers from universities across Pakistan showing people very simple ways to purify their water of the cholera bacteria. For example, one technique demonstrated merely involved the use of an old cotton cloth folded eight times as a home-made water filter.

“As soon as I came back home, I started telling my friends about my experiences in Pakistan and so many of them were interested in helping out” says Asad Moten. What happened next was quite incredible. Asad decided to use the promise of technology and the commitment of the youth he witnessed in the displacement camps of Muzafarrabad to address the needs of poor communities around the world. These ideas he culminated into a nonprofit called “World Aid Organization” or WAO. Soon thereafter, he secured a grant from the World Bank, recruited community partners, and started chapters at universities around the nation. Asad’s enthusiasm, over the years, has won him several chapters at universities around the world, countless number of community partners, and thousands of student volunteers who donate their time for the cause of international development.

For more information, please visit www.world-aid-organization.com

“World Aid Organization (WAO) has been helping communities around the world to develop and adopt appropriate technologies to address many problems. Caring for AIDS orphans, rebuilding homes after disasters, fighting hunger and poverty, providing business loans to poor women, teaching men sustainable agriculture, preventing HIV/AIDS, and educating youth are all goals of WAO.” WAO currently has chapters at several universities around the world working on several projects in countries like Uganda, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, Tanzania, Indonesia, etc.

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