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AIDG's 2005 Annual Report |
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Page 3 of 6
THE AIDG METHOD
Business
Incubation
The AIDG incubates micro-manufacturing
enterprises in rural industrial boundary cities in developing countries. We
form these businesses, interview and hire workers, and provide the tools,
materials and training necessary to begin producing appropriate technologies.
These businesses are nurtured into self-sufficient entities. At the end
of the 2 or 3-year incubation period they begin paying forward the money
invested into them into a fund specifically for the creation of similar
manufacturing enterprises in different regions and/or different countries. They
also provide training and technical advise to the next shop. Through this
process the bonds between shops are strengthened. Thus previous shops are not just paying into a fund but into the
livelihoods of the people they have helped train.
Infrastructure Outreach
Providing infrastructure improvements in rural areas of developing
countries for community based organizations, such as schools, orphanages, and
worker owned organizations, is one of the primary functions of the AIDG. Unlike
most development groups the AIDG accomplishes its outreach goals through its
partnership with its incubated micro-manufacturing enterprises. These projects
provide outreach but they also provide a way to train the shops on new technologies
and designs. They also provide a way of funneling additional contract work to
augment sales of the incubated business during the first few years after the
incubation period.
Education and Experimentation
The
AIDG runs three major educational programs: TecoTours, a service
learning tourism program, AIDG Interns, a hands on internship program
and AIDG Project Placement, a project design and placement program for
engineering students. TecoTours offers tours and building experience to paying
tourists who are wishing to gain exposure to appropriate technology. Our
internship program lets college and graduate students augment their studies
with in field practice. And our project placement program allows engineering
students to test their appropriate technology designs in real world conditions
and gather data on their systems.
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