Made In Africa Mobility Lab began in Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design, but is the result of partnerships with many stakeholders in both Canada and Africa—specifically, Uganda. This project was born out of the philosophy to “design for the other 90%”, which is based on the premise that professional design most often caters to the most affluent 10% of the world’s population.
As such, this project has concerned itself with improving the lives of persons with disabilities in rural Uganda through collaborative design. This project is not about simply importing mobility aids to those who might benefit from them, but instead aims to develop designs with the specific environment, needs, and community in mind. What is perhaps most unique about this project is that its designs are created with the intention of being constructed by local artisans in the community they will be used in.
For the purposes of this project, that community has been the Kasese region in western Uganda, though with the release of the designs in open-source format, the design team hopes these designs will be able to be used in other regions experiencing similar challenges related to poverty and disability in the future.