Scientific Animations Without Borders is a University of Illinois-based initiative dedicated to the development and deployment of animated educational materials that can be used to better the lives of people in developing nations.
Currently, there exist a number of innovative solutions in the scientific literature that can help the poorest people on the planet. However, much of this is in a form, e.g., articles in scientific journals, that the true target audience cannot easily access due to a variety of barriers, such as literacy level.
Our goal is to increase accessibility of important development, health and environmental sustainability information to the approximately one billion low-literate learners on the planet that are in need of this important knowledge.
We have proposed that by using animations, one can create a learning tool that can be voice-overed in any language, delivered through the Internet to most places on the planet, and then viewed and shared on cell phones and other electronic devices on the ground. The animations are developed through a virtual network of collaborators located in different parts of the planet.
Our goal is to create these materials and share them with other groups that can develop innovative deployment strategies.
SAWB collaborates closely with on-site field educators in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
Videos Include:
Solar treating of cowpeas
- Cowpea bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus) cause damage to cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds in storage, resulting in post-harvest losses. In the animated video, which can be used on smart phones, we describe a solarization technique to kill cowpea bruchids before the seeds are stored.
Natural Insecticide from Neem Seeds
- Naturally occurring insecticidal compounds can be extracted from neem seeds and sprayed onto crops to prevent pest insect damage. This 2 minute and 33 second animation explains how to sort neem fruits, dry them, remove their outer shells, sort the seeds, grind them, mix the powder in water, filter the mixture, and then prepare the solution necessary for spraying on the crops.
Triple bagging: a safe way to store cowpea seeds to prevent bruchid damage
- Cowpea bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus) can cause significant damage to cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds in storage. Instead of using chemical pesticides to control these bruchids, this animation shows the use of hermetic sealing of plastic bags (triple bagging) to minimize pest damage over long-term (multiple months) storage of the cowpea seeds. This allows farmers to save their seeds for a time when this commodity has a higher market value. This allows for safe storage of the cowpeas without the use of pesticides. In the video, which can be used on smart phones, we describe the steps needed for hermetically sealing cowpea seeds in a series of plastic bags. The two inner bags are for hermetic sealing and the outer third bag, which is made of woven material, is used to protect the inner bags from damage. This approach can be potentially used for other stored product pests.
- Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by bacteria known as Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms of this disease are diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission of cholera primarily occurs by consumption of contaminated food or drinking water. In the video, which can be used on smart phones, we describe several techniques that can be used to help prevent cholera, including methods of treating water, washing of hands, and seeking medical advise if/when one has the symptoms of cholera.
Videos in various languages are posted at Sustainable Development Virtual Knowledge Interface (SusDeViKISM)
- SusDeViKISM is an online journal and international community for sharing refereed educational materials that are targeted toward low-literate learners in impoverished settings to enable sustainable development.