Haiti FabLab Fund

Why should we spend this money on a Fablab, and not on anything else?

Fablabs aren’t going to solve any of Haiti’s immediate problems. They can’t help with distributing food or administering medicine. But Fablabs are more than just a bunch of machines sitting in a room. We’ve installed Fablabs in places as diverse as an agricultural school in rural India, community centers in innercity Boston, shantytowns in South Africa, the northernmost towns in Norway, and Jalalabad, Afghanistan. No two fablabs end up being alike.

Yogesh Kulkarni, Director of the Vigyan Ashram Fablab in Pabal, India, shows off biofuel cells while Kipp Bradford tests the solar cooker. photos by Nadya Peek.

Fablabs help people learn how to make things as much as they help people make things. Once a fablab gets through their initial training phase, it is up to them to start working on what they want. Fablabs make things as diverse as tractors, directional wifi antennas, hand-powered flashlights and chocolate boxes.

Jonathan Ward at the AS220 Fablab in Providence, Rhode Island, working with Makeda and Noah to build a low-cost milling machine for circuit boards. photos by Nadya Peek.

A Fablab in Haiti is more than a production facility for communication devices or prosthetics. It is a place where Haitians can start taking control of their education and what they want to learn. It is our way of helping Haiti rebuild Haiti.