5 Entrepreneurs Find Enterprising Solutions to Poverty

According to the World Bank, of the world's 6.2 billion people, 1.2 billion live on less than $1 per
day and nearly 3 billion live on less than $2 a day. More than half the world's population would
be considered impoverished and with poverty comes hunger, disease, lack of proper shelter
and education. Too often these problems seem too large to overcome but thankfully some ingenious entrepreneurs have decided to take social responsibility into their own hands.

Here are some examples of how these visionary entrepreneurs are helping to end world
poverty, one step at a time.

1. Blake Mycoskie is Donating Shoes - Preventing Injury and Disease

At 29 years of age, Blake Mycoskie is a seasoned entrepreneur having started four companies previous to his most recent venture. While on a trip to Argentina, Blake visited a village in which many of the local children were without proper footware. This lack of protection left many children susceptible to injuries and infection. Blake anwsered this problem by starting Toms Shoes where a new pair of shoes would be donated to children in need all over the world with every pair of shoes sold.

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2. Shri D. R. Mehta and the Jaipur Foot - Helping People Walk Again

In 1969 Mr. Mehta was at risk of losing a leg. Mr. Mehta's operating surgeons not only helped save his leg and life but this experience brought him into contact with many people, who because of injury or disease had lost their feet or legs. In 1975 Mr. Mehta founded the Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) which is now the largest artificial limb and caliper fitting organization in the world, and has benefited more than one million people with their services since inception. The BMVSS fits about 20,000 artifical limbs and 20,000 polio calipers and other aids and appliances, serving between 65,000 and 70,000 patients every year from their centers and mobile camps in India and abroad. BMVSS continues R&D in this area, with the support of partners such as Stanford, MIT, ISRO, and Dow Chemicals.

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3. Kamal Quadir is Improving Commerce via Cheap Cell Phones with CellBazaar

In developing countries, farmers and merchants must often walk for hours or days to reach to the nearest market to sell their products or goods, often without knowing the current prices or best place to sell. CellBazaar connects buyers and sellers in an electronic marketplace over their cell phones. It addresses one of the most significant challenges to everyday life in developing economies–buying and selling basic goods without reliable access to computers or the internet. With CellBazaar, users in Bangladesh use their cell phones to check market prices and buy and sell products without needing to make long, expensive trips to facilitate transactions.

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4. Dr. G. Venkataswamy and the Aravind Eye Care System - Helping the Blind See Again

About a quarter of the world's blind population lives in India and most of these cases are reversible or curable. Dr. G. Venkataswamy wanted to find a way to bring eye care to the masses and in 1976 founded the Aravind Eyecare System. Since its foundation, the Aravind Eyecare System has been successfully restoring eyesight to millions of people annually through outpatient eye care and eye surgeries. The Aravind Eye Hospital began in Madurai in a rented house with 11 hospital beds. Today Aravind is now the largest and most productive eye care facility in the world.

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5. Adriaan Mol and BushProof are Bringing Clean Water to War Torn Regions

1 billion people live without access to clean water; 5000 children around the world die each day from waterborne illnesses. For-profit firm Bushproof is developing fast, low-cost, sustainable approaches to bringing safe drinking water to poor people. Ingenious designs such as the Canzee Pump are simple, reliable, and easy to maintain, and bring access to clean water even to remote or war torn regions.