Appropriate Technology as Craft

Before I met Dr. Larry Winiarski I was a boat builder, but I had already realized that my love for making boats was mostly supported by rich people. And when my friends and I built a 36’ ocean going sailboat it was great but after several years of exploring it started to be a bit self-serving. When Larry showed me that my carpentry skills could help him develop Rocket stoves to try to help people, I ended up being much happier.

Since Appropriate Technology is intended to be affordable, experiments do not cost very much. Low cost experiments enable anyone to improve necessary things like wood burning stoves. Using my skills to try to address a real problem was a lot more fulfilling. Including users in the process meant that I spent a lot of time with cooks and manufacturers who are the real experts. In India I lived in 18 villages working with groups of women who created the short Rocket stove now built around the world.

I wish that I had met Larry in grade school! Knowing that anything I learned could be useful would have made a big difference. Just reading and learning without an intended purpose seemed to me to be rather meaningless.

Doing experiments every day on stoves has helped me as a person. I had also made science toys and sold them at craft fairs, but again even though I loved making the crafts I ended up feeling unfulfilled just entertaining people. I wanted to do something that was more helpful. Finding a good problem to try to solve has helped me a lot. I include finding a good problem in my prayers for lots of people.

There are hundreds of good problems for folks to work on in Appropriate Technology. I’m thinking about teaching a class to local students in the hope that the meaning Larry passed on to me could work for them as well. If you would like to solve a problem, we can suggest many possibilities.

Wishing you all the best in the coming year,
Dean Still