From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996 00:28:44 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: SOUP KITCHENS (fwd)
In-Reply-To: <199608031110.GAA12116@einstein>
Message-ID: <v03007802ae2a59dc5ea5@[206.119.69.46]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 12:55 AM -0400 8/4/96, Alan Horowitz wrote:
> Famine and inadequate nourishment does weaken the stamina and
> survivability of individuals in the Third World, but the main problem is
> non-access to (what we consider to be) simple, basic medical modalities.
> Untold numbers of African babies die of not-very-virulent diseases,
> because they becomes fatally dehydrated. In the West, these babies
> revieve IV fluids which carries them over the critical period. In a
> village that is three days walk to a bus which takes 16 hours to get to a
> clinic that has IV needles and sterile fluids, the baby WILL die.

Actually, it's really a question more of information than transportation.
The, heh, solution to diaherrea-induced dehydration -- like the kind you
get from Cholera -- is a very simple mixture of sugar, salt, and water.
This (and, of course, the proper construction of the sanatation facilities
which caused the Cholera to begin with) is just the kind of information
which the internet can carry.

All we need is a few more cycles of Moore's law and a bunch of
microsattelite-based internet routers...

And, of course, the microcurrency system to pay for it all. :-).

It would certainly be cheaper than "Peace" Corps ecotourism...

Cheers,
Bob Hettinga



-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com)
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"'Bart Bucks' are not legal tender."
                -- Punishment, 100 times on a chalkboard,
                       for Bart Simpson
The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/