1/1/09 - Making a Mortar and Pestle

Our InvenTeam's New Year's Eve festivities included making a mortar and pestle similar to those used to thresh sorghum in Sub-Saharan Africa.



Adrianna spreading cement at the bottom of the pot.



Marissa and Tyler cutting a wooden holder for a tube and ball that will serve as a mold. The tube and ball, if suspended in the middle of the cement, will create a perfect shape on the inside of the mortar.



Gina, Phyllis, and Mr. Moser working on the last bits of cement for the mortar.



The mortar all set, drying the night away!



All done!

11/3/08 - Sorghum 101 with Jeff Dahlberg

11/3/2008-

The true turning point in our project came in the form of a Skype call.

Dr. Jeff Dahlberg from the National Sorghum Producers graciously offered hours of his time to teach us all about sorghum. He gave us more insight and information that could never have been obtained through the means of books and internet searches. He spoke about his time working with the Peace Corps, the use of sorghum, and the need for a manual thresher in developing countries. In addition, he invited us to the American Seed Trade Association's Seed Expo.



One of the most important things we learned is that sorghum is eaten by the poorest of the poor in developing countries - other grains such as corn and rice are far too expensive for the people who need the most aid.



After our Skype call, we decided that our primary focus was to build a manual sorghum and millet thresher to aid women in Sub-Saharan Africa, who spend many long, arduous hours engaged in the tedious process of threshing sorghum and millet by mortar and pestle.

Emboldened with a much more specific vision of what to design and build, we set about the next stages of the project with determination.