“Rawaya wa Bidaya” – Stories & Begninnings a Challenge to Share Stories of Service and Making

“Rawaya wa Bidaya” [UPDATE] The challenge is now live on facebook! and we’re happy to showcase our first comic: For the past twenty years, the Arab world has been undergoing major development – sponsored by governments and non-profits alike. Yet, we continuously see a gridlock in the execution of projects: much funding is held up in ever-tangled […]

The City of October 16th

October is not like many suburbs I’ve seen. I use the term “suburb” loosely; it’s at least three million people. The new UN building under construction at the end of the block had people hanging out in front of it all day, sitting on the concrete barriers protecting it from the road. Half-empty buildings looked […]

Arriving in Egypt

Landing in Cairo was certainly an interesting experience. I had never travelled outside the United States before (other than a few places by car in Canada, along the border – Windsor, Niagara Falls and Toronto), nor had I travelled alone before. At all. I had $55 with me — I had brought $60 (yes, I […]

MFA 2011

Gemsi is excited to announce that Maker Faire Africa has sponsored GEMSI’s Three Day Maker Space that will be held throughout the creative fair Oct 6, 7, 8 2011. They have also provided for a flight for one workshop host and a set of tools that is bound to make the Three Day Maker Space […]

School Factory Partnership! Tax deductible donations for all!

GEMSI is proud to announce that we have partnered up with The School Factory. The School Factory is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that creates value-creating communities and spaces that transform education. They have been supporting maker spaces, hacker spaces, coworking spaces since 2002 and their current roster of spaces extends from Jigsaw Renaissance in Seattle WA, to Pumping […]

Arab American White House Delegation Inspires Egyptian Maker Space Project

This post documents the birth of my current project. You can read about it here in this grant proposal to USAID. Last Wednesday I had the privilege of attending a meeting between Arab American business and representatives from the White House, including people from USAID and the U.S. Small Business Administration. It really seems like the current administration […]