First of all, congratulations on your initiative and for pushing through despite the challenges you’ve faced! It’s frustrating that you have so little systemic support, but it honestly makes me happy to see people still putting in the effort to do meaningful work, even when it really shouldn’t be this hard.
As for your questions, I wish I had a clear answer, but I’ve seen the same issues in Eastern Europe too, and no one seems to have figured it out yet. There is nothing more discouraging than wanting to do something, only to hit wall after wall just trying to get started. This causes people to quickly give up on their ambitions, which is a shame.
Thanks, Ande, for the kind words. I must say it is not easy, but we must keep pushing. My goal is to finally have a phage therapy centre in Nigeria, the first of its kind in Africa. However, traditional funders will not agree to fund this, and there is little or no government support. Electricity is also a problem. We keep pushing till we get it right.
It’s a shame that phage therapy is still not well known, and that makes it harder to get support.
Have you already thought about how to approach the electricity problems? I suppose a possible solution could be something like solar panels or wind turbines with batteries, although the initial cost can be quite high.
Also, I’d definitely look into as many funding ways as possible.
For scientific crowdfunding, you could look into Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Experiment. For general crowdfunding, you can use GoFundMe, and even Facebook (I think it has its own fundraising platform). You can set small but specific and concrete goals (because sometimes big, vague goals can put people off), such as buying certain equipment, fixing the electricity problems, and so on.
Ideally, in time, these smaller steps will amount to a well-running phage therapy center. :)
Wishing you resilience and success, and I’m really rooting for you!
Thank you for your encouraging words. I will keep you updated on my progress. Unfortunately, crowdfunding has not proven effective thus far. I remain open to exploring alternative strategies.
On a broader note, I believe it is high time we consider convening an Africa Progress Conference.
First of all, congratulations on your initiative and for pushing through despite the challenges you’ve faced! It’s frustrating that you have so little systemic support, but it honestly makes me happy to see people still putting in the effort to do meaningful work, even when it really shouldn’t be this hard.
As for your questions, I wish I had a clear answer, but I’ve seen the same issues in Eastern Europe too, and no one seems to have figured it out yet. There is nothing more discouraging than wanting to do something, only to hit wall after wall just trying to get started. This causes people to quickly give up on their ambitions, which is a shame.
Thanks, Ande, for the kind words. I must say it is not easy, but we must keep pushing. My goal is to finally have a phage therapy centre in Nigeria, the first of its kind in Africa. However, traditional funders will not agree to fund this, and there is little or no government support. Electricity is also a problem. We keep pushing till we get it right.
Yes, small steps, small steps.
It’s a shame that phage therapy is still not well known, and that makes it harder to get support.
Have you already thought about how to approach the electricity problems? I suppose a possible solution could be something like solar panels or wind turbines with batteries, although the initial cost can be quite high.
Also, I’d definitely look into as many funding ways as possible.
For scientific crowdfunding, you could look into Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Experiment.
For general crowdfunding, you can use GoFundMe, and even Facebook (I think it has its own fundraising platform). You can set small but specific and concrete goals (because sometimes big, vague goals can put people off), such as buying certain equipment, fixing the electricity problems, and so on.
Ideally, in time, these smaller steps will amount to a well-running phage therapy center. :)
Wishing you resilience and success, and I’m really rooting for you!
Thank you for your encouraging words. I will keep you updated on my progress. Unfortunately, crowdfunding has not proven effective thus far. I remain open to exploring alternative strategies.
On a broader note, I believe it is high time we consider convening an Africa Progress Conference.