 Thank you so much for sticking with us. This is still why in the morning, as always, it's a pleasure being with you today on this fine Thursday morning. My name is Ram Magoo, I'm a session of the day, and this is all about sport on tech. Let's take a look at what people are doing to, in terms of innovation in the country today and on this fine Thursday morning. I am with one individual that is trying to, you know, make things move. This is Mark Morangiri. He is a student and an innovator. Yeah, thanks. How are you doing? I'm good. How are you feeling, brother? I'm feeling very... Let's... For somebody who's meeting you for the first time, tell us something a bit more about what you do and why you chose, particularly, tech. I'm mostly in, all I like is concerning machine learning and artificial intelligence, which actually started when I was young, like, when I was in primary school. But during our time, we used to be kids when we tried to jump out with electricity and such things like those. Though I was much inspired to continue to be in tech industry, I started attending some conferences, like that of Young Scientist Kenya, which was being held at KICC. That's the time that I reached in high school. That's where I got more inspired of making automating machines. That's the place I've been introduced to microcontrollers such as hydroenos at Glassbell Pies, which can make different machines to move. Later, I joined a campus in Mellon National Polytechnic, where I met them being champion in robotics. I joined the team, I became the chairman of robotics, and I was much inspired to work on robotics. Was that a club or something? Yeah, it was a club for robotics. Robotics? Yeah, for robotics club. Yeah, we pushed on, but I was not feeling well because for the robotics club, they used to be giving instruction what to do. And me as an innovator, sometimes I used to sleep and tomorrow I've been awake, wake up and start thinking something different. I was to improve to advance a certain thing which I've been made. So I left Robotics Club, I started innovating my own projects. I've innovated different types of projects, but most of the time I look in society and see what they are lacking. For example, the first project which I used using microcontroller was to remind people to take medicine, which was automatic medicine reminder. Which acting like an alarm? Or like a phone alarm? Yeah, which used to remind you with a beep sound and also used to send a message to remind you to take medicine. Okay, okay. And before we get even into the different projects that you've managed to do so far, yeah, when it comes to tech, it's an industry that we rarely talk about. Sure. Yeah, we very few people talk about Madagascar's unique tech. And it's only a group of people that are associated with this industry. Why did you choose particularly tech as an area of interest for you? Firstly, I didn't choose. It's like I was born in tech. Okay. Yeah, everything I used to do since I was young was concerning tech. Oh, you would be a hands on person. Yeah, but I think the first person who inspired me to do tech is someone who lied to me. I remember around 2006, 2007, this time the VTB had a show at our place. So I saw them and someone lied to me that they're going to hand it to the TV. Like, I was like, how is that possible? So I was curious about it. So, yeah, last time I was around, yeah, I was around seven to eight years. So you're wondering how someone gets inside that TV. Yeah, inside that TV. Did you open the TV book? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think when I reached class three or four there, I tampered with our TV and I was very kind. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I wanted to know what was transmitting the, what were the signals which were being transmitted and the receiver signal, which were making people to be seeing the TV. That made me to tamper with our TV. It's a matter of interest that you grew up in. Yeah. Yeah, it kinda grew on you. Yeah, though I was much restricted. Cause everybody in the family used to say I'm destroying devices. Cause I used, even to buy these small radios and I would have destroyed that radio even that day to see what's making that radio too. Now, let's take a look at some of the projects that you've managed to do so far. You've mentioned the first project you've done. Maybe you can just mention a few of them, including the latest that you are working on. Okay. I'm going to mention the major projects that I've worked on. There's a, the second one which is major was for automatic poetry management system, which also I competed in TVFIA. I was number one in indigenous and number one in national, which was held in the whole Kenya. It was concerning on agriculture, which used to help people who are keeping poetry to manage their poetry without stress. The duty of the system was to, the owner had a tank which had to store their food or the fins for the chicken. So the feed would be automated to be given to the chicken all the day or to the bands all the day without intervention of anybody. So you can just store your fins there and leave for a month or according to the storage. And that one, I was able to win a trophy in national level. And later, I- Congratulations, congratulations. Thanks. And later there's one, that project I'm working on now, and I've already know written concerning automatic band-lead and care system. These are the latest? Yeah, the latest. I can just say the inspiration of the project. I got a project from my mom. My mom she was being diagnosed with cancer. And later she had been paralyzed. She was not able to walk. And she used to be transferred from bed to a chair, from chair to bed. So in times she used to walk, there must be someone who helped her. Olesana, Olesana. So she's currently, she's fighting that? Yeah, she passed away in 2016. Oh, Olesana. Yeah, so yeah, so I was thinking of, yeah, for now I didn't think of my mom because she had already passed, but I started thinking of if anyone has that same problem, how can I be able to help? Because yeah, I think about the society mostly. So I thought about that system, but I was not able to start the system. Yeah, I trained to talk with some people, but most of them discouraged me. They told me things have been important from China. So if you do one, nobody's going to look on it. Nobody's going to buy it, or they'll find it. So this project was specifically meant to do what? It was meant to look for people who are paralyzed, people who are ill, people who are injured, or also people who are old. How does it look for them? The system is a convertible chair, and the same time you can convert it to be a bed. So it's the way you want to adjust it. If you want it to be a wheelchair, just press the button and it turns to be a wheelchair. If you want to be a bed again, you just press the button and it gets flat. Yeah, it also has some waves where you can move from one place to another, air-contrain via your phone. And also I was thinking about automating also the doors where the patient will be able to open the doors via the phone again so that it can be ventured to any different places, and also for those who want to go for sunbathing. It looks like one system that you have to synchronize with the house. Should you synchronize that system together with the house so that they communicate with each other whereby somebody can be able to open the door from wherever they are electronically? But for the case of the door in the bed, there are two different things. Yeah, the system of the door is a different thing. For the other system of the bed is different. So what you just need is a phone or smartphone which can be able to open the door, the open air and to move the system. What are some of the challenges that you faced so far when you came to coming up with these projects and ensuring that they are up and running? I know you've mentioned funding as one of them. Yeah, sure. And maybe you can talk a bit more about that. Even the first time I started the project, I feared to ask the school to fund me. Not only campus? Yeah, for now. So I end that fear. I've not come in a backyard which is that much supportive. By the way, for example, I'm the one who took myself to campus. You paid your own school fees? Yeah, I pay my own school fees, my rent, and full. You're still in campus? Yeah, I'm still in campus. Wow. So to do the project is very hard because it costs me over 50,000. What are you doing in campus? I'm pursuing a diploma in IT. Diploma in IT? Yeah. Do you mind mentioning the school also? Pardon? Do you mind mentioning the school? No, no, no. Shule? Shulegani? Yeah. My name is National Project. Wow. Yeah. I shout out to those guys who are there, you're doing a good job. So getting funds was a problem because you have to pay school fees and also support your projects at the same time. Sure. So, okay, the school was that supportive but I feared to ask for them because most of the people I met, I entered them about the project, they actually discouraged me. But I feared, the school would support me but I feared to ask them for the support and I failed. Though I say that I'm going to take a risk. I look for- Did you? Yeah. I did. Mm-hmm. For the school, actually before I took the risk, the school gave me some opportunities to move out of St. Kenya. They gave me two opportunities so I used to save those money. So every time I would travel out of St. Kenya, I used to save the money. Yeah, because I knew I had to do something. Yeah. Yeah, something which is unique. That's where I got the money. I started doing the projects. I made the first step. I showed to different teachers they are much encouraged. But I continue up to the last point where I showed them the full project, the machine moving from one place to another and they were much encouraged. Even I showcased to the our registrar, to our deputy principal who actually introduced me to the principal and the principal was able to see the project. The principal knew that he came last month. So he was very convinced and I was also being given the opportunity to present the project to Innovation Week which is being aired at Salitz. Wow. Yeah. Good job, man. Yeah, thanks. Good job. The echo. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, I'm humble. And you need support from people. You need that encouraging group behind you that can motivate you even when you feel like giving up. Yeah, sure. Who are some of the people that have encouraged you and motivated you and cheered you on and told you to keep going and what kind of teacher do you have? Before I go to people, I would like to say that life has straddled me because when my mom passed, life became hard for me and it was very hard to cope with life. So I struggled. There's a time I thought of even committing suicide because my mom passed, she was the one who was taking care of me. Yeah, so she have already passed. I don't have any place to go. It was very hard for me but I was asking God, how am I going to do to make it? But later, some people, my cousin just helped me. I was not even thinking of going to high school anyway. My mom passed before. Okay, I joined high school but I didn't have someone to pay the fee. The fee? Yeah. So I left the school again. I started being at home. That was in 2015. When it reached 2016, there were some people who were my cousins. They helped me. So they asked me if I wanted to continue with high school or if I wanted to go for a course. But there's something I wanted to pursue. So I told them I wanted to continue the school. And you went back to school? Yeah, I went back to school. That's where I joined Boutier Mix. In primary, I scored very poor because that's why my mom was very paralyzed. So all the time I was in high school, in primary, I used to think about my mom. I used to think about my mom like, she's sick. How can you help? Yeah, I wanted to help her to do one, two, three. So we didn't manage to perform well. So I joined Boutier Mix when I went to... I went to Muayale. Yeah, I joined Boutier Mix. And so many people were surprised. How did you come to Muayale? But I says, God. Later, I transferred to Muayale Boys, which was a national school. The time I went to Boutier, I realized who I am. So I started having that... I was very hardworking. So I transferred to Muayale Boys. Still, I was very hardworking. I used to drop all the time. But when I reached... I dropped up to Form 3. I was number one ever. But when I reached Form 4, I got some discouragement. Like, I'm not able to continue anymore. So I used to ask myself, why am I continuing there? I did studies and I'm not going to campus. Things like those. So I started being kind of lazy. I don't study. I have a lot of stress. Things like those. You did not believe you would go to campus? Yeah, I didn't believe. You felt like you're not giving up? Yeah. But... So even at a later point, I didn't study some subjects. Because I used to ask myself... So the other subject I used to study for fun, which was physics, chemistry and geography. And look at how physics is helping you now. Even in our schools, number one in physics and in geography. Now it's doing you well. Later, I did my KCC. And I was one of the happiest students ever. Because I thought if I would reach that point. But when the results were out, principal was not that happy. And even our pastor was not happy. So they asked me to repeat. But I didn't want to repeat because I wanted just to go out there and start doing something new. Because I knew I'm not going to continue the campus. Now where do you see yourself in the next season? One, two, three, five years with the projects that you're managing. Do you have future plans that maybe you're having within your... Generally? Yeah, my future plans started at the time when I finished high school. I remember I joined militarily. I started preaching the gospel of Christ. But back there, I wanted to have something like an orphanage. But I knew if you want to have something like this, you have to work hard. You have to work extra hard. You don't need to be dependent on people. But still, my mind also was in tech. I used to preach the word of God. I was in tech still. At the reach of a point, I went to a job somewhere. I got a lot of money. I didn't have any place to take the money. I joined campus. So I started thinking about tech. So because the campus was motivating people who are doing tech, I started thinking of having a company which produces things like tech machines to avoid importation. Like an industry where you can do your own manufacturing in the country. So it's a dream that you started having back in high school. And you're still having that dream till now. Yeah, till now. Yeah, because as you can see, sometimes you import some small things from China, which I see there's no reason. Yeah, which we can be able to manufacture them. Here in the country? Yeah, yeah, that's so many things. Have you managed to interact with people who are in the tech industry that can be able to sponsor what you're doing in a way or two? People who are actually mates, people who are just, who gives promises which are... They don't meet. Yeah, they never meet. Yeah. Same story, man. But I don't think stylistically. I know if you depend on people, sometimes they might frustrate you. So I say, let me continue pressing on. I want to give you time to talk to somebody who's watching you today. There are some youths that want to get into tech. They love technology. They love getting their hands dirty. And they are watching at home, they are watching you at home. Maybe a piece of advice for them as we bring this conversation to a close. Yeah. Closing remarks that your camera can talk to your people there. Okay. So I would like to talk to people who are... I actually talk to, I see they are beginners. Sometimes they have difficulties to start innovating. Or they see it's really costly. But one thing I know about this tech is about passion. Because if you want to do anything, it must come from your heart. Like for me, the time I started innovation, it came from my heart. And I did it without depending on people. I say that I have to press on. So if there's someone back there who truly needs to start their tech, this is the right time to start. Because we want to try to evaluate some things, some importation of some things. And I know, like an example, like people in rural areas. I met so many people who have good brains, good ideas. But they fear to bring them out. Because they fear that frustration or something else. But that frustration is the one which stranded me. And the same which have made me to be here. Oh, yeah. Mr. Mark, I wish you the best. Keep doing what you're doing, don't give up, keep going. And one thing that I love is you do not give up even on yourself. Even at a time when you doubted yourself and people doubted you, keep on going. I wish you the best, my brother. Keep doing what you're doing and of course good luck. Okay, thanks. And that brings us to the end of this particular discussion right here. And that brings us to the end of why in the morning this fine Thursday morning. My name is Ram Maguko. It has been a pleasure being with you today. And of course, I want to say a big thanks to everybody that ensured this show. What a success from our technical team sound, camera person, to all the way to our production team there at the gallery, producers, directors, everybody, thank you so much for the work you're doing. And you from home. Thank you for tuning in to Why in the Morning. It has been a pleasure. My name is Ram Maguko. As I said earlier on, may God bless you. May God bless the work of your hands. Keep it Why in the Morning. Keep it Why 254. Have a blessed day.