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Heading to Africa
Published on 03/04/07
by willpate
A lot of people have been asking what my latest project is and why I’m going to Africa, and it’s time to come clean 
My latest project is called Mazava. We’ve got seed funding to try and create a some beta social software to help manage and prevent infectious disease outbreaks in Africa. The CEO Jay challenged me to take what I know about social software and online community, and apply it to a new problem - reducing harm and saving lives. I’ve accepted his challenge, and I’ll need your help in the coming months to succeed.
I’m headed for my first trip to Africa tonight. I don’t know where I’m going yet, it’s part of the adventure. Jay wants me to learn how to cope with not having all the information. Someone once said the key to success in Africa is being like Columbo, you don’t have any answers - but you’ve always got “just one more question”
To all my friends, I’ll miss you dearly. I’ll be taking pictures and video as much as I can. And yes, I’ll try not to get eaten by lions.
technorati tags:africa, travel, mazava
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Comments on Heading to Africa
21 Responses
Rightantler
03/04/07
Have a great time Will and a successful trip - look forward to hearing about it!
Sameer Vasta
03/04/07
Have fun Will! If you’re ever near the motherland (Tanzania for me) let me know and I’ll get you in touch with people that’ll take care of you.
(Is it just me, or is the sound on the video not working? Could just be me…)
Mathew Ingram
03/04/07
best of luck, will.
Mark Kuznicki
03/04/07
I’m excited for you and look forward to hearing about your adventures. I also know that you are the right community guy for this massive undertaking. The Torcamp community will miss you while you’re gone, but will be watching willpate.org, the swarm and twitter for all the updates.
Anthony Carbone
03/04/07
Congrats Will. Looking forward to hearing your stories and many adventures.. You remind me of a cross between Tom Sawyer and Richard Feynman…. you should write a book, I’m sure it would be a best seller!
Megan Cole
04/04/07
HOLY SHIT! You sneaky bastard - I love it - enjoy, embrace. Don’t come back too soon and certainly don’t miss us - nothing changes at home…. ! Take good notes please
scales
04/04/07
good luck Will, have fun and keep off the ground when sleeping at night!
Pete Quily
04/04/07
have a good time Will, good karmic thing to do and you probably won’t get very bored:)
assume you’re going to try to hookup those $100 laptops?
how come no link to Mazava? or even a bit more of a description of what its about?
Dan Lackey
05/04/07
What an innovative idea!
Keep safe man, this is a wonderful endeavor, and I pray all goes well!
Andy Howard | Networks create power for communities
05/04/07
[...] Community ambassador Will Pate has just touched down in Africa. Titled ‘Mazava’, the goal of his latest project is to create ‘beta social software to help manage and prevent infectious disease outbreaks in Africa’. Using new web platforms to address social problems is not only brilliantly humanitarian but is also becoming increasingly viable; the web 2.0 movement has created boundless opportunity for tighly integrated and widespread community-focused networks. In the words of digital media authority Mike Walsh ‘really up until now, we have been mainly fiddling with interfaces. From here, things start to get interesting’. Networks create power, and power solves real problems. Nice timing Will, and good luck mate. [...]
Matthew Oliphant
06/04/07
Hey man. I am just now catching up on my feeds this week. Wow. Good luck and if I can help just let me know.
Remarkk! » This Week in the Chat Swarm, Ep.1
07/04/07
[...] Seen here looking part 007 and part Colombian drug lord, Community Guy Obi-Will Pate left for Africa this week. Fresh from his new gig as co-host for commandN.tv with AmberMac, Will begins an amazing new adventure working for still stealthy venture Mazava that has something to do with Africa and disease outbreaks. We’re looking forward to occasional updates in the Swarm, via Twitter and maybe even a blog post or some photos. [...]
qeek
08/04/07
Don’t forget to promote Flock over there
Emms
12/04/07
Its for a noble cause to make this World a better Place for all. Welcome to Kenya.
Gish
12/04/07
Welcome to kenya and yes we will see to it that the lions dont eat you LOL. Might be seeing you at the Carnivore. Enjoy your stay and all. Karibu sana
Gabbz
14/04/07
Karibu Kenya Will, enjoy yourself while you will be here.
chemutai
14/04/07
remember, Africa is a continent, not a country. It is a diverse entity that isn’t just one big mass of land. You are going to Kenya, or Uganda, or South Africa…specific places with distinctive names, geograhies, histories.
lets leave the generalizations and blanketing to the ignorant and unexposed. Instead, lead the pack, educate the rest by being specific about names of countries, capitals, places in the Continent.
Joe
15/04/07
Hey,
Got to your blog via barcamp. Interesting idea you have there. I’d love to know more about it. Any links? I’m a medical intern here in Kenya, and i’ve a passion for all things tech.
Karibu kenya,
Joe.
davinci
18/04/07
interesting..I’d really like to know what comes out of this. good work and good luck Will.
lucas
22/04/07
Karibu Kenya, and just for the record, if the Lions were ever a threat I wouldn’t be there to make this entry on this blogsite!
Will Pate Talks About PodCamp Toronto 2008 « Podcamp Toronto February 23-24, 2008, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
29/01/08
[...] media design, development and web marketing firm and has worked at Flock and on a project called Mazava. He is currently the Community Evangelist at ConceptShare and co-host of tech news show [...]
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