Design for Our Lives: Tanzania x Uganda x MIT D-Lab

East African innovators shape the future of their communities with Creative Capacity Building trainings in partnership with MIT D-Lab.

MIT D-Lab invites you to a screening of the documentary film Design for Our Lives: Uganda × Tanzania × MIT D-Lab, directed by Lulu Tian '22, at the MIT Welcome Center on October 3. Doors open at 6 pm with the film screening at 7 pm, followed by a panel discussion.

The 45-minute documentary follows four stories of East African innovators:

• Bernard Kiwia is Co-Founder of the Twende social innovation center in Arusha, Tanzania, and fondly known as the "Father of Rural Innovation in Tanzania." Bernard has been working with D-Lab staff and students since 2007.
• Emilly Namwaya is Senior Creative Capacity Building facilitator at the NGO Kulika Uganda in Kampala. Emilly received her training as a CCB facilitator at a D-Lab training-of-trainers in 2024.
• Harrison Asega is a South Sudanese resident of Rhino Refugee Settlement in Arua, Uganda is the founder of Smart Nati Alarm, a motorcycle alarm system originally developed in a D-Lab Creative Capacity Building workshop.
• Eric Kuley (CTO) and Johnson Jacka (Founder and Managing Director) of Greenfoot Africa in Arusha, Tanzania are developing Zelo, an electric cargo tricycle for transporting goods in urban areas.

These innovators have all participated in MIT D-Lab’s Creative Capacity Building program (with some having gone on to become CCB trainers), and all are affiliated with D-Lab’s current project Design for Second Life Innovations project, a collaboration with Twende, Kulika Uganda, and the Youth Social Advocacy Team – a youth-led refugee organization operating in the Rhino and Imvepi Refugee Settlements in Arua, Uganda.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with:

• Johnson Jacka, Founder and Managing Director, Greenfoot Africa
• Aditya Mehrotra, MIT PhD Candidate (Mechanical Engineering); former D-Lab student and instructor
• Sanjna Ravichandar, former D-Lab student and electronics workshop facilitator
• Luyao (Lulu) Tian, MIT ’22, Filmmaker and Director, Design for Our Lives

Before and after the screening and panel, the following activities will be available to attendees:

• Prototype exhibits from East African innovators featured in the film
• VR experiences powered by Samsung smartphones, transporting you to Tanzania and Uganda
• Interactive AI + Arduino coding stations to build your skills

Produced by Heewon Lee and MIT D-Lab

Directed and edited by Luyao Tian

Filmed by Luyao Tian, Aditya Mehrota

Score by Daemin Son

Featuring: Harrison Asega, Bernard Kiwia, Emilly Namwaya, Eric Kuley, Johnson Jacka, Moro John, Yosia Lukumai, Juan Angel Luera, Olivia McGrath, Heewon Lee, Sanjna Ravichandar

Special thanks: Kulika Uganda, Twende Social Innovation Center, Youth Social Advocacy Team (YSAT) Uganda

Supported by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Samsung Electronics, the Council for the Arts at MIT, and MIT MAD (Morningside Academy for Design).

Luyao (Lulu) Tian is a filmmaker and educator based in Boston, MA. She is interested in human stories behind science + innovation, preserving history with oral histories, and making work with her loved ones. Working with innovators and MIT D-Lab in East Africa has been one of her greatest joys. Lulu completed her MFA in Documentary Media at Northwestern University in 2024 and her BS in Computation and Cognition at MIT in 2022.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

MIT Welcome Center, 292 Main Street, Cambridge, United States