Updated: Would You Drive Across India In A Rickshaw With A Bunch Of Tech Gear?


That wasn’t an order — you don’t have to, but three brave Aussies are about get into a rickety rickshaw to do just that, for charity — and with a twenty-first century technology twist to go with their dilapidated drive. More after the jump.

The concept of the charity fun run is nothing new, but a charity fun drive… in a 1/2 horsepower, 40kph rickshaw… for 5,000km across India? That’s a mixture of bravery, insanity and plain old Aussie guts, and it’s exactly what the team behind Right Place At Right Time are up to. They’re doing it to raise funds for clean water projects in India as well as Indian workers in Dubai, who often end up serving additional prison terms for accidents that come with “blood money” payments that must be met.

(Quick ethical disclaimer: This was sent on to me by a third party, but one of the team, (Blogger Andrew Hughes) was at the same high school as I was 20 years ago. My jaw dropped when I spotted him, although it doesn’t look like he’s changed much.)

So where’s the tech angle, I hear you cry? It’s not like they’re travelling in a high-tech bamboo rickshaw, after all. There might be some hackery involved in keeping the rickshaw going, and I am curious as to how they’ll keep their tech gear powered; I’m waiting back for a response on that question.

Updated: And they’ve responded! The tech load-out the team will be taking comprises two macbook pros, an iPhone, Blackberry phone, Canon HD video camera, GoPro HD Camera, 2 Canon DSLRs and a powerboard. They’re not sure where they’ll be able to plug in the powerboard to charge everything, though.

But the real technology angle for this particular trip is more online. It’s not enough to simply ask people for donations for fun runs any more. You’ve got to entertain them as well, something we noted with the Stormtrooper-clad walk of Jacob French for the Starlight foundation.

The Right Place At Right Time team is promising to upload their adventures via YouTube, their web site and Twitter, “whenever they find phone reception or an Internet cafe”. Given some of the terrain they’ll be driving… or possibly pushing… the rickshaw through, that could be an adventure in itself, so they’ve uploaded some of the adventures in simply getting preparations underway to get things started.

You can watch the team’s adventures on their YouTube Channel, follow them on Twitter or sign up for the newsletter at the official web site — and of course, you can donate there too, something that we’re told may help to relieve your own financial stresses.

Aside from being a really cool (albeit potentially very dangerous) idea, I think it’s a great way to show how you can integrate very old school technology in the drive itself alongside more cutting edge stuff. What do you think — does the prospect of being entertained via YouTube make you more inclined to donate, or not at all?

[Right Place At Right Time]


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