Ann Arbor-based non-profit Appropriate Technology Collaborative (ATC) is transforming lives across the globe by developing and implementing innovative, low-cost technologies for communities in extreme poverty. From solar vaccine refrigerators to food dehydrators, ATC’s designs are helping meet critical needs in countries like Guatemala, Malawi, and India.
Chief Innovation Officer and founder John Barrie shared the heart behind ATC’s mission.
“The mission is to provide model programs and technologies that improve the quality of life for the world’s poorest people,” Barrie said.
Originally an architect who designed luxury homes, Barrie had a change of heart and career after realizing his skills could serve a greater purpose.
“I realized that there’s a lot of things you can design that would make life better for poor people,” Barrie said. “I’d done some product design in my life, and I started thinking of products that would make things better for poor people. And then once you’ve made the observation that you can make things better for a lot of poor people, and you choose not to do it, the problems of the poor are on your shoulders.”
For nearly 20 years, ATC has developed technology that can be built and maintained locally — particularly solar power systems. Their solar vaccine refrigerators, which don’t use any electricity, have had a life-saving global impact.
“We got feedback primarily from doctors in India,” Barrie said. “…Thank you for saving millions of lives with your solar vaccine refrigerator…We have anecdotal evidence from people writing us saying, thank you for saving millions of lives.”
Guatemala remains ATC’s primary focus.
“It’s (Guatemala) the country with the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in the hemisphere,” Barrie said. “It is even lower than Haiti. The country itself is not the poorest country, but the distribution of wealth is the worst.”
But ATC doesn’t just deliver technology — they empower communities to teach and lead themselves.
“I realized an American in front of indigenous Guatemalans to teach solar doesn’t look right,” Barrie said. “The idea is that we should show Guatemalans in charge of their own lives and their own destiny. So we have Guatemalans who do the teaching.”
Closer to home, ATC has also offered programs in Detroit, Highland Park and Ypsilanti, working with families and community partners to provide energy and water access.
“The project closest to my heart right now is we provide solar power to young families and families about to have babies,” Barrie said. “We work with midwives who we’ve worked with since 2010, and they identify families that are about to have babies, and we provide solar power and a clean water filter to these families.”
In return, families agree to provide biannual updates on outcomes — data that helps ATC secure continued funding.
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ATC’s open-source philosophy extends its reach even further. Designs are shared online, so communities worldwide can build and benefit independently.
“We had a group of fishermen in Africa who would catch fish and dry the fish on sticks, and sell the dried fish.” Barrie said. “With our solar refrigerator design they sold fish for 100 times more than dried fish. So you put it (the design) online and people adapt the design to fit their needs…We have had people request our designs from 73 different countries.”
Barrie estimates their solar technology has reached over 1,000 households and 36 schools, and over 50 families use ATC’s solar food dehydrators.
Funding comes from a mix of grants, foundations, and donors. Occasionally, support arrives unexpectedly.
“Recently, the Getty Foundation, out of nowhere, funded us,” Barrie said. “We didn’t even write a grant. They just simply sent us money. That’s the best type of grant.”
Other ongoing supporters include the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor and a growing number of dedicated volunteers.
ATC hosts groups of volunteers in Guatemala. “It’s primarily installing solar power, working with the families and going out into the rural areas and for people to see how families live on a dirt floor and using candles or kerosene lamps to see at night and cooking over a wood fire that’s just on the floor of their house,” Barrie said. “They are living like people lived in the Middle Ages. We provide solar power and clean water to those houses, and suddenly they’re in the 21st century. The biggest change you can see in somebody’s life is giving them 10 watts of solar power.”
After leading ATC since its inception in 2008, Barrie is preparing to transition into a new role with the organization.
“I’ve been here since 2008, which is when it started,” Barrie said. “I’m becoming the Emeritus Executive Director. I’m slowly turning over the reins of the nonprofit, we are in the process of looking for a new director.”
From dirt floors to solar panels, from subsistence living to self-sufficiency, ATC continues illuminating a better path — one watt at a time.
“We decided on the name The Appropriate Technology Collaborative to tell the world that we create new appropriate technology designs and programs and that we work with our clients, the world’s poorest people, to create our programs and designs,” Barrie said.
Donna Marie Iadipaolo is a writer, journalist, and State of Michigan certified teacher, since 1990. She has written for national publications like The Village Voice, Ear Magazine of New Music, Insurance & Technology, and TheStreet.
She is now writing locally for many publications, including Current Magazine, Ann Arbor Family, and the Ann Arbor Independent. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she graduated with an honors bachelor’s degree and three teacher certificate majors: mathematics, social sciences, English. She also earned three graduate degrees in Master of Science, Master of Arts, and Education Specialist Degree.
