VITA - Volunteers in Technical Assistance
This is a series published in the 1980s by Volunteers in Technical Assistance to provide an introduction to specific state-of-the-art technologies of interest to people in developing countries. The papers are intended to be used as guidelines to help people choose technologies that are suitable to their situations. They are not intended to provide construction or implementation details. People are urged to contact a knowledgeable organization for further information and technical assistance if they find that a particular technology seems to meet their needs.
The papers in the series were written, reviewed, and illustrated almost entirely by VITA Volunteer technical experts on a purely voluntary basis. Some 500 volunteers were involved in the production of the first 100 titles issued, contributing approximately 5,000 hours of their time. VITA staff included Leslie Gottschalk and Maria Giannuzzi as editors, Julie Berman handling typesetting and layout, and Margaret Crouch as project manager.
Permission has been granted by the current holder of Intellectual Property Rights for VITA content, Relief International, to publish the VITA library on ECHOcommunity.
Please note that re-release of these documents is a work in progress where we are recovering images and tables from archival documents.
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Men's Dress Shirts - 1987-01-01
This Profile describes one small plant operating with one shift and manufacturing 15,000 dozen men's dress shirts a year. It also describes a larger plant running a single shift and manufacturing 22,000 dozen shirts a year.
The proposed plant should not be confined to the production of just men's dress shirts. It should be able to adapt to many other similar products. For example, the same facility can be used to cut and sew plaids, checks, oxford, other shirts, school uniforms, and women's blouses. If proper supervision is maintained, there should be no loss of production capability. In fact, making a variety of styles should make it easier for the factory to sustain itself.
Inexpensive Rubber Cement - 1956-01-01
Inexpensive rubber cement can be made easily with ordinary gasoline and raw sheet rubber.
Understanding Low-Cost Road Building - 1986-01-01
Roads vary from trails to major hard-surface highways. Depending on the local climate and materials available for construction, roads may sometimes be open to traffic for only part of the year. A year-round road is often more expensive to build, and may not always be necessary. As a general rule, road construction in rural areas can be done at relatively low cost because, compared to city roads, fewer people and vehicles travel on rural roads. However, rural roads must be well designed, properly constructed, and continually maintained.
Renewable Energy Dictionary - 1995-01-01
Soon after beginning a major program in renewable energy in 1979, VITA (Volunters in Technical Assistance) found that many of the technical terms commonly used in renewable energy literature were not understood by many of the laypeople for whom the information was meant. VITA also realized that it was no easy task to find definitions for many of these terms. There were specialized glossaries for the various areas of renewable energy, but there was no one source devoted to defining renewable energy terminology. The Renewable Energy Dictionary is designed to meet this need. This encyclopedic dictionary is comprised of up-to-date and authoritative definitions of terms used in renewable energy. Definitions are presented in the clearest and most concise language possible without detracting from their technical accuracy. They are thoroughly cross-referenced for ease of use. The terms that were selected for this dictionary are primarily those not commonly defined in their renewable energy context in conventional dictionaries. Some of the terms are now considered to be archaic. Mostly related to wind energy, they are included because of their usefulness in developing an overall understanding of the field. VITA's 22 years in international development and technology transfer have brought a sensitivity to the need in developing countries for technical materials in languages other than English. This dictionary is translated into French and Spanish in an effort to help meet this need. In addition to 1,000 entries in each language, many with illustrations, the dictionary includes comprehensive conversion tables and a bibliography. Our research indicates that this is the only published reference work of its kind available. We feel it is a significant resource for those working with renewable energy technologies and concepts.
Bamboo Or Reed Writing Pens - 1960-01-01
This low-cost, easy-to-make pen has been in use in Jordan since 3000 B.C. Pens of different sizes can be made for work ranging from fine writing to large block letters. Similar pens have also been used in Thailand.
Understanding Paper Recycling - 1986-01-01
Modern machines form paper in a continuous ribbon or web, not a single sheet at a time as did the ancients. A good papermaker in the olden days could make enough sheets in a day to weigh about 90kg. Today, an average machine makes 90,000kg per day! Much of the paper produced ultimately ends up as waste paper, mountains of it in some areas, which can often be recycled into other papers and paper products. The recycling of waste paper is the focus of this paper.
Hand Papermaking - 1979-01-01
In many areas of developing countries paper is scarce. Rural schools may not have enough paper for their students and market goods may be wrapped in old newspapers if at all. Often this is because resources are not available to invest in modern papermaking factories, which require large amounts of energy and raw materials if they are to be economical.
But paper can be made in small shops in small quantities. Access to electricity makes some of the steps easier, but is not absolutely necessary. (Indeed, paper was made this way for many years before electricity was discovered.) In a situation where paper is scarce and expensive, it may be worthwhile to consider small-scale papermaking as a source of school supplies or as a small business. Such a business might produce heavy coarse paper for packaging or even thick paper egg cartons, plant pots, and so on.
Small-Scale Paper Bag Manufacturing Process - 1989-01-01
This process is for the manufacture of small, box-shaped paper bags (our specific process turns out one and three quarters kilo bags, but a similar process is possible for other sizes as well.) It is designed to make 500 bags per day with a labor force of 3 to 5 people.
This method uses labor as much as possible, and simple machinery where necessary to provide speed. The machinery is completely hand operated, and consists of a device for folding the bag tube and simple aids in hand-folding the bag bottoms.
Understanding Small-Scale Papermaking - 1986-01-01
One field in which hand and small-scale papermakers do find a niche is the production of the very highest quality "art" papers, or the manufacture of a variety, of paper products or small local markets that are not served by large producers. Another area in which papermaking processes can be applied on a small scale is the manufacture for local markets of a variety of products such as egg cartons, flower or plant pots, rough boxes, or roofing materials. These are considered in detail in later sections of this paper.
Paint Manufacturing - 1989-01-01
This Profile describes a small plant that will serve local needs, mainly in the trade-sales sector. Its output may exceed 4,000 liters per week (L/wk). For economic reasons, at least part of its total output may have been imported in bulk, and then tested, modified, and repackaged for the local market.
Paint is made in batches because the huge variety of uses and variation in raw materials require adjustments of its properties. The kind of plant varies somewhat according to the kinds and amounts of paint to be made and whether the process starts with raw or partially processed materials.
