KELVIN DOE: My name is Kelvin Doe, aka DJ Focus.
KELVIN DOE: Alright. Alright. It's the youngest DJ. DJ Man Focus.
KELVIN DOE: I'm from Sierra Leone,
[Music]
KELVIN DOE: and I love inventing.
[Music]
DAVID SENGEH: Kelvin is extraordinarily talented. He literally goes through trash cans - finds
broken electronic parts in the garbage and makes stuff on his own.
LAURA SAMPATH: He's taught himself how to do incredibly intricate things with very,
very little resources.
[Music]
KELVIN DOE: In Sierra Leone, we have not too much electricity. The lights will come on
once in a week, and the rest of the month, dark. So I made my own battery to power lights
in people's houses.
[Music]
DAVID SENGEH: Kelvin represents "learn by making." He takes apart, looks at it, tries
to reverse engineer it.
KELVIN DOE: I made my own FM radio transmitter. DAVID SENGEH: He made his own FM station because
he wanted to give voice to the youth. He made his own generator because he needed it.
KELVIN DOE: The generator supplies current to the radio station. This is the capacitor
and this is the spark plug.
DAVID SENGEH: This trip is his first time leaving his family's home. It's his first
time leaving Sierra Leone. And it's tough. But it's an opportunity to create the future
that he wants to live in.
[Music]
DAVID SENGEH: My name is David Sengeh. I'm from Sierra Leone. I'm a PhD student at the
M.I.T. Media Lab where we have unlimited creative freedom. I wanted to ensure that young people
like Kelvin also have this experience.
[Music]
LAURA SAMPATH: David has written visa letters, found places for Kelvin to stay - he's really
got invested in him. DAVID SENGEH: For quite many years, Sierra
Leone, and many other African countries, received aid. But it does not necessarily get us anywhere.
We're not looking into the future. We're not designing our own future. Unless we have a
host of young people who can think, at any given point, that here's a challenge, here's
a problem, and it's an opportunity to solve it, there won't be a steep growth in national
development. KELVIN DOE: If we have a radio station in
my community, the people can be able to debate about issues affecting our community and Sierra
Leone as a whole.
DAVID SENGEH: I first met Kelvin at Summer Innovation Camp that I runned in Sierra Leone
that challenges kids to think about the toughest problems in their community and have them
solve it. Kelvin's team applied to build an FM radio station for community empowerment,
and people listened, religiously, to his radio station. People text into his show and he
reads the texts from people. It's very inspirational.
KELVIN DOE: I'm DJ Focus, live broadcasting all the way New Yor-- Um, Boston.
KELVIN DOE: [On radio] Live broadcasting all the way New Yor-- Um, Boston.
KELVIN DOE: People normally call me DJ Focus in my community. Because I believe if you
focus, you can do an invention perfectly. I DJ every day.
KELVIN DOE: Alright, for sure for the meantime don't forget DJ Man Focus passing through.
KELVIN DOE: "Sounds Like Gun" by Bobby.
[Music]
KELVIN DOE: A born Sierra Leonean artist.
KELVIN DOE: Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed for your ultimate priority.
[Music]
DAVID SENGEH: So Kelvin has been in the United States for the past two weeks. I line up a
pretty busy schedule for him. First we went to New York. The next day we went to Cambridge.
Next week we have a talk with the president of Harvard University.
KELVIN DOE: It's a big opportunity for me to learn from people who have experience and
to meet with them. MARK FELDMEIER: How do you want the antenna?
KELVIN DOE: Like this. MARK FELDMEIER: Like that?
KELVIN DOE: Yeah.
MARK FELDMEIER: Kelvin had these RF transmitters that he had made, and we spent yesterday,
kind of, trying to figure out how we might be able to make some improvements.
[Drilling]
MARK FELDMEIER: Alright. Hopefully that's big enough.
CAMERA GUY: Have you ever used a drill like that before?
KELVIN DOE: No. MARK FELDMEIER: Be careful with it.
KELVIN DOE: Yeah.
KELVIN DOE: We'll use this as the power cable. MARK FELDMEIER: Okay.
KELVIN DOE: This was a microphone wire converted to a power output. I got the cable from the
dustbin. MARK FELDMEIER: Let's give it some audio.
MARK FELDMEIER: Cool.
MARK FELDMEIER: We kinda get trapped in our own little worlds, and just as Kelvin's getting
his world expanded by coming here, so am I getting my world expanded by interacting with
him.
MARK FELDMEIER: Good working with you dude. KELVIN DOE: Yeah.
DAVID SENGEH: He loves to work hard, but he's a kid. He's 15. After while, he also just
want to play ping pong. He also just want to play football.
DAVID SENGEH: Oh! Come on!
DAVID SENGEH: I talk to him, I say, "Look, Kelvin, think of me as your older brother."
Alright. I'm tired. "Tell me what's going on. Tell me what's tough to you." It's his
first time leaving Sierra Leone, so it's, it's overwhelming.
KELVIN DOE: It's just that - I miss Sierra Leone.
DAVID SENGEH: In Sierra Leone, if you meet somebody head to head, you have to say "hi."
You acknowledge them and smile. Here, when he gets on the train, he says "hi" to people.
Nobody recognizes it.
KELVIN DOE: And also, I don't love the food in America.
DAVID SENGEH: We're here to eat some Sierra Leonean, Kelvin loves so it's gonna be awesome.
DAVID SENGEH: What are you gonna get, Kelvin? KELVIN DOE: Cassava leaves.
DAVID SENGEH: Cassava leaves. Let's see if they have some.
DAVID SENGEH: How are you, Auntie? RESTAURANT OWNER: Normal day, Mr. David [Laughs.]
RESTAURANT OWNER: I have beans, okra, cassava leaves.
KELVIN DOE: Give me beans. RESTAURANT OWNER: Okay. [Laughs.]
KELVIN DOE: Thank you.
DAVID SENGEH: You want to try my plantain? Take it.
DAVID SENGEH: He misses home a lot. KELVIN DOE: I miss my family so much, especially
my mother. KELVIN DOE: [On phone] Hello?
KELVIN DOE: My mother, she was so excited because people said good comments about me.
DAVID SENGEH: Hello? KELVIN DOE: I want to help my family to provide
the facility for them.
[Music]
KELVIN DOE: Just to help my family. Yeah.
[Music]
KELVIN DOE: [On phone] Okay, bye.
DAVID SENGEH: For Kelvin, his biggest challenge is going to be the scarcity of the materials
and the information once he goes back. Here he can go in and pick up a resistor or whatever
he wants. He now understands that there are many people who don't have to go through the
garbage, so he has to go back.
KELVIN DOE: Whatever things I've learned here, I will share it with my friends, colleagues,
and loved ones and do it as a team.
DAVID SENGEH: He's done an amazing work. But that's just the beginning.
KELVIN DOE: My next invention will be a windmill for people to use for electricity supply.
DAVID SENGEH: I want there to be many more Kelvins. I do not want it to be a one-off
thing. It's a movement. It's, how do we create thousands of young people who are inspired
by making stuff and solving the problems that are in their neighborhood?
KELVIN DOE: That is my aim. To promote innovation in Sierra Leone among young people. [Laughs.]
DAVID SENGEH: Hi everyone. This is David. Thanks so much for watching and we hope you
enjoyed the video. The folks at THNKR and I wanted to share Kelvin's story in the hopes
of starting the conversation about how we can all foster innovation amongst young people
around the world. We are asking you to do 2 things. First, submit comments and response
videos below telling us how you think we can promote innovation among young people in your
community. Second, if you are inspired by what you just saw, support the non-profit
organization I have founded by visiting crowdrise.com/innovatesalone. Your donations will go directly to more innovation
competitions that support other young innovators like Kelvin. And if you want to see more inspiring
videos like this one, subscribe for free to THNKR by clicking the "Subscribe" button.
Thanks very much.
KELVIN DOE: I'm DJ Focus and you're watching PRODIGIES.