Five Afghan teens designed a ventilator to help treat COVID-19

Coronavirus cases are on the rise in Afghanistan, and public health officials fear things may worsen, given an insufficient health system and too few ventilators for the crisis at hand. Recently, five teenagers in Afghanistan who make up an all-female robotics team have emerged as leaders in the fight against the coronavirus; Somaya Faruqi, Dyana Wahbzadeh, Folernace Poya, Ellaham Mansori, and Nahid Rahimi — who live in Herat, the third-largest province in the country, and range in age from 14 to 17 — developed a cost-effective ventilator that runs using the motor of a Toyota Corolla.

The robotics team is called the Afghan Dreamers, and it is the result of a program founded by tech entrepreneur Roya Mahboob, one of Afghanistan’s first female chief executives. The organization helps young women in Herat develop digital literacy skills. Other teams formed under Afghan Dreamers have developed devices that help with everything from robotics to agriculture to mining.

Abdul Qayum Rahimi, the governor of Herat, recently made a public request for more ventilators. In response, Afghan Dreamers decided to try to create a ventilator using only locally sourced materials.

Because of the pandemic, resources proved scarce, as did the ability to meet as a team. However, the young women persevered and were able to create a gear-based mechanism based on designs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and combine it with parts from a Toyota. Once the group’s design was ready, they worked with doctors to test it. The result is a design for a ventilator that can be made for just $300 with resources that are relatively easy to obtain.

Afghans are trying to combat the further spread of the coronavirus via quarantines, face masks, gloves, and social distancing — but those efforts are only part of the fight. Many health care institutions lack the resources necessary to provide aid to all those who need it — especially when it comes to ventilators.

Given this shortage, Mahboob is optimistic that the governor will seriously consider her team’s work. “The idea of these machines is that we use them for emergency cases, when there are no professional ventilators,” Mahboob told The National. She added, “If we don't have access to anything professional, we can use these ones."

As countries collectively watch their health care resources dwindle, a flicker of hope has arisen in Herat, Afghanistan. If nothing else, these teen girls’ design may quell the growing fear that other countries and cities may not be able to meet the demand for ventilators in a cost-effective way. The Afghan Dreamers have proved that as long as there are capable groups searching for ways to help, we can anticipate solutions.