Ingenious engineering: Homemade phone charger

Rather than cycle 20 miles to charge her phone, one housewife decided to make her own.

Mrs. Muyonjo lives in an isolated village in Eastern Uganda. Her mobile phone is crucial for her as it allows her to keep in contact with everyone. However, the nearest town with electricity is over 20 miles away by bike, meaning a very long round trip when she runs out of battery.

However, she no longer needs to do the cycle ride, as she has managed to make a battery charger of her own.

How?

Believe it or not, the charger is made of just 5 size D batteries. They are taped together end-to-end.

Next, the mobile phone cord is attached to the batteries. Of course, there is no plug in a battery, so the plug has been removed from the charger and the wires are connected directly to the batteries.

Don’t try this at home

Mrs. Muyonjo is resourceful, and has found a simple solution to her 40-mile-a-day problem. However, if you’re charging your own phone, we strongly recommend you use the traditional charger-in-socket method. It’s just so much easier!