Every year, the Music for Life show is organized by Belgian radio station Studio Brussel in support of the Red Cross. This year, Ritik Mehta, a 13-year old kid from Belgium decided to organize his own Music For Life event where he helped 3D print glasses for interested attendees. The money will benefit a charity that provides children in Africa and Asia with sorely needed eyeglasses.
Ritik was bitten by the 3D printing bug when he was 10 and designed his first pair of eyeglasses at a TedxKids event in Brussels. It didn’t take his father very long to bring aMakerbot into their home, and he quickly graduated from printing designs fromThingverse to making his own using TinkerCAD.
“Lately I have been 3D printing my own custom glasses.It was my dream to do something with it and now I have found the perfect occasion,” said Ritik of his charity event held last month. Visitors were encouraged to draw a pair of glasses and have their design turned into a 3D design and printed on the spot with all proceeds being donated to Eyes for the World.
Based on these pictures from the event it was quite the success, getting several mentions in local press and television. You should probably speak Dutch if you want to understand what’s being said, but anyone can get a laugh out of the comically tight jeans of a Belgian TV host. If Ritik seems comfortable in front of the camera that’s probably because he’s already a veteran of public speaking, since nearly three years after he attended his first TedxKids event he gave his own talk.
Being terribly American, I’m lucky that I can speak my native language so I’m afraid Ritik’s Dutch is beyond my abilities, but he presents himself confidently and makes a fantastic ambassador for the future of 3D printing. It’s easy for us to get lost in the excitement of IPO’s, buyouts and all these cool new printers coming to market, so it’s nice when kids like Ritik remind us that 3D printing offers us more than a change in the way we manufacture things, it offers us hope that one day there will be less of a divide between the haves and the have-nots. One of the things that drew so many of us to the idea of 3D printing is the hope that one day the less fortunate among us will be able to simply print the things that those of us in wealthy countries take for granted. The enthusiasm and charitable spirit of Ritik Mehta reminds us that we’re getting closer to that reality — and we can get there quicker if we all just try a little harder, inspired by young people like him.
